PopHorror Let's Get Scared
In Ohio folklore, The Loveland Frogman is a 4 ft tall humanoid frog that roams around the woods in Loveland, Ohio. Until recently, I had never heard of this, but it came to my attention through Facebook, where I saw several indie horror filmmakers taking about the found footage film Frogman,. I decided to check out the film for myself due to this strong words of mouth.
Read on for my thoughts on Frogman.
Synopsis
In 1999, a 12-year-old named Dallas Kyle captures footage of the mythical creature, Frogman, but no one believes it is real. Twenty years later, he returns to the same place with his friends to obtain irrefutable proof that it exists.
Frogman was directed by Anthony Cousins (Scare Package) from a script he wrote with John Karsko (Scare Package 2). The film stars Nathan Tymoshuk, Benny Barrett, Chelsey Grant (V/H/S/ 85), Alie Daniels (Edge of Sanity), Chari Eckmann (The Dawn), Liam Hage, Stephen Hage (Marmalade), Justen Jones (V/H/S/ 85), Michael Paul Levin (I Am Not A Serial Killer), Arden Michalec, Shea Mikel (Sins of the Father), Jack Neveaux, Brian Sams (The Hand That Feeds) and Brandon Santiago.
I absolutely loved Frogman. I thought it was really cool that it started out kinda goofy, like 3 friends just hanging out looking for an urban legend one of them saw as a kid into something way more unsettling and sinister. The film takes its time letting us get to know the characters and grow to like them and care about them before going full tilt boogie in the second half and building to an absolutely bonkers final act. I haven’t had this much fun with a found footage film since I marathoned the V/H/S/ series recently.
Imagine my surprise when I found out Chelsey Grant, one of the leads, was in V/H/S/ 85 as well as the amazing anthologies Scare Package and Scare Package 2. She’s a lot of fun here and provides a lot of comedic relief as well as acting as the voice of reason of the group. Nathan Tymoshuk and Benny Barrett round out the core trio and I absolutely loved the chemistry between the 3. They feel like genuine friends, which isn’t something thats easy to pull off.
The look of the creature in Frogman really worked for me. It’s realistic enough to be scary and the found footage format really sells it. The final act where the creature is revealed in full is packed full of surprises. I really wasn’t expecting things to go quite the way they did and it was genuinely quite shocking and fucked up.
Final Thoughts
Frogman is a fun and effective found footage creature feature that delivers the shocks and thrills. It’s got an excellent cast and great special effects. If you enjoy found footage films and creature feature, Frogman delivers the goods. Highly recommended.
You can stream Frogman now on Screambox and Vudu/Fandango.
