There seem to be two trains of thought on this: one, it is one of the most ineptly made movies ever, or two, it is intentionally bad. I am inclined to believe the latter.
Here are some reasons I believe it is a spoof of cheap horror movies:
1) The main characters are going through a box passed down to one of them because, he is told, he might need it some day. Inside the box are several things including a dildo, but no one mentions the dildo in the box! The character talks about one of the other items in the box, but not the sex toy. If one takes the dialog to be about the dildo, it is quite amusing.
2) There is one scene where several of the characters journey to the mountaintop and react to the horrible, awe-inspiring sight they see; however, the camera never shows it! We only see the faces of the characters reacting to it.
3) Near the beginning, the two rangers go to the local hot spot (the inn) to question the owner who is holding an opening party of some sort. The clientele look ancient and there is a "toaster giveaway"! At the end of the scene, the wise-cracking, horndog ranger is hitting on an old lady and he has won the toaster!
3) The claymation monsters and their claymation victims are hilariously rendered, and the way they are incorporated into the live action is very amusing. For example, a woman is topless in her house, she screams and reacts to the offscreen claymation monster at her window, then there is an exterior shot of the monster pulling out the claymation victim (who is clothed, now) and flinging her to her death.
4) Some action movie cliches are there, also. The owner of the lodge will not close because of the business generated by the fall festival even though his guests are in grave danger. The ranger and he argue about it in several scenes.
5) Another cliche: As the story ends with the two surviving heroes defeating the monster and walking away, they start laughing and the ranger says, "Next time let's go bear hunting!"
6) The acting varies from horrible to adequate, but do not miss the owner of the lodge (the villain of the film) whose emoting is incredibly inept or breathtakingly brilliant depending on whether he was trying to be that annoying a character.
7) The bad guy, the owner of the lodge, spontaneously combusts! I can think of quite a few movies that would be improved immensely with some spontaneous combustion.
8) The low budget adds to the overall ineptitude and fun.
Is this intentionally bad and a comedy, or is it unintentionally horrid and a mess? Either way, it is fun!
Here are some reasons I believe it is a spoof of cheap horror movies:
1) The main characters are going through a box passed down to one of them because, he is told, he might need it some day. Inside the box are several things including a dildo, but no one mentions the dildo in the box! The character talks about one of the other items in the box, but not the sex toy. If one takes the dialog to be about the dildo, it is quite amusing.
2) There is one scene where several of the characters journey to the mountaintop and react to the horrible, awe-inspiring sight they see; however, the camera never shows it! We only see the faces of the characters reacting to it.
3) Near the beginning, the two rangers go to the local hot spot (the inn) to question the owner who is holding an opening party of some sort. The clientele look ancient and there is a "toaster giveaway"! At the end of the scene, the wise-cracking, horndog ranger is hitting on an old lady and he has won the toaster!
3) The claymation monsters and their claymation victims are hilariously rendered, and the way they are incorporated into the live action is very amusing. For example, a woman is topless in her house, she screams and reacts to the offscreen claymation monster at her window, then there is an exterior shot of the monster pulling out the claymation victim (who is clothed, now) and flinging her to her death.
4) Some action movie cliches are there, also. The owner of the lodge will not close because of the business generated by the fall festival even though his guests are in grave danger. The ranger and he argue about it in several scenes.
5) Another cliche: As the story ends with the two surviving heroes defeating the monster and walking away, they start laughing and the ranger says, "Next time let's go bear hunting!"
6) The acting varies from horrible to adequate, but do not miss the owner of the lodge (the villain of the film) whose emoting is incredibly inept or breathtakingly brilliant depending on whether he was trying to be that annoying a character.
7) The bad guy, the owner of the lodge, spontaneously combusts! I can think of quite a few movies that would be improved immensely with some spontaneous combustion.
8) The low budget adds to the overall ineptitude and fun.
Is this intentionally bad and a comedy, or is it unintentionally horrid and a mess? Either way, it is fun!