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Lost Tapes
Genre	Mockumentary Found footage Thriller Paranormal
Format	Live-action
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	24 (as of November 24, 2009) (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	22 minutes
Production company(s)	Go Go Luckey Entertainment
Distributor	Discovery Communications
Broadcast
Original channel	Animal Planet
Original run	October 30, 2008 (2008-10-30) – present
External links
Official website
Production website

Lost Tapes is an American thriller mockumentary television series that airs on Animal Planet. Produced by Go Go Luckey Entertainment, the program presents fictional found footage depicting traumatic encounters with cryptozoological creatures (cryptids), including the Chupacabra and Bigfoot, and even the werewolf, vampire, and alien.^[1]

The pilot aired on Animal Planet October 30, 2008 for Halloween, but the series officially premiered on January 6, 2009.^[2] Two episodes, each thirty minutes long, are aired back-to-back for a total running time of one hour. The first season aired at 10 and 10:30 PM E/P on Tuesdays.^[1] Animal Planet commissioned a second season which premiered on September 29, 2009.^[3]

Overview

Lost Tapes depicts fictional, traumatic scenarios in which cryptids attack people. Although the series is shot in a documentary style, it is a fictional work. The series never states that its footage is real, only that it has been "inspired by the possibility that hidden creatures exist."

A recurring situation in the show is that the characters are usually left alone or are in a small group, in a remote area of the world. They soon encounter the creature and several stressful things occur. Often, one of the characters is killed, injured or captured by the creature. Between these fictional scenes, a factoid series called Lost Tapes: Revelations reveals facts behind some legends. Each episode usually ends with a character being killed by the creature in a cliffhanger ending, with the cliffhanger resolved during an epilogue.

The creatures are often only partially revealed to the audience in brief glimpses. To give a mysterious atmosphere to the show, the makers do not let the viewers see the creature in full form, analogous to the shark from Jaws. However, Lost Tapes season 2 reveals more of the creature than season 1. For example, in the season 2 episode "Jersey Devil", the creature's legs and hooves are seen in full form, in the "Vampire" episode, the creature's face is seen one moment then the entire body is seen the next, and in the episode "Dover Demon", the entire creature is seen.

While in most episodes the cryptid is the antagonist, in others its actions benefit the human protagonists. For example, in the "Bigfoot" episode, the main character is rescued from a poacher by the creature, which is implied to have been protecting the main character. In "Swamp Creature," when the main character is skeptical of the creature's existence at first, but she becomes open to its existence when it attacks them. In the same episode, an encounter with the creature makes the guide more cautious about going into the bayou.

Episodes

Critical reception

In a preview of the season one DVD, TVSquad.com writer John Scott Lewinski states that in the case of this series, "Animal Planet could be accused of repacking a horror/sci-fi show as an animal documentary" and that much of the program is "outright bollocks." He goes on to state that the show holds some appeal for audiences looking for a scare.^[4]

See also

• Found footage
• Cryptozoology
• Cryptid

References

External links

• Official website
• Lost Tapes at the Internet Movie Database