We’ve all got those DVDs hidden away deep within our collection. We never knew why we bought them and we’ve never really given them a second glance since. Well for me, that DVD was El Chupacabra, a film I know nothing about nor why I bought it, but being the 31 Days of Horror feature I figured “Sure, why not”.
El Chupacabra start with some part of LA being terrorised by a Chupacabra, a mystical beast which feeds on animals and humans alike. The town is torn between the sceptics who believe it to be just another myth, which is fronted by hot-head animal control officer, Navarro (Eric Alegria), and the superstitious believers, fronted by author Starlina Devine (Elina Madison). The legend of the Chupacabra tells of it being a blood-sucking creature, its name literally translates to ‘goat-sucker’. Scientist Dr. Goodspeed (Anthony ‘Treach’ Criss) and his right-hand man Mason (Layton Matthews) know the truth about the mystical beast and are intent on tracking it down before all the wild conspiracy theorists of America end up on their back door. Navarro and Starlina team up to try and catch the beast because Starlina wants to save it from the people who might try and hurt it. Navarro only helps her because he wants to prove her wrong that it’s nothing more than ‘a wild dog’. They’ve got competition though, as Detective Noriega (Jerry Rodriguez) and his partner Sophia (Calvi Pabon) chase down the monster thinking he’s a serial killer, and a bounty of 5 million is put on the head of Chupacabra, heightening the interest for all sorts of residents around the area and putting them in competition with each other to try and catch the monster and collect the reward.
This truly is a low-budget B-movie at its absolute finest. One minute in and one of the actors looks right at the camera, right down the lens by accident and it sets off the tone for what sort of things are to come and you can’t help but think this film won’t disappoint.
With films like El Chupacabra you’ve got to leave your reservations at the door. It’s hard to sometimes tell whether or not this film was made in a serious or light-hearted way back in 2003, but you’d like to think directors Brennon Jones and Paul Wynne (as well as all of the actors involved) knew their limitations and just had fun with it. Some of the acting is so bad it’s great, other parts are just normally bad, which isn’t as fun. They key is to go in watching it with no expectations or reservations and you’ll have a great time.
Rating: A throw-away flick of epic proportions that offers a surprisingly good time (3/10).
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