Starring Werner Herzog and Zak Penn. Rating unavailable.

As if it were Creature From the Black Lagoon remade by Larry David, Incident at Loch Ness keeps its mockumentary powder very, very dry going across the lake. A treasure trove of modern movie lore, with Werner Herzog spoofing his own status as daredevil filmmaker, this smart item sets out both to prove and to subvert his stated maxim that "filmmaking is a chain of banalities".

Here, the man behind Aguirre and Fitzcarraldo heads off on yet another dangerous mission, this time to get to the bottom of Loch Ness and, more specifically, to encounter the big critter sighted there so many times. Herzog's fictional producer, Zak Penn (actually Incident's writer-director), isn't completely interested in his hired director's disquisitions on the relationship between myth and "our collective dreams"; to juice things up, Penn has secretly brought a fake-looking monster model aboard their refitted ship. And where did that sexy "sonar operator" in the red, white, and blue bikini (former Playboy model Kitana Baker) come from, anyway?

Things actually start out quite tamely, at an L.A. dinner party in Herzog's Wonderland Avenue digs, with cinematographer John Bailey supposedly working on a long-form doc about the famous director. Guests include Jeff Goldblum, Ricky Jay, Crispin Glover, and other notables, as well as Penn, veteran cinematographer Gabriel Beristain, and soundman Russell Williams. They formulate some plans, arguing about Beristain's idea of bringing a Hollywood "lighting package" to shoot a documentary.

The disputes don't end in foggy Scotland, where a crusty local expert pronounces: "The more time you spend here, the less monsters you'll see." He's wrong, although the demons start out pretty small. Herzog can't understand why Penn wants everyone to wear special jumpsuits (especially with "Expedition Crew" written on the back); the boat captain (David A. Davidson) is an unrelenting grouch; and everyone is baffled by the presence of cryptozoologist Michael Karnow, a supposed expert on nonexistent animals. No one complains about the sonar operator, however.

Herzog's well-known temper flares up when he realizes that Penn, real-life writer of such concept flicks as X2 and Last Action Hero, is trying to shoot an exploitation movie around him. Naturally, he's a little suspicious when there are hints of monstrous activities beneath the surface.

The film plumbs some of the same waters that Adaptation. did, succumbing to the very sensationalism it starts out decrying. But regardless of how it's read, this oddball flick is surprisingly successful at tackling tough modulations--from facile to satirical to wonkily philosophical--and is, finally, a bit on the spooky side.

Herzog is a compelling presence. And despite the fact that he declares his project "one of those films that didn't want to get made", Incident at Loch Ness somehow did.