Horror Movie Review: Frogman (2023)

Do you know the legend of The Loveland Frog? It is a tale about a 4-foot-tall frog-like humanoid that has been, allegedly, spotted in Loveland, Ohio since 1955.

I love legends like this and love that they can inspire horror creators, but I really love it when what we get from these mad stories, ends up being really good. That is the case here with Frogman, a feat made even more impressive by the fact that it is a found footage horror too.

This isn’t me being anti-found footage, but let us be honest, the formula is beyond tired and it’s harder than ever to find modern ones that capture what made the genre sparkle so long ago. Found footage should be raw, it should be primal, it should feel grubby, and it should feel chaotic. That is what Frogman offers. Yes, it isn’t perfect and there are plenty of examples throughout of the bad side of found footage, but when held up against other modern examples, it stands tall. About 4-feet-tall, as it goes.

I like cryptid horror and have seen my fair share of tales about sasquatches, chupacabras, mermaids, and yetis. I’ve watched documentaries on the Mothman, have seen a Loch Ness related horror, but the Frogman is a new one for me.

Directed by Anthony Cousins, the story is excellent. It begins in 1999 and focuses on a family on holiday in the town of Loveland. While pulled over in the woods, one of the family members, a young boy named Dallas, captures shaky and grainy footage of something terrifying. A sort of man-frog. A Frogman, if you will. His footage, while initially met with excitement, is debunked and what Dallas saw is dismissed and forgotten.

Not by Dallas though, who has grown up (played by Nathan Tymoshuk) and wants to prove, once and for all, that he did see the Frogman when he was a kid. His plan, being an aspiring filmmaker, is to go back to Loveland with his friend, Scotty (Benny Barrett), who will be his cameraman, and his crush, Amy (Chelsey Grant) to make a documentary about the legend.

While neither Scotty nor Amy is thrilled with his plan, they agree to come along more out of sympathy than anything else. Which inevitably causes problems because neither believe Dallas ever saw the Frogman.

Did he actually see it though or was it just a child’s imagination running wild? The Loveland townspeople love to talk about it, but they see it for it is, a local legend to frighten kids and entertain visitors. There’s nothing to it, so don’t go poking your nose around those woods. Loveland has its secrets, after all.

It’s all very mysterious and quite interesting because the character’s journey of discovery is one shared by viewers. This adds an important layer of authenticity, making the found footage aspect even more watchable and bearable. Trust me, it’s far easier to deal with dark and grainy footage and distorted sound when the film has done enough to convince that what we’re seeing could be legitimate found footage.

Another aspect that makes Frogman enjoyable is the characters, in particular, Dallas. The trio have arcs and each appear human and relatable. Yet, it’s the lead who commands the most attention and that is because he is the most nuanced of all. Obsession driven by humiliation and failure. Nathan Tymoshuk is an excellent actor. You simply don’t expect this kind of attention to detail in a film like this.

Does it deliver on the horror though? Without spoiling anything, it does. With the latter part of the film being both terrifying and quite horrific. I had a blast watching this, even more so when Froglord was played and talked about in a scene!