Croak

Director - Matt Barrett 

Starring - Patrick Basquill (Abducted!, 8 Slices), Bennett Pellington (Bloodhounds, The Reason), and Anthony Reynolds (Black Lightning, Fantastic Four)

Release Date- 2017

Genre - Comedy/Horror

Tagline - "Evolve or die"

Format - Streaming (YouTube)

Rating (out of 5):

     I've been tearing through reviews the last month or so and I find myself almost becoming obsessed with reviewing as many indie horror flicks as I can.  A few nights ago I found the found footage horror short Camping Fun on Instagram while browsing the hashtags.  Not long after I found another post for the indie horror comedy Croak from Gillybear Productions.  This looked like the kind of short I could get into.  I immediately rushed to YouTube where I found their channel and the short.  After I watch Camping Fun I immediately hit play on Croak.  

     The film follows a slacker who is late for work one day when the frogs outside his home keep him up all night croaking.  He loses his job and decides to seek revenge against them.  He steals some chemicals from his old work truck and attempts to poison them.  However, the chemicals have a different reaction with the toads and one of them mutates into a monsterous humanoid frog with a taste for human flesh.  

     I loved everything about this film except one thing...the run time.  I loved the cast, the story, the creature reveal and how the movie ended.  I just wish the movie had more to it.  The story could have easily been stretched into a feature length film which I hope will happen one day.  It was a lot of fun and there was so much potential for even more fun.  The acting in this one is great.  The characters are all fun and stand out with the character of the stoner slacker really holding the film together.  The beast has a personality as well that added even more humor to the horror aspect of the film.  I really enjoyed the cast and would love to see them all return to another no budget horror feature.  The story for this one takes me back to the late 80s and early 90s direct to video horror classics that I grew up.  Honestly, I could really see this one come out from Moon Beam Entertainment (Full Moon Pictures sister company for children's releases).  It had that Prehysteria feel which is a childhood favorite of mine.  It's short and no time is wasted.  The pacing is consistent.  Finally, the film has an amazing full body costume that looks absolutely amazing and some seriously fun practical effects.  They say that the film was made on a budget of around $400 which really surprises me.  I assume all of it went into the effects.  Overall, Croak is a must see for fans of horror comedies or for those of you with an eye for practical effects.  I highly recommend it.  You will not be disappointed especially for the length of the short.