RanaTheLegendofShadowLake

Rana: The Legend of Shadow Lake (aka. Croaked Frog Monster from Hell) (1975)

This movie opens with a man named Kelly telling his girlfriend the story of how he as a child was faced with a terrible half man half frog monster. The story unfolds in a flashback that shows Kelly living near a lake with his father, a park ranger. It introduces some of the locals, including a crazy hermit (who of course knows all the lake’s secrets), a trio of treasure hunters, and a paleontologist that is interested in some of the bones that Kelly has found. Most of the first half of the movie is taken up by the humans running round shooting at each other, with only glimpses of the monster. We also find out that the legends say the lake is full of gold, which the monster protects. When old Rana finally does show up on screen the body count goes up until Kelly finally finishes it off. Or does he. See this is why he is back, now all grown up with a hot girlfriend. He wants to go looking for the body of the monster and maybe the gold that it was protecting. The last few minutes of the movie is Kelly’s search for the body. Guess what happens?

Okay so let me be entirely honest here as I’m about to start the actual review of Rana: The Legend of Shadow Lake. This is a cheesy drive-in movie made on the cheap by one of my favorite directors of these kinds of movies Bill Rebane (Giant Spider Invasion, Demons of Ludlow). If you are looking for a thoughtful, well written film with great special effects then this isn’t the movie for you. That said the movie is a decent little monster movie. There is a part of the movie where the characters wander off in a boat to escape the monster that is a bit slow and seems like it is stretched out some, but other than that the pacing is fine. I was kind of surprised at how much of the movie is taken up with the human characters fighting with each other, much of which happens before the monster makes an appearance. But then considering the look of Rana that might not have been a bad decision. The acting is competent, but not spectacular, and is pretty much what I expect when I sit down to watch an independent movie made for the drive-in market.

I’ve already mentioned the creature and the makeup. For most of the movie we only get glimpses at Rana, which is for good reason. The costume is mostly rubber, with some plastic like material covering the body. This might turn some people off, but I’m a big fan of the rubber-suited critters from the 50s and 60s science fiction flicks. This seems like a throwback and for me only adds to the cheesy feel of the movie. There is a decent kill with Rana crushing one guy’s head against a tree and the body of a diver ripped in half showing up. Not too bad for what was clearly a low budget.

I think this might be my 2nd favorite Bill Rebane movie with Demons of Ludlow being my favorite. But then I’m a huge fan of the guy (he was like our second interview on the show) and might be a bit biased. Then again I have always been honest with you guys and let you know I do like some crappy movies. Rana: The Legend of Shadow Lake is available on a Troma triple pack under the alternate title Croaked: Frog Monster from Hell. If you can get it for a decent price I think you should for this movie alone (the others are pretty bad).

2 ½ out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer