Chupa (DVD)

After making his mark as a screen actor in a series of shot-on-video movies for J.R. Bookwalter ("The Dead Next Door"), independent writer/producer Tom Hoover embarked on his first feature in the director's chair. The result was "Chupa," an "X-Files" style, conspiracy-minded creature feature conceived after starring in "Polymorph" (1996), which would take four long, grueling years to complete only to wind up gathering dust on a shelf, unreleased for over two decades. Something in the woods is feeding on people, bleeding them dry. What little evidence there is suggests it may be the work of the Chupacabra, a creature most believe to be little more than urban legend. According to folklore, Chupa kills small livestock, living off their blood. But why has it started preying on people? To answer that question, a small Federal, military, and civilian task force has been sent deep into Ohio's expansive Cuyahoga Valley National Park to find and capture the mythical monster. But it won't be taken without a fight, and as the hunters quickly become the hunted, they soon realize their "Chupa" may be something else altogether. Something that feeds in secret has started feeding... on them! Newly restored from the original Digital Betacam videotape edit master, Tempe Digital resurrects the lost late-'90s SOV opus "Chupa" on DVD with all-new, revealing behind-the-scenes bonus material!

• cult
• horror
• independent
• mystery
• thriller