A One Mann’s Movies review of “Loch Ness: They Created a Monster” (2023).
“Loch Ness: They Created a Monster” is a new documentary. It focuses less on the alleged famous denizen of the deep and more on the set of enthusiastic monster-hunters from all around the world who came seeking fame and fortune by recording it.
This movie was shown at Cannes and had its UK premiere at the Inverness Film Festival last Friday. It is set for cinema release (at least in Scotland) from next Friday, November 10th 2023. And it’s very entertaining.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
In the early 1970’s a fresh media frenzy erupted around the Loch Ness Monster. New photos emerged, from the committed monster hunter and egocentric Frank Searle. This prompted a series of local and international groups to descend on the region: some serious scientific projects and some less so.
Certification:
UK: NR; US: NR; This doesn’t seem to have a published BBFC certificate yet. There is very occasional bad language and some discussion of sexual activity which, I’d suggest, might make this a “12” rather than a “PG”.
Talent:
Directed by: John MacLaverty.
Twitter Handle: #LochNess_TCAM.
Running Time: 1h 31m.
The ‘irresistible‘ Frank Searle: a sexual magnet for ‘Girl Fridays’. (Source: Hopscotch Films)
“Loch Ness: They Created a Monster” Review:
Positives:
- This is a very comprehensive and competently put-together documentary. There’s a wealth of footage provided here. It set me thinking about how anyone actually goes about putting a film like this together. How to you identify all the TV and video references to Loch Ness hunters in the first place? (For example: Leonard Nimoy and Arthur C. Clarke talking on the subject; random bits of Blue Peter; bits of broadcasts like John Craven’s Newsround?) And then, in an age before internet indexing, how do you physically get hold of the film clips? It’s very impressive.
- There’s a lot of humour included. Both in terms of the ridiculousness nature of some of the investigations and in terms of the way some of those interviewed express themselves.
- Frank Searle was an unlikely sex-God. His visiting teenage “Girl-Fridays” seemed to find him irresistible (much to the delight of News of the World editors!) Interviewed 50 years later, one of them, Lieve Peten, describes how Searle has sex with another young admirer in their tiny caravan. What was she doing? Quietly reading a book in the corner!
- Yoshio Kou, a Chinese promoter and entrepreneur, intent (and still intent!) on capturing one or more of the creatures. He intends to parade them around the world like in the “King Kong” movie! Either that, or to present, dead or alive, as a wedding gift for Princess Anne!
- In another interview of the time, Tim Dinsdale, a committed hunter who spent 20 years trying to get the elusive evidence, privided this wonderful exchange:
Interviewer: “Your tenth year … you’ve been looking for the monster. What luck have you had during that time”.
Tim Dinsdale: “Well, most interestingly, I haven’t had very much!”
- The film also turns surprisingly dark in its latter stages with tales of aggression, criminal arson, threats and suspected murder. All juicy stuff to spice-up the documentary. Much of this revolves around the ex-Army soldier Frank Searle, who is painted as a nasty piece of work. Searle appears in the film, and I was frustrated that some of the ‘hard questions’ about the allegations were not more forcibly put to him by the film-maker. (But there is a good reason for that!)
Negatives:
- One slight frustration is that there is no dateline added to the story. While occasionally, you’ll see a newspaper header etc to set you right, often there are no such markers. Some date captions would have helped place the events you see in some sort of sequence.
- The film reuses some of the clips extensively. I’d have preferred it if it had been a few minutes shorter and been less repetitive in its visuals.
Summary Thoughts on “Loch Ness: They Created a Monster”
I didn’t realise on going into this that the film would resonate so strongly with my own personal history. In 1981, when myself and the Illustrious Mrs Movie Man were students and newly engaged, we went to work for the summer holidays as waiting staff at the Glenurquhart Lodge Hotel in Drumnadtochit. In fact, we were employed by one Alec Farquhar, who briefly pops up in this film for an interview! The hotel was next to the, then new, Loch Ness Visitors Centre and we do remember that there was some rumblings of bad feeling in the village about the commercialisation at the time.
But I digress. This is an interesting and entertaining documentary that is well-worth your time if you can get to see it. As it was supported by BBC Scotland, I’d assume that if you can’t get to see it on the big screen it will probably make an appearance at some point on the Beeb.
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Trailer for “Loch Ness: They Created a Monster”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X75UN7gS7g .
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