Primal Rage (Talent One, 2018), Wild Men (Goocher Films,
2017), and The Bigfoot Project (Fallen Films, 2017)

This is Part III of my new watch project. All Bigfoot (or similar) movies, no Yetis allowed. They must be films I haven’t seen before. All free to stream. Read Part I here and and Part II here.

Primal Rage – 2018 – Tubi

In tents? It had its moments.

Any good? Ooh, this was a good one. A survival horror with a dash of Deliverance and a sprinkling of Predator, this one features an Uber-Sasquatch picking off hapless hikers and hunters using primitive tools and forest camouflage. It’s a great looking monster, and the film is chock full of extreme practical gore. Chock full. I love it when former fx artists direct movies (see Harbinger Down), as the effects work is always front and center and beautifully shot.

A sub-plot involving a Native American sheriff and his discomfort with his own culture was actually more interesting than the plight of the protagonists, and I wish the film had focused more on it, but I came away happy. Suspend your disbelief and check it out

Hit or Myth? 8/10

Wild Men – 2017 – Tubi

In tents? Nope.

Any good? The first of a pair of found footage/reality show horror comedies, this was neither horrific nor particularly funny. Granted, there were a couple of lines that made me smile, and some of the deadpanning was good, but in the whole the characters were so unlikeable that I only stuck with it to see them get taken out by the ‘’squatch.

I have higher expectations for The Bigfoot Project, next on the list.

Hit or Myth? 6/10

The Bigfoot Project – 2017 – Tubi

In tents? Not at all.

Any good? My expectations were higher for this one, which was the same story of a minor-league filmmaking crew looking for Bigfoot, but descending into Ahab-territory. The cast were good, and the script was certainly funnier, but they hit the same beats throughout and it soon became tiresome.

Oh well.

Hit or Myth? 6/10

Nightbeasts (2010), and Embedded (Iceberg Pictures, 2012)

Nightbeasts – 2010 – Tubi

In tents? Hardly.

Any good? I got suckered again. Perhaps I was taken in by the first five minutes looking interesting . Perhaps it was the thought of watching something shot on 35mm and tripods instead of hand-held video, or maybe it was Zach (Gremlins) Galligan’s name on the poster that filled me with misplaced optimism.

I’d like to think it was made to be a tongue-in-cheek B-movie homage, grasping at cult movie status (see the wasted Lloyd Kaufman cameo or ridiculous script), but that would be giving it a free pass. The acting is terrible, the editing is poor, the script is rubbish and, as usual, the much better story would have focused on the Native American characters. Dammit.

Hit or Myth? 5/10

Embedded – 2012 – Tubi

In tents? A couple of decent moments.

Any good? Another found-footage movie, but this one is better than average. A jaded war correspondent and his cameraman are sent to cover a routine small-town story, however everything goes awry when it turns into a hunt for a missing child and the sizeable search party finds itself at the mercy of a violent Sasquatch. The monster itself is an interesting design, and well utilized throughout, and there is a lot of nastiness on show as the deaths start to pile up. It kept me interested.

Hit or Myth? 8/10

Dawn of the Beast (Uncork’d Entertainment, 2021), Exists (Lionsgate, 2014)

Dawn of the Beast – 2021 – Prime

Any good? I needed an extra movie because one of the films I watched (American Sasquatch) isn’t listed on IMDb and therefore couldn’t be added to my Letterboxd list, which left a gap on my list page and I couldn’t live with that. It’s a long story.

Anyhoo, this one was suggested to me by Stephen Williams so I watched it before moving into the last film in the Sasquatch-a-thon, Exists.
A bunch of cryptozoology students head out on a Bigfoot expedition for an easy A, and it all goes to hell. It’s a real monster mash-up, with shades of traditional Bigfoot movies, Wendigo, The Evil Dead, The Entity, C.H.U.D., and The Descent.

I admire the ambition of the filmmakers, but maybe picking one focus would have led to a tighter story. A mad ending meant I enjoyed it though.

Hit or Myth? 7.5/10

Exists – 2014 – Prime

In tents? It had its moments.

Any good? I saved this one until last as I wanted to end on a high note and, although it’s yet another found-footage flick, it does indeed sit head and shoulders above others in the genre, mainly through a committed cast, excellent sound design and a great monster courtesy of Weta.

It’s competently directed by one of the originators of the found-footage phenomenon, Eduardo (Blair Witch) Sanchez and the production design is great — that said, I’m pretty much over Bigfoot movies, and really glad it’s the end of this project. Never really got the film I was hoping for (Dog Soldiers meets Sasquatch), ah well. Onwards and upwards!

Hit or Myth? 8/10

Previous Murky Movie surveys from Neil Baker include:

Biggus Footus, Part I
Biggus Footus, Part II
I Like Big Bugs and I Cannot Lie
The Weird, Weird West
Warrior Women Watch-a-thon

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Neil Baker’s last article for us was Part II of Biggus Footus. Neil spends his days watching dodgy movies, most of them terrible, in the hope that you might be inspired to watch them too. He is often asked why he doesn’t watch ‘proper’ films, and he honestly doesn’t have a good answer. He is an author, illustrator, outdoor educator and owner of April Moon Books (AprilMoonBooks.com).