Reed's Point (2022)

**_A centuries-old feud is going on in the Pine Barrens, along with… the Jersey Devil_** A year after a teen (Madison Ekstrand) goes missing deep in the wilds of southern New Jersey, her cousin and beau, both journalistic college students (Sasha Anne and Evan Adams), hire a guide (Anthony Jensen) to search the area and find out the truth. The problem is, ongoing legends suggest that the notorious Jersey Devil dwells there. “Reed’s Point” (2022) is a low-budget Indie about the malevolent cryptid, but thankfully had a little more money to work with compared to the $5000 of “Leeds Point” from 14 years earlier. The story here is more compelling than “Carny,” another Jersey Devil flick from 2009 featuring Lou Diamond Phillips, but the actors aren’t as good. The only other Jersey Devil flick I’ve seen is “Dark Haul” from 2014, which isn’t a conventional take on the topic and is great by comparison; very entertaining. Leeds Point, New Jersey, is located a mere 13.2 miles north of Atlantic City and this is where the legend of the creature originated. So why is the movie called “Reed’s Point” and not “Leeds Point”? Because there’s already a micro-budget Indie by that name and, secondly, the events in this film take place deeper in the Pine Barrens where it’s wilderness as opposed to the unincorporated town of Leeds Point. Obviously, the producers wanted a name that brought to mind Leeds Point, hence “Reed’s Point.” Redhead Madison Ekstrand is a highlight and the script is interesting enough, but the middle portion gets dull and the acting is only serviceable (although I’ve seen way worse). Where the flick really goes wrong is the padding of the runtime at the very end, which wasn’t necessary. They should’ve ended it after a certain revelation. Less is more. As it is, the closing scene in the cop car is just so illogical and eye-rolling it virtually ruins a decent spare change-budget creature feature. The movie runs 1 hour, 17 minutes, and was shot in Los Angeles with second unit work done in New Jersey. GRADE: C/C-