A reader identified as "Rob" tipped us off that the I Am Legend viral-looking swamp monster caught on cam - which we reported on yesterday and has been covered across the Net - is actually "a viral marketing hoax set up by Insomniac Games, What you see there is called a Grim."
Rob then directed us to the Daily Mail coverage of the photo, which suggested it may be a viral hoax for the upcoming Spider-Man 4. That seemed like a particularly far out idea, but a commenter on the Mail story suggested it was courtesy of video game developer Insomniac for their upcoming Resistance 3<
That would make sense; Insomniac released an excellent live-action trailer for the game:
Plus, the developer did indeed tweet, "Whoops... looks like one got out. If you see a Grim on the loose... please return to Insomniac Games, Burbank, CA."
A Grim is one of these little buggers, as show at Play Station Lifestyle:
So their image doesn't look like our swamp monster, although that would wrap it all up, nice and tidy - until Insomniac deleted the tweet claiming responsibility and followed up with a pseudo statement that it was a "total joke."
If it's not Spider-Man, not a Grim and probably not part of Wildgame Innovations, the wildlife company whose logo is stamped on the image (since presumably they market cameras to hunters seeking deer and boar, not viral zombie-thingies), what is it?
The latest theory is that it has something to do with Super 8, the J.J. Abrams-directed/Steven Spielberg-produced alien flick opening June 2011.
This supposed "concept art" from Super 8 started showing up on movie-insider Web sites like Cinema Blend last week, and has now been connected to the swamp thing by i09 and MovieWeb:
But I'm not buying it. Not only does it strike me as highly unlikely that Abrams and Paramount would allow a big reveal such as their monster concept art to leak and remain up on Web sites (no "Image removed at request of Paramount/Copyright holder" confirmations anywhere), but swampy looks nothing like the art above. Also, as far as the "crying girl" video at MovieWeb - shot by a father talking to his young daughter who plays an extra in Super 8 - it's being touted as proof of this being the creature from Abrams' film, but neither the girl nor father make any direct reference to the swamp creature image above. At most she says her character was evading a "zombie."
Update: User "I Doubt It" pointed us to a post at a the Doubtful skepticism blog (we're unclear if the commenter and blogger are one and the same, but thanks either way) where she points out the creature's face in the image looks remarkably similar to this 3D rendering of a "swamp monster" mask - first posted in 2008:
This could be the answer, but in order to be resolved, we'd need to see this actual mask worn by someone and photographed to see if it's the creeper in the original pic. One step closer, though.
So the mystery continues; the creature on the wildlife cam looks neither like the Insomniac or Super 8 concept art, and I'm still going with hoax or viral campaign. But I just hope it doesn't end any time soon.