'The Creature from the Bag Lagoon' is the best of B-movies and local environmental films. See it at one of two Tampa film fests in December. Credit: via Kevin Short

‘The Creature from the Bag Lagoon’ is the best of B-movies and local environmental films. See it at one of two Tampa film fests in December. Credit: via Kevin Short
Even if we didn't already love Creature from the Black Lagoon, we'd be in love with local filmmaker Kevin Short's short film, Creature from the Bag Lagoon.

Watch the trailer. Go ahead, we'll wait.

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We’ve seen the full thing (hey, we’re journalists — we have to take what perks we can get) and can tell you it’s well worth heading to either the Tampa Bay Underground Film Fest or the Silver Screen for Short Films to check it out. It’s an environmentally aware B-movie riff made locally, which is to say that we had a filmgasm watching it.

Seriously, it's a lot of fun to watch. In a world where every environmental choice seems to have planet-ending consequences, this one approaches the same topic with levity and — dare we say it? — schlock.

Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival | Britton Theater  and Villagio Cinemas, Tampa | Dec. 6-9 (Creature shows Dec. 8) | tbuff.org

Silver Screen for Short Films | Villagio Cinemas,11778 N Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa | Dec. 12 | sssf-foundation.org

This article appears in Nov 22-29, 2018.

Cathy's portfolio includes pieces for Visit Florida, USA Today and regional and local press. In 2016, UPF published Backroads of Paradise, her travel narrative about retracing the WPA-era Florida driving...