Highlighted by superb performances by Niall Matter and Brian Krause, this is a film depicting the classic struggle between civilized man and an aroused and vengeful nature. Stunning special effects bring to life nature as represented metaphorically by Loch Ness monsters who have made their way through chains of caverns from their original habitat to Lake Superior. The challenge to man's existence is profound, yet the monsters own existence is a natural phenomenon, the incursion of modern man a threat to them. The existential question is all too obvious and the choices made by man as he struggles to coexist with nature are well depicted here as a literal battle between species. At times, this film confronts the viewer with these issues quite powerfully and a thoughtful script uses excitement, dark humor, and pathos to force one to seriously consider whether man has a right to destroy that which he does not understand. Because of that blinding existential fear, a native species becomes simply a predator and, as in this film, we endeavor to find a way for accommodation rather than extermination. The anthropomorphism so typical to human reactions to animals is cleverly handled and there are some quite tense scenes. One should be warned that there is also some graphic violence and bloodshed but neither is gratuitous. Rarely do motion pictures with limited budgets successfully and intelligently bring the philosophical questions discussed here to the screen. That this film attempts to do so and does not avoid the complexities of the fundamental struggle of man vs. nature is a credit to a fine script and a gifted director.

I have been a fan of monster movies/creature features all my life, and am frequently frustrated at the abysmal quality offered so frequently. In this case, I was NOT disappointed, and found the movie quite enjoyable. Loch Ness Terror (as it was titled on the DVD rental) is worth the watch. The actors aren't big names, and sometimes, that's not a bad thing. Brian Krause delivers an effective and convincing performance as a tough cryptozoologist on the trail of the aquatic monster, Niall Matter plays a very convincing small town guy, and the rest of the cast is equally realistic. Not one role was poorly done; all were most believable and convincing. The scenery throughout is breathtaking. The plot is well-ordered, and enjoyable. As a bonus, the characters aren't all the usual foolish clowns we so often see, that make you long for them to be victims. These seem instead like real people, mostly likable, and amazingly capable of coherent thought. Then there is the beast herself. Nessie is quite scary in appearance, and even if the effects aren't top of the line, they are convincing enough for a lower budget film. There is a little gore (though not excessive), as would be expected in a monster movie. If you enjoy creature features, you should like this one. If you want a movie with stupid characters, too much gory FX, poor humor, and overused plot elements, you might be disappointed. If you want an enjoyable monster movie, with an actual plot and realistic characters, get the popcorn and drink ready, and sit back and enjoy. Even my NOT-a-big-fan-of-monster-movies husband liked this one. All I have left to do now is look for more from these people. Well done!

Ah, the Loch Ness Monster. One of the hardy perennials of cryptozoology, yet figures in a tiny quantity of movies compared with Bigfoot or any other mystery beast. It was inevitable that the Sci-Fi Channel would use ol' Nessie in one of their original films, what is surprising about this one is that its actually quite fun and handled with a measure of skill. It's a standard tale of a lake plagued by attacks from a mysterious beast, which turns out to be a plesiosaur that has managed to relocate from Scotland to Canada, causing bait shop owner Josh, his mother Karen and vengeful cryptozoologist James Murphy to team up to save the day. The film moves at a good clip, we have an arresting flashback to the death of James' parents to set the scene, then the feed of attacks is pretty regular until a tense final showdown on an uninhabited island. The design of the creature is quite good, it bears little resemblance to fossil records but is a good sized lumbering toothy malfeasant complete with cool head crest and even a semblance of musculature and effort put into its skin colouring. Make no mistake, its still quite obviously CGI, but a colossal advance from the likes of Cerberus or Sabretooth. As well as the effective (well, much more than usual for this sort of film) creature, an unexpected verve is put into the action and the creatures general antics, with the climax especially notable in this regard. Its not that exciting, but the fact that it achieves any measure of excitement at all is rather pleasing. There's even a modicum of OK gore, with little in the way of CGI to it. Regrettably the acting and writing fail to stick to the same level of the direction and effects, everybody here talks and acts exactly the way characters in Sci-Fi originals are expected too. Niall Matter is a vapid younger lead, Carrie Genzel conveys barely a jot of authority as his sheriff mother, most of the rest are just there. Brian Krause appears to be the "name" star here (well he was in Charmed) and does a Clint Eastwood impression, he seems to be having fun but is a bit laughable. The writing is as stolid as can be imagined, po faced, unintentionally amusing, unneeded exposition, all that sort of thing. Still, this is much, much better than expected, probably the best Sci-Fi Channel release I've come across and recommended if you dig their output in general. Never "good" exactly then, and not memorable or all that worthwhile, but I could bear it, which is more than can be said for stuff like the aforementioned Cerberus or the space bear "epic" Savage Planet. Heck, its even better than the hysterical Sabretooth! A semi satisfied 5/10 from me then.

*Really awful movie. It has one saving grace. It's one of those movies that is so bad, so sloppy, so inaccurate, so incredibly and truly dreadful that it's actually fun to watch. I enjoy the odd stinker full of howlers, bad lines, improbable events and just plain terrible acting. Then of course this is one of these disguised Canadian films where American flags are planted in every other scene. We wouldn't want anybody to actually find out this is a Canadian movie. And when they're this bad, maybe that's a good thing. Gawd. Why don't we just get out of the movie business instead of continuing this demeaning tax subsidized pandering to Americans. Who knows, if we actually set a Canadian movie in Canada --- a radical notion, I know --- people might actually like it. The acting is appalling. The photography is mediocre. The story is absurd. And it carries cinematic licence too far to pass off the BC coast as Lake Superior. They're both beautiful but they don't resemble each other in any way. Warning. Do not watch this movie unless fortified by several stiff drinks. Mumble...grumble...growl..mutter...snort...