May 20, 2010

THE LEGEND OF THE LOVELAND FROGMEN – Premiere Info

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: RB / Loveland Magazine

Some small independent films never get the kind of grand premieres that big-budget Hollywood films do. Instead of star-studded events at the Pantages, Cinerama Dome, Egyptian or Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, these smaller films normally get their first viewing at a local movie house or drive-in.

When you are a high school film maker then, sometimes, your school auditorium will have to do.

No there won’t be any stretch limos, or A-list celebrities at the premiere of Gretchen Kessler’s, “The Legend of the Loveland Frogmen”, but if the young film maker continues on this path, they may be showing up for one or more of her films screenings in the future.

Kessler chose a very popular local legend for her first film and even got her family involved in the production.

The young film maker notes, “Almost everyone in Loveland has heard of the alleged “frogman” that likes to terrorize the local police force late at night, but now my dad and I have made a movie about it.”

You can always count on good old dad to help out his little angel.

Here is the plot for “The Legend of the Loveland Frogmen”:

A group of high schoolers are paddling down the Little Miami River. It is getting late, and they realize they are not going to be able to make it to the takeout. They see a bonfire on the shore and go to see who is there. There are strange shapes around the fire ring, and one girl thinks she sees a creature that looks half-human and half-frog!

The creatures, whatever they are, flee, and the teens are confronted by a disgruntled old man, who tells them to get off his property. They realize they have arrived at the Loveland Castle.

The kids go home and do some research, finding out about the Loveland Frogman. Convinced this is what they saw, they return to the Castle to snoop around and see if they can find any traces of Frogmen. They take a tour, and slip away to the dungeons to look around. They hear strange noises, but just as they are nearing the source, the tour guide discovers them and kicks them out.

They wander down to the fire ring, and as they are looking around, one of the girls slips and falls in the river. “Something” in the river pushes her back onto the bank. She sputters this to her friends, which convinces them the Frogmen are real.

They return once more, that night. They want to see the Frogmen for real, since they seem to come out at night. Down at the fire ring, they see the old man again. They ask him about the Frogmen, but for each account they have of Frogmen encounters, he has a counter-argument. He finally convinces them there is no Frogman, and they leave. The last shot is of the old man, with a fly buzzing around his head. Suddenly his tongue flies out and he catches the fly and eats it!!

Is Gretchen Kessler the next Sam Raimi or Wes Craven? Well that is to be seen, but the plot for her little 30-minute film sounds pretty darn good, so……………you never know.

Here is the info on the “The Legend of the Loveland Frogmen” premiere:

The Legend of the Loveland Frogmen
May 24th at 7PM
Loveland High School auditorium
Loveland, Ohio

1 Tiger Trail
Loveland, OH 45140-1976
(513) 683-1920 Phone

Info on Loveland Frogmen from The Cryptid Zoo:

One of America’s most bizarre urban legends is that of the Loveland frogs, or frogmen as they are sometimes called. The first sighting was of strange creatures seen under a bridge, and the witness sounded as if he could not decide whether he had seen fairy-tale trolls, reptoids or things that were half human, half frog.

Later sightings were less confused, but still contained inconsistencies. Witnesses claimed that what they had seen was certainly frog-like, but they disagreed on the details. Some reported human-sized frogmen, some reported tiny frog-sized frogmen, and some reported just plain giant frogs with no noticeable human features.

This may sound like a really stupid legend, but there was enough evidence, including tracks, that both the police and the FBI investigated (probably with the theory that it was pranksters in costumes). Of course, cryptozoologists and all sorts of paranormal investigators became interested too.

The Loveland frogs continue to be sighted at irregular intervals along the Ohio River and the Little Miami River. They got their moniker from the town of Loveland, Ohio, near most of the sightings. Today cryptozoologists have little interest in these creatures. After all, they sound absurd, just like most humanoids that are not some kind of Bigfoot or a closely related hairy humanoid.

Update: Avery Guerra just dug up the trailer for the film on Youtube – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORQ5PWNVVLQ

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