Reviewed by Forris Day Jr.
As a kid (late 70s) on Saturday afternoons I would watch “Creature Double Feature” at 1pm on Chanel 56 out of Boston, MA. They would mostly show the Japanese monster movies with Godzilla, Mothera, the Three Headed Monster and I even remember one with a little baby Godzilla. Imagine changing his diaper. Those were the days. Cheesy monsters ruled my life. Now that I’m an adult…well…I still love cheesy monsters and Muckman delivers. Muckman is truly what B-movie should be about. Well written enough to be good, with a bit of corny stuff to make it fun. Ohh, and it also has some hillbilly humor which is always appreciated!
The story written by Mark Polonia and Brett Piper focuses on a TV crew for a reality show on the legendary Muckman. They head off into the woods to search for the elusive creature. Soon they come upon him but is he real? The plot continues to thicken as the story splits from the main crews investigation and to the Production Assistant, Billie, (Alison Whitney) investigation into the Muckman. The story takes some really good twists a turns as we try to figure out if he is real or not. A very good cast of actors that include many Indie film veterans including Buzz Cartier, Steve Diasparra, A.J. Khan, Ian Piper, Ken Van Sant, and Jared Warren.
I really enjoyed the dynamics between all the women characters. They were all so different from one another. A.J. Kahn as Asia Buchanan, the ruthless TV show host who you just have to hate through the whole movie. Danielle Donahue as Pauline is wonderful as the head of the TV crew just trying to keep it all together and of course Alison Whitney as Billie, the smarter than anyone PA who stays to herself and just does her own thing including her own investigation.
It’s a comedic story of greed, power, deception and compassion all rolled up into one neat package called “Muckman”. The movie wraps up with some pretty neat stop action creatures created by Piper (who also wrote and directed) and a bit of a surprise at the end, but I won’t give that away. You’ll have to watch it for yourself, and I recommend you do, if you are a fan of B-movie monsters.
Scared Stiff Rating: 9/10 – Muckman is keepin’ it real in the swamp!!!
