A professor, his grad student/love interest, and a group of partying teens are terrorized by a soldier that was mutated by atomic waste in a local lake. Made for next to nothing, this is done in the style of a 50s B&W B-movie. The acting is intentionally hammy (which wears off its cuteness in, oh, about 3 minutes) and the monster design is intentionally silly. The movie is way overlong--the titular monster doesn't even show up until after an hour! Up until that point, the audience is subjected to endless "Will they/won't they" situations among main characters, goofy scientific speculations, and endless campfire dance sequences. While not a terrible movie, the "old B-movie imitation" thing has been done already (and with significantly more entertaining results) in movies like The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, Psycho Beach Party, and The Day It Came to Earth. The Monster of Phantom Lake, while obviously a labor of love, brings nothing new to the table and is hardly fun to watch. Definitely skippable.
10 Reviews
Over the Top
Hitchcoc13 May 2020
There is a fine line one must stay behind in order to make a spoof of movie genres. The best ones keep a solid element of the original but wander into the outrageous. This film is so far beyond the fifties horror B movie in its adaptation, that it plays everything for comedy. The dialogue is so stilted and the interactions of the characters so unnatural that we forget the plot as they pose and speak. Of course, the monster is utterly ridiculous, looking like it is made out of scraps from someone's sewing basket. I enjoyed it at first and thought it would develop, but it lost me and I just wanted it to end.
Padded-out indie throwback
Leofwine_draca3 January 2018
Warning: Spoilers
THE MONSTER OF PHANTOM LAKE is another indie homage to the 1950s B-movie sci-fi genre of old directed by Christopher R. Mihm. The main problem with it is that the titular monster has very little screen time although it looks great and the times when it is on screen are great fun. The rest is a middling mess of annoyingly campy acting and dialogue which the writer thinks is far funnier than it actually is. The tale concerns a soldier turned into a ravenous monsters thanks to an accident involving toxic waste but for the most part this is merely padded out with dreary teenagers in their woodland camp and 'cool it daddio' type dialogue. It might have worked better as a 10 minute short.
"This Is Getting More Interesting By The Minute!"... "Hey! You're Not Sven!"...
azathothpwiggins17 March 2019
After some wonderfully plodding, creepy music, THE MONSTER OF PHANTOM LAKE begins.
When drums of "atomic waste" are heedlessly dumped into the titular body of water, there's more than mere pollution to worry about. Far more. The locals have no idea that horror beyond description awaits! Or, something like that.
Oh no!
A crazy hermit tumbles into the sludge, undergoing a terrible transformation! Soon, a hideous creature arises, spelling d-o-o-m!
TMOPL is Christopher R. Mihm's masterwork of intentionally silly, 1950's-style sci-fi cheeeze. The acting and dialogue are suitably clunky, and the characters- scientists, highly suspect "teens", the canoe patrol, etc. are fun. The bucket-headed monster is as absurd as it's supposed to be, paying homage to actual schlock gems like HORROR OF PARTY BEACH. Mihm loves the genre, and the result is a joy to watch.
EXTRA POINTS FOR: The musical interlude, complete with a theme song that just keeps a rockin', a rollin', and a ramblin'!... Oh yeah!...
When drums of "atomic waste" are heedlessly dumped into the titular body of water, there's more than mere pollution to worry about. Far more. The locals have no idea that horror beyond description awaits! Or, something like that.
Oh no!
A crazy hermit tumbles into the sludge, undergoing a terrible transformation! Soon, a hideous creature arises, spelling d-o-o-m!
TMOPL is Christopher R. Mihm's masterwork of intentionally silly, 1950's-style sci-fi cheeeze. The acting and dialogue are suitably clunky, and the characters- scientists, highly suspect "teens", the canoe patrol, etc. are fun. The bucket-headed monster is as absurd as it's supposed to be, paying homage to actual schlock gems like HORROR OF PARTY BEACH. Mihm loves the genre, and the result is a joy to watch.
EXTRA POINTS FOR: The musical interlude, complete with a theme song that just keeps a rockin', a rollin', and a ramblin'!... Oh yeah!...
