Momo: The Missouri Monster

Welcome, Monster Fans, to another episode

of spooky, yet true, cryptid encounter tales.

In recent weeks, you've met the Minerva Monster,

the Bray Road Beast and even that mean old son of a gun,

the Boggy Creek Monster.

But this week, I'm gonna introduce you

to the weirdest creature

that's ever walked out of the forest.

He's big, he's hairy, he's scary and his name is Momo.

Is that it? Is that the creature?

It's time to find out!

As we do each week on "Blackburn's Cryptid Case Files",

I'm gonna introduce you to a schlocky film inspired

by the creepy critter I'll be investigating in this episode.

Let's set the stage for the film you're about to watch.

In the early 1970s,

a filmmaker by the name of Charles B. Pierce

made an independent horror movie

about a monster roaming the swamps of Southern Arkansas.

It was called "The Legend of Boggy Creek"

and it was made for very little money,

but quickly became a hit on the drive in movie circuit.

Before you could say the word Bigfoot,

all sorts of hairy ape like monster movies

begin clogging the cinemas.

Most of them were made on a dime

and most of them were downright terrible.

Suddenly, anyone with a camera

and a crappy ape suit could make a movie, you see.

So it was, in 1975, a film crew set out to make a movie

about another famous hairy monster.

In fact, the hairiest monster ever seen

outside the distant jungles of Africa, Momo,

Missouri's own monster.

The film crew shot and edited the film,

but for some unknown reason, never released it.

Boy, do I have a treat for you tonight.

I've searched far and wide to track down the only known copy

of the original film.

That's right, we're gonna show it right here tonight

and together we're gonna explore Missouri

and get to the bottom of this real case

that inspired this should have been B movie cult classic.

So like I always say, spin the reel.

I can't believe you're dragging me eight hours

to see Alice Cooper!

Disgusting!

Couldn't we have waited and seen The Carpenters instead?

This is exactly what I'm talkin' about!

You need more culture.

Culture!

He bites the heads off of chickens and drinks their blood!

Oh, please.

That's a story our parents made up

because they think our psyches are too fragile

to handle being scared a little.

He gets attacked by monsters during his shows

and you're scared of a dead bird?

Salmonella is very real.

Monsters in tacky suits, not so much.

Great, I knew you were a nerd,

but a biologist to boot,

this is gonna be a longer trip than I thought.

Hey, I think I see a spot up ahead.

You hungry, Professor?

Whatever, as long as it's not chicken.

Let's go. All right.

Joan. Hmm?

Do you hear that?

I don't hear anything.

Do you smell that?

What kind of creature makes a smell like.

What, Joan?

What is it?

What, Joan?

What is it?

Joan!

No, no, no, no! Don't get in the car!

Go on you creature!

Oh, my gosh!

I'm going for it.

Oh, Mary, you can't!

That thing is still out there!

I know but we need the keys.

And the girl that's afraid of chickens

is actin' like one herself at the moment!

Joan!

Oh, hurry!

Oh, my gosh, hurry! It's all right!

What's wrong? It's not moving!

No, no, no!

Oh, my God!

This is Louisiana, Missouri,

a town where nothing much ever happens until it does.

Missouri is my kind of state.

It's drenched in history, a lot of it bloody, messy stuff.

It's also home to some of the downright weirdest stories

you're ever likely to hear.

What's really strange, though,

is that a good number of these stories come

from right here in this town.

Located in Northeast Missouri,

the quaint, bucolic community of Louisiana is pretty much

just a river town.

You see, the Mississippi runs right along here.

This proximity to such a major waterway became

one of Louisiana's largest sources of income.

The town was founded in 1816 by John Walter Basye

and the town's history is largely connected

to the earliest pioneers who made their way here

during the great western expansion.

You know, Manifest Destiny and all that.

Okay, yeah, just state your name.

Willard Wamsley from Louisiana, the Louisiana area.

John Wood, from Louisiana, Missouri.

1818 was when we got our charter

and it was started just by people who'd migrated in here

and then they got their charter

and it became a river town.

How it was named was a gentleman here in town,

it was named after his daughter.

And then of course the Louisiana Purchase

and then Louisiana came in.

I think we had

12 taverns

and just as many lawyers at one time,

and that kinda made the town go.

When the river was more important

and rail was more important,

why Louisiana was a goin' place.

We had it all.

Of course, all the communities around,

if they were gonna ship their product,

they had to come to Louisiana.

The railroad and the river,

both kinda put Louisiana on the map.

Where it is, where it sits is very convenient

to both the river transportation and always has been.

My name is Martha Sue Zook Smith.

I don't know that the financial situation of

this part of our Pike County is any more financially

than the rest of the country.

I know that at one time

Louisiana had lots and lots of factories.

They had big import/export type out of Louisiana

with the coming of the railroad and river transportation.

It just was different.

I'm afraid I can't put it on

any basis particularly, it just it is different.

If you're talkin' about what was really big,

tobacco, what is it, Tins.. Tinsley Twis.

That was a brand of tobacco, chewing tobacco.

So it was a big deal.

I don't expect to see any of that again,

so we'll just have to make do.

We're either gonna get better or we're not.

And if we don't we're in trouble,

along with a lot of other little towns.

Star Hill is one of the big hills in Louisiana

and as far as I know, forever,

of course I don't mean that,

but as far as I know, every Christmas,

the huge big star lights up at night

and that is known as Star Hill.

I've got some tales about Star Hill, too.

When I was a young girl,

we had a Samoyed dog.

Samoyed's are beautiful.

His name was Malla and he wandered up to Star Hill

and somehow got poisoned

and died on Star Hill.

Star Hill is Marzolf Hill, right?

Yes, okay.

I know the names, but I don't.

Like I said, this area has had it's fair share

of weird stories.

UFO's have always played a part in local legends,

but spooky tales extend far beyond mere lights in the sky.

There's ghosts, huge winged birds and even monsters.

In 1869, residents of Macon, Missouri,

a mere 100 miles from Louisiana,

were tormented by a creature they began calling the Devil.

The thing was said to be taller than any man,

yet stood upright like one.

After weeks of harassment, the locals formed a posse

and went in search of the Devil and they found it.

A furious battle ensued,

in which a handful of hunting dogs were killed

by the beast before it finally made its escape

in a nearby river.

It was seen exiting the river on the opposite bank

before disappearing into the woods.

And that wasn't the last of such reports, either.

In 1968, Springfield, Missouri was stalked

by a hairy, eight foot tall creature

that terrorized young boys and motorists.

The creature was seen around the quite town of Springfield

for several days until it finally vanished.

So yes, Missouri has its fair share

of hairy monsters and legends.