Frogman – Movie Review (3/5)

FROGMAN is a found-footage horror movie made with an obvious passion for the genre. You can find it on SCREAMBOX – or on VHS. Oh yeah, it’s old school. Read our full Frogman movie review here!

FROGMAN is a new horror movie on Screambox. It’s dubbed a “Cryptid Creature Feature” which is very accurate, but it is also very much a found-footage movie that clearly knows how to do the POV subgenre right.

This is – and I mean this wholeheartedly – one of the most efficient and honest in its niche since the iconic The Blair Witch Project. I mean, it’s even getting released on VHS which speaks volumes about the passion of the filmmakers.

Continue reading our Frogman movie review below. Find it on SCREAMBOX from June 7, 2024.

Practical effects and passion

Most of this horror movie plays out in Loveland, Ohio. This is the home of the Frogman. It’s also an important source of revenue for the city as people travel there to get a glimpse of the mythical creature.

Our main character is the adult Dallas Kyle, but as revealed in the opening scene, he had a profound experience in 1999. It was during the summer of 1999 that a then-12-year-old Dallas Kyle captured footage of the Frogman.

Of course, no one truly believed it was real, so now Dallas Kyle is returning as an adult. It’s two decades later when the now amateur filmmaker decides to make a documentary about the mythical cryptid of Loveland.

However, seeing as this is a horror movie, the would-be-documentary turns into a Lovecraftian nightmare. Secrets of the Loveland cryptid include a possible cult and finding out if Frogman can read minds… and possibly procreate with human women?!

Found footage shot on Hi-8

Yes, for that authentic vintage feel, most of this cryptid creature feature was shot on Hi-8. I loved that scratchy and jumpy vintage feel and the fact that it’s released on VHS as well makes so much sense to me.

Though, for most of us, watching it on SCREAMBOX is much easier.

Before hopping onto SCREAMBOX, this movie has been working the festival circuit with great success. I can only imagine how awesome screening this at a genre film festival would be.

If you’ve ever attended a genre film festival, I highly recommend it. Watching these weird and wacky movies with like-minded genre fans just makes for an awesome experience.

Based on the Loveland Frogman legend

When dealing with a found-footage movie about three friends going out to capture a cryptid (and cryptic) creature known as “Frogman”, you don’t expect a “This is based on a true story”-moniker.

And you won’t find it here either, as the story of this horror movie (with elements of horror-comedy). However, the core plot is based on the real-life legend of the Loveland Frogman.

So, the story isn’t true, but the legend is.

And no, this time around we’re not in Blair Witch territory in the sense that the filmmakers have made up the legend as well. The legend of the Loveland Frogman is a real thing. Whether the actual cryptid creature is real, is another thing.

As one of the taglines of this movie goes: “The croaks are no hoax!”

Watch Frogman on SCREAMBOX

Directed by Anthony Cousins and filmed almost entirely on VHS, pretty much everything about the Frogman movie works for me. Not just on paper, but on the screen.

Using almost exclusively practical effects, we’re getting all the gritty and kitsch details I love from low-budget/full-passion filmmaking. Director Anthony Cousins also co-wrote the screenplay with John Karsko.

Even the cast consisting of Nathan Tymoshuk (Kill Me), Chelsey Grant (Scare Package and Scare Package II), Benny Barrett (The Harbinger), and Justen Jones (V/H/S/85) just works!

The found-footage movie is already out as a Collector’s Version VHS (from February 9, 2024) and premiered on VOD/Digital Platforms on March 8. Now it’s made it onto SCREAMBOX and we finally had a chance to watch it ahead of this.

The runtime of Frogman is just 80 minutes and you won’t be bored. It escalates in wild ways and there is ample room for a sequel. Not that it’s necessary as this is a complete story.

Frogman is out on SCREAMBOX from June 7, 2024.

Details

Director: Anthony Cousins
Writers: John Karsko and Anthony Cousins
Cast: Nathan Tymoshuk, Chelsey Grant, Benny Barrett, Justen Jones