PopHorror Let's Get Scared
The time has finally come real-life monster story fans! The next installment in the docuseries dedicated to those legends passed down from generation to generation that has put sleepy small towns on the map since the likes of Bigfoot, the New Jersey Devil, and the Mothman is finally here.
Seth Breedlove and the gang at Small Town Monsters (The Mothman of Point Pleasant 2017, The Flatwoods Monster: A Legacy of Fear 2018 – read our review here) bring us Momo: The Missouri Monster!
The Legend
The hair-covered, three-toed monstrosity was said to have prowled the forests of Star Hill near Louisiana, Missouri, during the summer of 1972 where it was seen by terrified citizens for weeks.
Review
I was elated when I saw Momo: The Missouri Monster up for grabs to review. I had the chance to catch The Mothman of Point Pleasant (2017) done by the same group and thoroughly enjoyed it. This time around, things go off the rails in the best way possible.
How do you effectively cover a story about a three-toed Bigfoot-like monster, one that may actually be intertwined with UFO sightings that happened at roughly the same time, as the first appearance of Momo? A Sasquatch alien crossover that is smelled before it is seen due to its gut-wrenching stench that permeates its surroundings. Momo: The Missouri Monster is one part mockumentary and one part B movie schlock that is anything but a stinker.
Breedlove interweaves a 1970s grindhouse film nod with a solidly assembled documentary to capture the essence of the era that this modern legend was conceived. At first, I was thrown off and a bit confused, but after a few jumps from film to doc them back I settled into the format and looked forward to the next installment of one while watching the other.
All the scenes of the B film are well-acted and feel quite authentic most of the time. The oversaturation and film grain heavily add to the experience which actually managed to make second guess its implied authenticity during certain scenes.
Admittedly, the documentary portions of Momo: The Missouri Monster is what really attracted me in the first place, and they delivered in spades. The filmmakers have a seasoned and slick technique in the editing department. The inserts during eyewitness testimony were beautiful, and transitions between them and the live interviews were cut with a high degree of professional skill, standing solidly among those of network television series.
Our host Lyle Blackburn, (Blackburn’s Cryptid Casefiles) has great style and screen presence. Blackburn stands out as a host I will continue to think of whenever someone mentions any stories of mysteriously mythical creatures hailing from backwater towns. I look forward to future installments where he helms.
Final Thoughts
I have to admit that one of my guilty pleasures has always been to lay down in bed, wrapped up in a blanket burrito, lights off and watch a good old cryptozoology creature feature documentary. Momo: The Missouri Monster was a great addition to that, and also offered up a fun B movie on the side, playing up to another genre favorites of mine.
I feel like this project is a transitional one where Seth Breedlove, along with Mark Matzke (Terror in the Skies 2019) and Jason Utes, are testing the waters for a future full-on work fiction. If so, I am absolutely on board to see what their collective and talentedly twisted minds will come up with next to spook us all out.
Momo: The Missouri Monster will be available on DVD, as well as Vimeo On Demand, Amazon Instant Video, and VIDI Space on Friday, September 20, 2019. Check it out and discover the strange and fantastic tale of the one of a kind Momo!
