Legend of the Chupacabra (2000) (V)

Director:

Joe Castro

Writers:

Rudy Balli (writer)
Mark Stephens (writer)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

The Chupacabra (Spanish for "goat sucker")--Is it mere folklore? A government conspiracy? Some weirdo in a latex suit...

Plot Keywords:

Fake Documentary | Legend | Urban Legend

Cast

Katsy Joiner	...	Maria Esperanza
J.T. Trevino	...	Pete Cortez
Chris Doughton	...	Daniel Webster
Stan McKinney	...	George Armistad
Sandy Schwartz	...	The Curandera
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Brenda Ambrize	...	Sarah
Elizabeth Del Sol	...	Maria
Uzziel Martinez	...	Sick Biker
Paul Podraza	...	Jackson
Lewis Sarkozi	...	Sheriff
Kevin Sloan	...	Chupacabra / Man #2 in Amateur Video
Frank Thomas	...	Deputy Lowe
Darlene Tygrett	...	Luisa
Mauricio Zatarain	...	Hector

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:R

Joe Castro's Legend of the Chupacabra

The chupacabra, according to this mockumentary, is a mysterious

creature that has been killing and eating Hispanic goats in Latin

America and Mexico for years. One has crossed the border into

southern Texas, and a cute, intrepid cryptozoologist (no, I did not

make up that word) go to an isolated ranch to find one. Her uncle

was killed by the creature, and some grainy video footage of the

monster exists. She takes a badass black guy with a gun and two

cameramen (for easy-to-edit coverage), and they go ahuntin' for

chupacabras. Ten minutes into the film, they find it.

The rest of the film has the team of documentarians getting

attacked by the bloodthirsty monster, and stilted dialogue. At one

point, the team runs into a couple of hottie witches who lead them

to the chupacabra's nest...for $100. If only the FBI knew about how

cheaply Tex-Mex witches could be bought as informants. Whole

decades of mythical beast reports could be cleared up with a

blank check.

In the end, after the bloody deaths of characters you don't give a

goat's patoot about, a chupacabra is captured, killed, and

autopsied. The only point of the autopsy scene is to highlight the

makeup department's efforts in such a cheap film.

The film is shot on video, just like "BWP," yet the cameraman

characters never reload their tapes or recharge their camera

batteries. The lead actress here is awful. The beauty of the

average "BWP" was its use of improvisation during the production.

Here, all the lines are written, and are delivered like a poorly

rehearsed Christmas pageant.

The film is tinged with racism, as well. The only African-American

here is a loudmouthed gun nut. At one point, as the crew breaks

into an abandoned house, they find a trio of illegal immigrants who

comically ask them if they are from the INS. Chortle, chortle.

The monster itself is a guy in a rubber suit, and nothing more. For

such a lumbering and awkward beast, he is able to sneak up on

the cast pretty quietly, whether they have idiotically locked

themselves in a giant cage as bait, or cannot seem to get their

only vehicle started.

The gore is gruesome, but when surrounded by this kind of

stupidity, it loses all of its effectiveness. I do not know if this was

shot before or after "BWP," but I can honestly say this is the worst

film ever made in southern Texas about a mythical beast. Pray

there are not any sequels, I will start a letter writing campaign to

Troma.

This is rated (R) for strong physical violence, gun violence, strong

gore, and profanity.