Swampy, Slightly Misty, Evening Terror Film

  • I saw this terror film in the 80s (1981-1987) in a big screen cinema in colour.
  • I don’t recall if it was British or American but definitely it was in English.
  • I don’t recall any actors.

The environment was in an uninhabited forested swampy area, like an island or a wild place like a forest in Canada, England, Indonesia, etc. It was swampy, misty and greyish. The light was pale like in winter or autumn, with well defined silhouettes. You couldn’t tell if it was evening or dawn. There was a mysterious humanoid creature living in this area.

I recall a 1st perspective sequence as in Evil Dead, but 100% for sure it wasn’t Evil Dead. It was a terror film but it wasn’t gore.

It was more a psychological terror film because I think in the whole film you don’t happen to see this creature, only it’s reptilian arm hiding behind a tree and the terrible results of its attacks on the victims. I think it had a golden brownish skin. A single strike of this creature’s claws would rip apart a man’s face causing his immediate death.

I think there was an investigation occurring (from biologists, or forensic) and a specialist went to the area to search for clues for what was happening to these murdered people. I think he survived but the spectator never happens to understand or see this creature and to understand its purposes.

 

39 thoughts on “Swampy, Slightly Misty, Evening Terror Film

  1. It wasn’t Terror in the Swamp (1985). It was rather an “elegant” terror film than a “cheesy” one. It had more of a British “mood” than an American.

    1. It wasn’t a corny terror film with clumsy suits or women with big breasts running screaming. It was really frightening because of the silence and the despair of not seeing the mysterious creature, just a shot from its hand or arm.

    1. No. It wasn’t a screaming, frantic, erotic, gore terror film. It was very silent as I recall it, with a slow pace and more of the suspense, psychological detective horror type.

    1. That was another film I was desperately trying find some years ago, but I’m afraid it’s not this one.

  2. Here’s two movies I will throw in.
    1. The Fog
    2. The Legend of Boggy Creek. I know there is also a part 2 so it could be that.

    1. The Fog from 1980 with Jamie Lee Curtis, that is. It has a lot of misty scenes in a well lit light which can be in day or night but is hard to tell because they glow. The fog is glowing like. Also it was done very seriously so it’s not cheesy. It was very mysterious and well done. There was also a scene with trees.
      https://youtu.be/fUyunS1hGyQ

    2. The Fog is definetely not the one I’m searching for.

      I’m going to see The Legend of Boggy Creek, it’s a good candidate. 🙂

    3. The only problem with Boggy Creek is that it was made before I was born, and I saw it in the cinema. Anyway, it could be a reposition, but I have to see it to be sure. Nevertheless it’s promising.

      1. In the 1980s, it was normal for theaters to show 70s movies. Theatrical was the main way for producers to make money. The VCR revolution and other markets hadn’t taken hold yet.

        1. Interesting to know that Livinghead. I grew up in the North slope village of Point Hope so we had no theaters. Although they did show on a big screen in the gym, Fright Night. I guess because it was so popular. In another village, Kotzebue, they showed Back To The Future, in the teen center.

          1. Wow, I can’t imagine a town with no theaters. I grew up in Indiana, and I remember a theater that would show old ’70s kung fu flicks in the early ’80s. Also I remember seeing The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in 1981 and it was released in ’74. I miss those days, but I think there are a couple of revival theaters in Indianapolis, but I wish there were more of them.

    4. I hate to disappoint you guys but I don’t think it was neither Boggy Creek nor its sequels. It didn’t have a documentary tone nor it was an action horror film. There was no narrator as I remember.

      It had a solo detective story tone, at least I remember a specialist of some kind venturing into this swamping area either trying to figure out what happened to the missing people or trying to find an unknown creature. Can’t recall the details. Just that it had a detective tone, the mysterious-sad autumn feel of a slightly swampy glade filled with dead leaves.

      I recall that the lettering of the credits in the beginning or ending of the movie, was superimposed in the photography of the woods and the swampy area in a 1st perspective view. A Times New Roman family of lettering perhaps.

  3. I might as well throw in on this one. My guess is.
    “Creature from Black Lake” (1976)
    It’s also a bigfoot movie, not reptilian, but it begins with superimposed credits over swamp scenery and involves a couple of researchers who never actually capture the creature. Here is the complete movie from YouTube.

    https://youtu.be/BvJXsLvIjOE

      1. I just finished watching your suggestion which was a very good suggestion and it had many things related (detective, swampy) but my saga continues unfortunately. It’s not the one.

