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Film: Dogman Territory: Werewolves in the Land Between the Lakes
Year: 2024
Director: Seth Breedlove
Writers: Aaron Deese and Heather Moser
Starring: Aaron Deese and Shannon Legro
Review:
This was a documentary that I got the chance to see thanks to Justin Cook who sent the press release. I’ve seen a handful of these documentaries from Seth Breedlove and Small Town Monsters. Cryptids are fascinating to me so I like that him and his team explore the lore as well as interview people who claimed to have encounters. This is a return to an entity that they investigated in Texas, now shifting to another part of the country.
Synopsis: a new documentary examining reports and sightings of Dogmen and other canid creatures in the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation area as well as the surrounding areas of Kentucky and Tennessee.
Where I’ll then start is that this introduces the area where it takes place. Like the synopsis said, there is a national park that was created in Kentucky. There is a fun, old feeling documentary in doing this introduction before letting us know that Dogman, or similar cryptids have been spotted in the area.
This does well in giving the history of the area. I appreciated that since I’m not familiar with it. It sounds like there was a melting pot here of Native Americans who hunted the area. Then European settlers came in. There were ancestral farms here until they were kicked off the land by the government. The plan that was pitched was to invest money to build the tourism of the area. That didn’t necessarily happen though since our cast sees and talks to people who live around these parts. There are abandoned homesteads sprinkled throughout the area.
It is from there that we get what you’d expect from a Small Town Monsters documentary. They interview people who have claimed to see it. What I’ll say is that I believe that they experienced something that they cannot explain. There is an uneasy feeling that comes with it. Having grown up living in the country, I know that at night things can get weird. I also like that they interview experts on the lore who have also talked with individuals who have had run-ins. They’ve also done their research.
What I’ll say here is that I can see an area like this having the lore that we learn about. This does well in setting that up so credit to the team there. Aaron Deese and Shannon Legro worked on other documentaries with Breedlove. Deese brings interesting knowledge since he was featured in The Dogman Triangle where this same cryptid is thought to be living in Texas as well. Something that is interesting is that he points out the similarities between what people here experience to what is happening there. That fascinates me. Part of me believes that it could be similar lore, potentially passed down from nomadic Native Americans. There are other aspects that could factor in, which is what interests me. The idea of how urban legends can spread and how there are reasons behind it why.
I’ll then finish by saying that this is well-made. Breedlove seems to have taken a backseat to constructing these documentaries. We are seeing more production value there. I like the fact that he will re-create the stories that are being told. It could be done with someone in a suit or using AI. Since there was nothing originally captured on film, it’s not an issue for me. It gives the viewer something to see while interviews are conducted. I appreciate that. The pacing is also good to keep things moving along as well. This one is broken up into chapters to help keep the information in line as well. To end this out, if you’re interested in cryptids, especially Dogman, I’d recommend giving this one a watch.
My Rating: 7 out of 10