Frogman (2023) directed and written by Anthony Cousins with the help of John Karsko is a found footage film that follows the story of Dallas on his journey to prove Frogman is more than just some small-town urban legend.

We open up to a family home video where 12-year-old Dallas is on his last big family vacation when him and his sister spot a mysterious figure in the woods – Frogman. The Frogman “evidence” finds its way online where a big YouTuber scrutinizes it and calls it a hoax, much to Dallas’ dismay. This is the final push Dallas needs to get out of his filmmaking slump and go out there to prove everyone wrong.

With some found footage films, the need to film doesn’t seem as necessary or you may be wondering why they’re even filming specific moments. In this film, we have a clear motive for each scene being filmed. Dallas became obsessed with the idea of finding Frogman ever since he encountered him as a child, he wants to prove to the world that he’s not crazy, this is why he’s constantly recording everything even going as far as telling his friend to keep filming even if he’s being attacked by Frogman. This film really does feel like the video diary of a man whose life got taken over by a cryptid and is constantly on the hunt for evidence even though it’s clear he’s losing control, much like people who make it their life mission to hunt down Bigfoot.

The characters in this film also feel very natural, from the family at the beginning to the trio of friends that serve as our main characters. Dallas is a great main character; he might seem like he’s doing too much at times, but the beginning shows us that he’s at a point in his life where he needs a big break and this film he’s trying so hard to get is what he’s betting on to be that big break. He needs this film to work in his favor; he needs to show everyone that what he saw years ago isn’t a fake. His pair of friends tagging along were a bit concerned for him at the beginning of the film and as we follow them throughout this hunt for Frogman witnessing Dallas’ spiral, their concerns are validated. They are a funny duo though, offering some comedic relief. The ending and the monster design are the best parts of this already great film. You finally get to see the monster Dallas has been hunting his whole life and the design of it is incredible. It gets even better when you read up on interviews and find out it was all practical effects except for a scene or two. We even get to see the character’s skins worsening due to being attacked by Frogman and the texture looks insane.

This is a great addition to the found footage sub-genre. It takes the best parts of other found-footage films and bunches it all together in one film. It’s a solid movie I’d recommend to any horror, found footage and/or cryptid lover.

We give Frogman a 5/5.