For a parody, the film is amazingly dull.
planktonrules29 October 2020
"The Monster of Phantom Lake" is a modern parody of 1950s schlock horror films. Because of this, it's filmed in black & white and features many familiar elements from many of the movies...including the know-it-all professor, a group of dopey teens and a monster that looks about as scary as a taco! So why did I give this one only a 3? Well, because to parody genre which is already like a parody isn't really funny...and this film really could have used an infusion of funny. In fact, I had a hard time even paying attention to it.
The same folks appear for a sequel, "It Came From Another World" (2007). Perhaps with this one they found the right balance and it's more enjoyable. As it is, I would much rather just see a cheesy 50s horror film instead of this.
The same folks appear for a sequel, "It Came From Another World" (2007). Perhaps with this one they found the right balance and it's more enjoyable. As it is, I would much rather just see a cheesy 50s horror film instead of this.
One joke film very badly executed
charlesadamek26 May 2019
Not a loving homage to monster movies of the 50's. Rather a poorly acted, cheap rip-off of same. Not an original idea either. I know you can view the wooden acting as intentionally camp, but I would have to see any of these players do ANYTHING with skill before I would venture that opinion. Camp is not an excuse for really stilted dialogue delivered stupidly.
The only regret is that this web site requires me to give it one star. It doesn't deserve even that.
The only regret is that this web site requires me to give it one star. It doesn't deserve even that.
Created not to be taken seriously. No problem!
ksdilauri12 June 2019
When you're in the mood for intentionally schlocky "homages" to the 50's monster movies, you may come across this title. I won't say it isn't worth a watch, even though it isn't anywhere near the top of the camp pile. It does contain all the required 'dumb-teenagers-in-the-woods-with-the-monster' elements. As shown by the end credits, this flick was a homemade job. The creators have cast themselves in most of the roles, most of them playing teenagers with varying degrees of success---and that will give you a clue about their acting skills. Some scenes are painfully overlong. To twist the knife a bit more, an original 'song around the campfire' is also thrown in, apparently to showcase some talent. (This has no degree of success whatsoever.) The 'professor' is the hardest to take; his hammy dialogue and monotonous delivery are meant to be a parody, but you kind of get the feeling his thespian talents really ARE that bad. To be fair, he's not alone there. You probably will have fun, though, shaking your head in disbelief as you watch the adults do incredibly stupid things, and the young, nimble people running--full speed, mind you--away from the slow-w-wly moving creature who always, inexplicably, catches up with them. You'll sleep with the lights on for a month, yes siree Bob.
Great campy fun!
richard-kurtz18 May 2006
This is an independent movie filmed in Minnesota. It's a fun take-off of 1950's B-grade monster movies and was deliberately campy fun. Filmed on a budget of probably about $8.00 (and most of that was likely gas money), it satirizes the stilted dialog, cheesy special effects, and hokey plots that have made 1950's era monster movies timeless guilty pleasures. It even has some appropriately corny music added. Shot in black and white, the entire film takes place in the woods near a lake, and starts with some workers illegally dumping "atomic waste". Predictably, some highly implausible biological responses result. Equally predictable, are the set of teenage victims who first discover the "monster". Fortunately, the unflappable Professor Jackson is on the spot with his not-so-secretly adoring graduate student assistant. Needless to say, it was a hoot. After the movie, some of the cast was in the lounge to mingle with the audience and to sell the DVD and posters. (The poster was free with the purchase of a $10 DVD and yes I bought it.)
Almost as much fun, were the 1950's newsreel clips shown before the movie, as was the custom then. They showed, in order, newsreel footage of violence in the Middle East, a grim old couple celebrating their 75th wedding anniversary, and a knife-throwing Mom using her kids in her hobby. All-in-all, it was a fun movie that I highly recommend.
Almost as much fun, were the 1950's newsreel clips shown before the movie, as was the custom then. They showed, in order, newsreel footage of violence in the Middle East, a grim old couple celebrating their 75th wedding anniversary, and a knife-throwing Mom using her kids in her hobby. All-in-all, it was a fun movie that I highly recommend.
