We’re back at it again with the cryptid fright fest that is Frogman. The myth has become reality, and our found footage heroes from the first film return to deliver more slimy scares in Frogman Returns, premiering at Panic Fest!
Dallas, Amy, and Frogman return to Loveland to finish what they started.
Frogman Returns, IMDB
As stated above, we follow Dallas a few years after the original Frogman; after showing the world that these creatures really do exist, he now has his own show exploring nature’s strangest, scariest monsters. While Dallas, videographer/editor Lucy, and producer Bridget wonder about the whereabouts of Frogman and its cult, Amy re-enters the picture once again in an attempt to kill the cryptid once and for all. Dallas, having hired a private investigator to trail Amy, leads them all through another run-in with the cult of Frogman.
Frogman Returns is exactly that, an expansion on the legacy in more found footage glory. This time, the filming is more refined, which makes sense since it’s supposed to be an actual production for Dallas’ new show. That said, there’s still that found footage, “film everything” shaky quality we all know and love. The introduction to more characters can at times be a bit much, with a lot more people to keep track of. Luckily, Frogman Returns focuses mainly on a small handful that we get to know better. With that in mind though, we’re not seeing much development, as characters seem rather unchanged and in their ways. I will say that Lucy was a good stand-in for the audience, being the most “normal” of the bunch, not marred by past traumas, and not a money-hungry TV person.
Frogman Returns wouldn’t hit the same if it didn’t have some crazy frog-like effects. As we learned in Frogman, the cult has been reproducing with the cryptid, and here we see the offspring of those mates. While some look completely normal, others do have some facial prosthetics that give them a green, slimy, appearance. And the Frogman himself does appear in all his puppet glory! We also get some CG effects too by way of Frogman’s wand (which Lucy tries to use in one funny scene), a worm-like cryptid called “Nightcrawler” at the beginning, and of course, some other camera-like glitching that we always get in movies like these. Frogman Returns does a great job at integrating the different effects to make seamless scares.
What I enjoyed the most was actually the wit and meta aspects. Frogman Returns knows the concept of a giant magical frog is insane, and plays it up. Plus, they mention other cryptids that we as an audience are familiar with, like the Mothman and my favorite, Raatma from V/H/S/94. I also appreciated the ending taking us to a whole new world in terms of cryptid horror, another planet full of otherworldly organisms.
Frogman Returns is exactly what I would have expected from a sequel to a cryptid found footage film. Unfortunately, I think a lot of the magic of the first film was lost in the second — not because this movie was bad, but because we already expect a certain kind of plot from it. Still, Frogman Returns did have some points that hit the nail on the head when it came to horror references and effects.
Follow along with me as I review movies from Panic Fest 2026! Follow the festival for more.
