The path that independent filmmakers must take to release their hard work, sometimes takes months and even years to accomplish, but then again documentarian Seth Breedlove, a well-known cryptozoologist, delivers this movie on the heels of his well-accepted six-part series On the Trail of Bigfoot (2019). This time, Seth does a sequel that follows his The Mothman of Point Pleasant (2017) that dealt primarily with folklore explanation, rather looking into a series of strange large bird sightings in Missouri and Illinois. Once again Seth’s company Small Town Monsters handled both the production costs and distribution, and while many might consider the topics covered here as bizarre, Seth delivers an informative piece of work showcasing his strict documentary style in the forefront.
As with documentaries, it’s difficult not to tell everything about the film, as the title and summary give immense details away, therefore, I’ll try omitting some key details as to intrigue the believers as well as the curious viewers to view Seth’s work. The film takes a serious in-depth angle to exploring the sightings by countless witnesses, that occurred in the Midwest portion of the country. Often cryptozoology films find themselves running low on actual evidence however, that’s not the case here, Terror in the Skies, basks in mountains of evidence, with many individuals giving testimonies, nearly impossible each of them lying, as well as the new stories both in print and on television all containing very similar details. It goes on to connect the folklore of Native American tribes and missionaries accounts concerning a man-eating Piasa Bird from Illinois’ Alton area to Chicago sightings that references back to the West Virginia Mothman. One wonderful factor that pulls the entire film together comes from the narration of Lyle Blackburn, (who worked with Seth before on various projects) his tone made the movie progress forward, and keeps the audience engaged in the production. The film looks at sightings from 1868, 1940, 1960s, and 1977 as well relying on expert opinions of Loren Coleman, Tobias Wayland and several others, as the speculate on the origins of the actual bird and leans into mythology creature of a Thunderbird (*1), however a close contender the species known as Andean Condor, often connected to folklore stories. Although others have different theories, those can be discovered by watching the film, something that is recommended.
The production goes to great lengths to deliver a solid movie, with the usage of various video reconstructions, intercutting talking heads with various illustrations, and some moments found in the behind the scenes extra found on the disc. Seth truly delivers once again, the mixture of eyewitnesses and recreations of various sightings helps to pull everything into a tight cohesive direction, whether they speak of the Mothman, giant birds or other predators, it all generates into a sharp production, and enjoyable to view.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10007978/
IMDb Rating: n/a
Baron’s Rating: 6.0/10
(*1) https://mythology.net/mythical-creatures/thunderbird/