Perfect!
morgan-51-54042226 January 2020
Right on the money! Captures all the iconic greatness of 1950's "horror movies" including stilted acting, men in charge while women are perceived as hysterical, tacky costumes, leafy monster & scary location. However the ending is still a little bit of a surprise. One didn't expect the effort so one did not anticipate it!! Great fun. Enjoy!!
If you know what this is...you are in for a ton of fun!!
catwantsin5 July 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Back in 2006 Christopher R. Mihm decided he wanted to start making a bunch of movies that celebrated the 50's and 60's sci-fi genre. To date, he hasn't stopped or showed any signs of stopping. In fact he had another movie come out this year called "QUEEN OF SNAKES". In his first several films he worked a lot with actor/producer Josh Craig. Craig is good in this film but seems to have a real distain for the acting style used in the 50's and 60's because he takes the method to a point that is so over the top that it's almost uncomfortable to watch. In this one he plays Professor Jackson (a re-occurring character) who is oddly on a trip in the woods alone with a female grad student, studying the effects of toxic waste. They end up running into several teens camping in the area. Oh, and there is a crazed creature running around killing people. It's a dude with a costume that looks basically like it's been tarred and feathered and has a bucket with googly eyes on the head. It's freakin fantastic.
Acting wise as mentioned Professor Jackson is a little tough to handle. His dialog is oddly laced with pauses throughout. I know he is acting like this on purpose because he doesn't do it in all of his films, but damn it gets annoying. Everyone else is actually pretty great, and Leigha Horton (who went on to product another tv show after this) stands out as Stephanie Yates. I am not sure how things went on set, but it appears that everyone in this film is just having an absolute blast. The production does a really stellar job of staying close to the best trying to re-imagine the 50's sci-fi era. I have seen a lot of these attempts and this one is probably the best. It's also shot completely in black and white.
I have read some complaints about the length of the film and this is a warranted complaint. I think the movie could have cut out 37 minutes of dialog and been just fine. It's like when someone calls that you don't want to talk to, and you try and pay attention but you are thinking, they should have just sent an email. As an example THE KILLERSHREWS was 69 minutes and came from that era. You don't need to drag things out when the plot is as simple as this one was. Even THE WASP WOMAN clocked in at 63 minutes. Come to think of it, the extra 37 minutes this movie didn't need was probably all the freakin pauses Professor Jackson used just trying to finish his sentences. It does take a while to finally get to the monster in this one, but it's so wonderfully hooky, it's worth the wait. Gotta give this one a 5 out of 7 for its effort alone. On IMDB is't an 8 out of 10
-Popcorn Unhinged
Acting wise as mentioned Professor Jackson is a little tough to handle. His dialog is oddly laced with pauses throughout. I know he is acting like this on purpose because he doesn't do it in all of his films, but damn it gets annoying. Everyone else is actually pretty great, and Leigha Horton (who went on to product another tv show after this) stands out as Stephanie Yates. I am not sure how things went on set, but it appears that everyone in this film is just having an absolute blast. The production does a really stellar job of staying close to the best trying to re-imagine the 50's sci-fi era. I have seen a lot of these attempts and this one is probably the best. It's also shot completely in black and white.
I have read some complaints about the length of the film and this is a warranted complaint. I think the movie could have cut out 37 minutes of dialog and been just fine. It's like when someone calls that you don't want to talk to, and you try and pay attention but you are thinking, they should have just sent an email. As an example THE KILLERSHREWS was 69 minutes and came from that era. You don't need to drag things out when the plot is as simple as this one was. Even THE WASP WOMAN clocked in at 63 minutes. Come to think of it, the extra 37 minutes this movie didn't need was probably all the freakin pauses Professor Jackson used just trying to finish his sentences. It does take a while to finally get to the monster in this one, but it's so wonderfully hooky, it's worth the wait. Gotta give this one a 5 out of 7 for its effort alone. On IMDB is't an 8 out of 10
-Popcorn Unhinged
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