Bigfoot: The Movie (2017)

I love me some Sasquatch! Seriously the hairy fella might be second only to my love of all things zombie. I realized that I hadn’t done a marathon for Bigfoot yet and since there are so many of the damn things I thought it was about time to rectify that situation. While there are some classics that I’m going to cover I thought it a newer flick would be a great place to start. I’m also a big fan of the web series Pittsburgh Dad. I think that Curt Wootton is a funny guy so when I heard he had made a Bigfoot movie I knew that I had to check it out and that it was a great place to start. A low budget independent Bigfoot comedy… what could possibly go wrong?

Three guys are drinking and driving around in a pickup truck. They stop at a barn to get more beer and one of them gets eaten by something. Turns out that something was a Bigfoot that is running loose around town. They go to the bar and decide that they need to get some revenge for their friend. Off they go with some more beer, shotguns, and a spotlight. They find a cow torn up and almost get the Bigfoot, but it doesn’t’ work out. So, they head back to the bar where they try and get Burl, an exterminator to help. He refuses, but then his uncle gets killed by the Squatch. When they meet at the bar they grab some beer and decide to go hunting again.

Eventually they do battle with the Bigfoot and find out why it has been hanging around. Seems there is a big conspiracy in town involving the mayor and sheriff. After a lot more mayhem including some Amish henchmen packing heat, a fat German Ninja lady (maybe?), exploding arrows like Rambo, and even some obnoxious Browns fans tossed in for good measure we get to the end of the story. There really is a lot going on in Bigfoot: The Movie.

I keep saying this, but it is true. Independent movies can be hit and miss, with miss being the result more often than not. As much as I dig Wootton I had concerns that this was going to be a mess. While it isn’t the best Indy movie I’ve seen recently it is fun. The Bigfoot story serves as a link between what feels like a series of small comedic sketches giving the movie a cohesive narrative. You might notice that in my plot synopsis I keep mentioning that they go back to the bar. Well this isn’t to kill time as each trip has some joke or payoff to one that makes it worth a couple laughs. I can’t think of a single wasted scene in the movie which is very unusual for a low budget horror comedy. Wootton and Jared Show wrote the screenplay and they did a damn fine job with it. Speaking of Wootton and Show they play two of our three main characters with Nathan Magill playing Dale. I knew that Wootton had some comedy skills from watching his Pittsburgh Dad stuff, but the other two guys are decent as well. They have timing and deliver the jokes perfectly. You know comedy isn’t easy, and they nail it.

But hey that isn’t all they have going for them. The damn creature looks awesome and is a dude in a hairy suit that looks great on screen. They took the time to articulate it so the creature has facial expressions and when the actor is in full costume they still are able to move fluidly and naturally. It almost looks like it could be a real creature which is crazy to pull off on a low budget. We also get some limbs ripped off and a severed head on a mantle that while clearly latex are fun.

I wanted to like this movie and ended up being surprised by how much I did. This movie isn’t art and it isn’t perfect. It is an independent movie which means some corners were cut due to budget restrictions. But these guys put every dollar that they had on the screen and a hell of a lot of effort into making a fun flick. In the end I’d say this is a solid entry into the Bigfoot comedy subgenre that is a blast to watch. Take your time to track down a copy and support some independent filmmakers. If we are lucky they make another movie!

© Copyright 2019 John Shatzer