Sadly Over-hyped

A Disappointing Continuation

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

A troubled policeman and his teenage daughter find that the rash of mysterious deaths in the small town they live to move on from a personal tragedy is caused by a marauding Indian spirit and race to stop it before it consumes more in the town.A lot better than what it sounds like, though there's still some big flaws in here, mainly in the quick-cut editing that keeps the action really hard to make out and a lot of problems with the story, like keeping the father/daughter interactions more rooted in a Lifetime drama and basically shoe-horning the monster into the finale for a brief, barely-worthwhile encounter as well as keeping them off-screen and really mysterious as far as their behavior and motivations are concerned, but it's all made up for with a fantastic creature when we see it, tons of gore and lots of nudity, as well as a really worthwhile tactic of keeping their appearances limited to emerging from fog-shrouded tree-lines, so it's attacks have some atmosphere to work with. Far, far better than it should be, but still with some flaws.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Nudity, sex scenes and drug use

I probably wouldn't recommend this for general moviegoers, but this is an above-average production from the world of low-budget horror which displays some genuine effort and a refreshing level of creativity. The monster is an unusual one, drawn from Indian folklore and given an interesting motivation, with a grisly appearance that is used sparingly but to impressive effect. The mystery behind the killings includes a number of red herrings, and the ultimate revelation is the most sensible one. The plot isn't air tight, but this is fantasy, and overall the script is rather well-constructed compared to your typical genre entry. Acting quality varies, with star Dean Cain as the standout. Cain plays the troubled small-town police chief with conviction and makes the character's inner struggle not only believable but involving. The rest of the cast is good enough, though the story does suffer a bit due to several of the main characters frankly not being very likable, despite the fact I think the scriptwriter took some paints to make them more than the typical monster fodder. The director does well by emphasizing the eerie forest where several of the killings take place, creating several highly atmospheric moments. The climax could have been amped up a bit, but it still brings everything to a satisfying conclusion. An epilogue leaves an opening for a sequel which will probably never come, and while this is as bad an idea here as it always is it's not enough to spoil the rest of the picture. Maneater may not be the next horror classic, but it's not bad, and in many respects outshines most of its competitors. Fans of the genre who can appreciate this type of movie's strengths and forgive its minor weaknesses should enjoy it.

Dean Cain plays Bailey, a small town sheriff whose wife disappeared and who is now overprotective of his 17 year-old daughter. He is convinced that his wife will return. He also might have witnessed the brutal murder of a girl in his teens with whom he was frolicking out in the woods. His deputies are a heavy guy who gets to play the chaperone of Bailey's daughter; and an older American-Indian.Suddenly there's a brutal crime that reminds the Indian of something that happened long ago. Bailey realizes that it wasn't an animal attack but a human deed. Meanwhile a new teen guy arrives in town and Bailey's daughter falls for him, much the the chagrin of Bailey who wants her to remain pure.More people start disappearing and Bailey discovers in his research and through his nightmares and memories that what may be out there on the loose is a windigo, a shapeshifting human who devours and tears apart other humans and even starts eating itself. The old town's doctor who acts suspiciously when confronted by Bailey finally admits that in the past a windigo was in town but was eliminated.When finally the daughter and the boy are getting hot and heavy the windigo attacks but the sheriffs arrive in time. There's a surprise revelation as to the identity of the maneater.This is a very good horror movie, hampered a bit by a low budget. Fortunately they did use all the resources on gore and violence. Acting is good and so is the script. Cain's character in his obsession about his wife can be annoying. There's a gorgeous diner owner/employee who has the hots for him but he claims to be married. It's not clear sometimes if some scenes are flashbacks, memories, or nightmares. The sexy teens are particularly likable and fun. They are still innocent and full of nervous excitement at the prospect of love- unlike cynical city kids. Their interaction is very well portrayed. What is lacking is better equipment and better lighting to give the movie a better look. Overall a very entertaining movie for horror fans that deserves a sequel.

Maneater is set in a small rural peaceful US town where ex-FBI profiler Harry Bailey (executive producer Dean Cain) is the Sheriff, one morning the peace is shattered when a badly burnt body of a man is found & just chunks of ripped apart flesh of what used to be his girlfriend. Harry is on the case but the coroner (Conrad Janis) says that a sample taken from the crime scene has him puzzled as it's not human but not animal either, in fact he describes it as almost human. Various towns people go missing as panic spreads, then Harry's daughter Pearl's (Lacy Phillips) slutty best friend Kay (Nicole Moore) goes missing & Pearl decides to look for whatever took her which causes Harry all sorts of problems as he can't control the towns people who want answers & he can't quite believe what the evidence suggests as ancient legends of shape-shifting monsters seem to be the only thing that makes sense...Co-written, co-produced & directed by Michael Emanuel this is yet another Sci-Fi Channel style 'Creature Feature' that is maybe a touch better then the average example, at the time of writing this comment there are no other comments or external reviews on the IMDb so maybe this has not been widely released yet & in fact I wouldn't be surprised if the Sci-Fi Channel snapped it up & aired it as it's right up their street. Right, where to start? Well firstly a lot of the running time of Maneater is spent on domestic dramas as Harry & his daughter Pearl have the usual parent child arguments going on & then there's Harry's missing wife, Pearl's new boyfriend & her best friend going missing & as such at times Maneater relegates it's creature feature elements to merely a side issue which is not good since the only reason anyone is likely to want to watch this is because of the monsters. The plot is alright, there's not a whole lot of explanation behind the creatures except for the dull Native American Indian legend cliché & there's a reasonable twist ending that while not exactly Earth shattering show's a little more effort than the usual 'Creature Feature'. Of course Maneater does have it's problems like there not being enough monster action & Harry manages to solve the entire case by doing an internet search from which he finds out everything about the Maneater he needs to & is a lazy way for the writers to wrap the film up.The one thing that stands out about Maneater is that it has quite a lot of nudity & sex in it, the first half an hour or so has two sex scenes & four pairs of exposed breast's which is pretty good going. Unfortunately the gore factor isn't as high, there's a ripped off head, a ripped off arm, a badly burned man, a chunk of flesh & some blood splatter but little else although the actual monsters here look pretty good & the make-up effects are good too. Shot in full 2:35:1 widescreen not many horror films are so it's nice to see & it's filmed with a very natural colour scheme as the majority of scenes seem to be lit by the sun with shafts of light coming in log cabins through windows & the like. Maneater looks pretty good & doesn't look as low budget as it might have.The production values are good although forgettable, the acting is alright if not exactly great with Dean Cain the only name in the cast of any interest.Maneater isn't a bad little 'Creature Feature' style horror film although it's not any sort of masterpiece, there's some gore, some nudity & the odd twist which should keep most happy for an hour & a half if they know what they are going in to. Not to be confused with Maneater (2007) the made-for-telly 'Creature Feature' with Gary Busey about a killer tiger.