Bigfoot: Man or Beast?

From the fantastic narration to the wonderful Robert Morgan,this docu-drama has it all. Robert Morgan is still active in the search for "Forest Giants" as he likes to call them. This film takes me back to my childhood and helped to give birth to what would become a lifetime fascination with this subject. Like Steven(who reviewed this film earlier),I am a longtime bigfoot enthusiast/researcher myself who thinks that Bob Morgan is very underrated as a legend in the sasquatch community. Classic part of the film is the conversation with 3 of the all-time greats of sasquatchery,John Green,Rene Dahinden and Robert Morgan. I think Robert Morgan deserves to be one of the "four horsemen of sasquatchery" and he is such an interesting man. He has a book called Soul Snatchers that deals with his journey and travels will searching for our elusive friends of the woods. If you love the 70's documentaries,the subject of sasquatch or just want to see a great period piece,this film will not let you down. Simply one of the best.

This was a great film if it was 20 years ago and about four in the morning and you had a hand rolled cigarette and a couple of glasses of wine and it came on the only station broadcasting all night in your area. This was before cable, folks. Stations really did often shut down from two to six a.m.. They'd play the star spangled banner, show some Air Force jets flying through the Grand Canyon and then suddenly a major network tv station shut off and you got a test pattern and a a four hour high pitched beep. I kid you not. But one would usually stay on and it was your only hope. Whatever movie came on, that was the hand you were dealt, and this miserably amateurish idiot film was the only game in town on more than one sad occasion. The only authentic scientific moment is the frame by frame showing of the famous footage of the Bigfoot walking through a forested area in the U.S. Northwest. This shakey 8 millimeter clip was recently proven to be a total hoax, a guy in a gorilla suit, so if the movie wasn't a joke before, its twice as comical now. By all means, watch this film if it ever comes on TV, but not if you're sober. Another fine film from American International.

Bigfoot: Man or Beast? (1972)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Released the same year as THE LEGEND OF BOGGY CREEK, this docu-drama is basically just like that movie, although this one here focuses more on the actual hunting of the creature.

For the most part this is an entertaining movie as long as you're a fan of the subject. There's certainly nothing ground-breaking here but you've got to admit that the 1970's were the clear Golden Era for Bigfoot movies. You had countless documentaries, several cheap movies and television series like In Search Of... that took a look at the legendary creature and all of them tried to educate the viewer on the creature and what hopes there were for finding one. This film does a good job with the interviews as we get to hear from several eyewitnesses. I thought the film started to drag during the final thirty-minutes when it turned into more of a hunting guide.

BIGFOOT: MAN OR BEAST is a very thorough, well-made documentary. Whether you believe these creatures actually exist or not, this is a fair treatment of the subject matter. It's not as absurd as one might expect either, since everyone involved comes across as sincere.

There are the eye witnesses and their retelling of their experiences, as well as experts both pro and con. Sightings as far back as the 1920's are discussed. There are also healthy doses of voiceover narration.

SPECIAL NOTE: This movie contains the famous 16mm video that has become the signature footage of the creature.

Of course, this did come out in the early 1970's, so it reflects its era. It's handled far more seriously than more recent Bigfoot exposes, which have usually been in the form of "reality shows".

This documentary is required viewing for the true enthusiast...

As a kid growing up in the 1970s, I was addicted to paranormal documentaries. Documentaries such as Mysteries From Beyond Earth (1975), docudramas such as The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972) and TV's Project UFO (1978) and TV documentaries like In Search Of... were the kinds of shows I lived for. Recently, while wandering around on YouTube, I found the opening segment of one of my all-time favourite 1970s' paranormal documentaries, Bigfoot: Man or Beast? (the release date is often mistakenly said to be 1972, but it was actually released in 1975). Unfortunately, YouTube only features the first 10 minutes of the film (you can watch the first 11 minutes 48 seconds of the film on Google Video). Apparently, you can watch the entire documentary online at The Film Wall (http://www.thefilmwall.com), although the poster they feature on the Website is for a different Bigfoot film and the website asks for your credit card #, even though it insists you can watch movies online for free. It looks pretty dubious to me.

Bigfoot: Man or Beast? is a beautifully made documentary with outstanding production values, compelling footage and, at the risk of being accused of hyperbole, I consider it a work of art. Sadly, this outstanding documentary has not found its way to DVD. Many of the old- timers in the film are now, alas, no longer with us, so the film is also a very important historical document about early twentieth century sightings.

The film holds up beautifully today. The last time I saw it was on TNT back in 2000. Too bad it hasn't been released on DVD, because there is definitely a niche audience for this film and I think it would sell fairly well. The location filming and gripping eyewitness accounts combine to make this a remarkable film. If you see it, do not miss it. The sound of the screaming Bigfoot in the film (based on eyewitness descriptions) is chilling and worth the price of admission.

UPDATE (April 26, 2014): The movie is now available on DVD, as well as YouTube. Check it out if you get a chance!