        The hillbilly tone does not match. I don’t recall that there were survivors nor that there was an happy ending, there was a mysterious feel at the end of the movie.

        If there is such thing as a memory barometer this movie is more inclined to be:

        – in English but outside America;
        – during cold seasons as Autumn or Winter;
        – mysterious in opposition to action;
        – with a monster that is not exposed (except in a very vivid memory of his arm or the palm of his hand preparing to attack or behind a tree);
        – with victims that die instantly from his blows;
        – shot during the day, evening, dawn than night;
        – with several random attacks in opposition to specific ones;

  4. “Graveyard of Horror”(1971)?
    Also known as. “Necrophagus”(original title), and. “The Butcher of Binbrook”.

    It’s a bit earlier than what you said, but theaters back then showed movies for years. It matches on these points:
    It’s foreign (Spain), wintry setting, reptilian creature, only see the hands and eyes of creature until the end, melancholy mood, no gore or nudity, two scientist/researchers, and I believe everyone dies. IMDb.com listing below:

    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067480/?ref_=nv_sr_1

    1. I’m sorry, but I’m afraid it’s not the one.

      * The movie had a BBC series/films look, very sober. It was most certainly English, at least that’s the feeling I have.

      * I don’t think it had anything to do with religion or satanic cults. It was related to a mysterious entity, perhaps a creature that lived in a swampy watery area as Amazonia or the swampy areas of Great Britain.

      * I don’t think this entity attacked because it was evil, but because people were trespassing a forbidden area or an habitat. It was like a consequence. The attacks were mortal, and perhaps someone was able to escape but got crazy or something like that.

      * Someone was investigating these strange crimes.

      * It most probably didn’t occur in the city, but in a non urbanized zone outside the city, perhaps in small uninhibited islands.

      * the creature/entity/main scenario was watery, but not necessarily lived in the water. I have a fainted memory of its hand being very similar to Predator’s. I think it was more roughly scaled with a brownish dark red/brick look.

      * I remember faintly a scene where its hand is behind a tree as if the creature was watching someone.

      * there’s a scene with a woman (could be a man) lying on the floor screaming in fetal position seen from a top down perspective although very close to her body. Her face had several deep cuts like bold stripes, like in Night Breed but more deep. It was in late afternoon I think:

      http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uDdqP7_4xig/VKfPhktWoRI/AAAAAAAAIPM/KWq5Ub6358Q/s1600/6.jpg

      1. I also recall if my memory is not tricking me, of a character with a detective mood sort of Alone in the Dark‘s or Batman’s Gordon type of character.

        You could feel that as when you read a character’s diary, or you see him looking though a train’s window wondering with introspective thoughts.

  5. “The Lorely’s Grasp” (1974)?
    Just don’t give up on me. I’m throwing this guess out there. It’s also a Spanish production, with a reptilian creature, and a hunter/detective hired to find it. Here is a trailer.

    https://youtu.be/VLxZkUtJdwU

  6. I’m hoping this is the one. It was filmed in Great Britain, and in 1986, not 1988 as IMDb.com says. It takes place in a rural, Autumnal type setting and was also known as ‘Moonstalker’ (not to be confused with the slasher movie of the same name). The film was based on a British legend of the beast of Exmoor, which was a panther, I think, but the creature in this one is a werewolf! I can’t find much on this one on the internet, but below is a crappy quality trailer from YouTube.

    1. I’m afraid not. The hero as I remember wasn’t a GI Joe one but a detective type. The image of Alexey Pajitnov (Tetris creator) comes to my mind. It wasn’t gore of cheesy, but mysterious and scary. I’m afraid this is a dead alley.

      1. No, it’s not a dead alley, please stay positive. I have a question on here and 4 other sites and no one seems to have a clue. I would hate to think it’s hopeless. Maybe re-posting it in the near future will help.

  7. “Wendigo” (1978)?

    This one is very obscure, but when I stumbled upon it’s IMDb.com page I remembered this post. It does take place in Canada on an island, has the right look and was released at the right time. I’ve never seen or heard of this one and I think it was released on VHS but it’s almost impossible to find. The user and critic reviews mention the ‘1st person perspective’ scene with the camera rushing at trees, the fact that you never see the creature until the end, and all but 1 person dies. Below is the IMDb.com page:

    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1085519/?ref_=rvi_tt

  8. Here is a short clip from near the end of the film showing a man being blown up by the wendigo. This was the only footage I could find so far on YouTube.

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