Chupacabra Terror (2005)

Released in 2005 and directed by John Shepphird, "Chupacabra Terror" chronicles events on a cruise ship when a cryptozoologist (Giancarlo Esposito) sneaks a chupacabra on board. It doesn't take long for it to be unleashed from its cage and a squad of commandos comes aboard. John Rhys-Davies plays the Captain and Chelan Simmons his tae-bo instructor daughter. Dylan Neal appears as a marshal while David Millbern is on hand as a venal charmer who milks the rich (Paula Shaw).The monster is a guy in a suit rather than CGI and it looks effectively terrifying, albeit too tall for a creature that's supposedly the size of a small bear. Freckled-blond Chelan is cute as ever, but not enough is done with her. The film generally fumbles the ball on the female front. The ship sets are fine, and the movie may even have been shot on an actual vessel, but the long shots of the ship are cartoony CGI, and it's too obvious. There's a lot of action as the crew & militarists try to take down the chupacabra, but the creature is SO invulnerable it's unbelievable. In its favor, the tone is austere and the likable cast takes the material seriously. There's quite a bit of gore.I can handle any of the negatives cited above, except for prosaic writing. And that's the problem with this movie: A by-the-numbers script with no meat on the bones. The flick's thoroughly banal and it kills it. Kids might like it though. The movie runs 88 minutes and was shot in Turks and Caicos Islands. The script was written by Steve Jankowski & the director. GRADE: C-

Obsessive zoologist Dr. Pena (nicely played by Giancarlo Esposito) captures a chupacabra (Mark Viniello in a funky rubber suit) and smuggles it on board a deluxe ocean liner. However, the chupacabra gets loose and goes on a grisly rampage. It's up to stalwart U.S. Marshall Lance Thompson (a solid and likable performance by Dylan Neal) and the hearty, gutsy, and debonair Captain Randolph (a marvelously lively and charismatic performance by John Rhys-Davies) to kill the bloodthirsty beast.Director John Sheppird, who also co-wrote the compact and eventful script with Steven Jankowski, keeps the enjoyably asinine story zipping along at a brisk pace, treats the silly premise with admirable seriousness, stages the attack and action set pieces with rip-roaring aplomb, delivers a generous amount of gore, and even manages to generate a reasonable amount of tension. Moreover, it's acted with gusto by an enthusiastic cast: Chelan Simmons as Randolph's spunky daughter Jenny, Paula Shaw as snippy and pampered rich bitch Mrs. Hartman, David Millbern as smarmy thief Rick McGraw, and Matthew R. Anderson as two-fisted Navy SEAL Commander Hamilton. Penka Kouneva's robust score hits the rousing spot. Neal Brown's slick cinematography gives this picture a neat polished look. Nifty Grade B creature feature fun.

An amazing film that made me want to see it over and over. I saw it with a group of friends expecting a made for TV flop, but was pleasantly surprised to be scared out of my wits. i was on the ground almost in tears for a quarter of the film. The characters were believable, minus a few corny quotes: "I'm the best insurance you've got." , "We need more firepower!" "I don't know what you are talking about!?! I am a very wealthy man, this isn't what it looks like." The literal translation to the Spanish word "chokeberry" is "goat sucker" this movie shows the "chokeberry" as a savage beast thirsty for blood, and lots of it.And of course the "chokeberry" mask/ costume was very realistic. the graphics were a little sketchy but the compelling plot made up for what the visual effects lacked. It was a gory film with lots of blood. I do not recommend this movie for squeamish land lubbers. A terrifying flick to watch with friends. Just remember to lock up your goats!

Oh my God... where to begin? "Chupacabra Terror" is one of the worst B-Horror movies ever made. This crap makes "Demon Slayer" look like "The Exorcist". Special note: A Horror B-movie needs to have at least one sex scene. Don't expect even a hot girl in this one. With that inexcusable mistake, I should begin with the complete bash.First of all, if you're going to make a Horror monster movie, you should spend big part of the budget in creating a "cool" monster outfit. The monster in this movie looks like a $10 Halloween costume. There is no way the Chupacabras (yes, this is how it is spelled) looks menacing in the movie. It's an actor in a Halloween outfit please!! it looks so cheap it makes me mad. Second, the gore effects are the spinal cord of any direct to video monster Horror movie. Again, the producers decided not to spend for decent gore effects. The blood looks damn fake! Please take a close look at the guy that gets chopped in two. That's probably the best scene in the movie and it lasts for about ten seconds. The ending is a very poor scene that won't leave you satisfied. The acting is the last thing you should expect to have quality in these kind of movies; but in this movie it's beyond terrible. A cast of nobodies with no acting experience make the fool out of themselves for about 85 minutes. Special mention deserves a blonde guy with curly hair that tries to convince SWAT members that he is sick. The coughing he fakes is beyond laughable. He's probably the worst actor ever in a B-Horror movie, no kidding. Also, Captain Peña delivers a terrible performance in the first ten minutes of the flick. The TRUE story behind the Chupacabras is not even told. All you get to know is that the monster sucks goat's blood. Why bother with this piece of crap? Plesae, do not even watch it even if you have the chance. Not even if it airs on cable. I usually support low budget Horror movies because the people involved in them at least try to do something "different" than Hollywood but that doesn't means that Horror fans like me should accept this kind of garbage.