La captura de Bigfoot

The Capture of Bigfoot (1979)

** (out of 4)

A couple redneck hunters capture a baby Bigfoot but before they can get him back to town a much larger Bigfoot shows up. One of the hunters is killed but the other makes it town where he tells the people about a mysterious creature. Pretty soon more bloody murders are happening and it becomes clear that the legend is real.

THE CAPTURE OF BIGFOOT from director Bill Rebane has a very, very bad reputation but I must admit that I don't know why. I will freely admit that I love Bigfoot and the myth around him so I've read countless books, magazines and of course seen plenty of movies. Sadly, with just a few exceptions, the majority of these films have been very bad. THE CAPTURE OF BIGFOOT has a very bad reputation with some people calling it the worst Bigfoot film ever made. I certainly don't agree with that for a number of reasons.

For starters, a lot of monster movies pretty much hide the monsters in the shadows or just don't show them enough. A lot of Bigfoot movies from this era are guilty of that but I give Rebane credit for going all out and constantly having the monsters on the screen. I'm not sure why they elected to go with a white-haired monster over the traditional one but either way the film remains entertaining because of him. It was great getting to see the various attacks and if you're a fan of such movies then at least you've got one that keeps the monster on the screen.

As far as the story goes, yeah, it's nothing original or overly great but it's at least entertaining enough for a low-budget "B" movies. None of the performances are overly great but none of them are bad either. They're basically what you'd expect out of a movie like this. Another plus is that we're given some beautiful and snow-covered location shots of Wisconsin.

THE CAPTURE OF BIGFOOT has several flaws including some bad pacing issues but I think its reputation as being one of the worst Bigfoot movies is a bad rap.

When I bought this DVD (also containing "The Alpha Incident") I was hoping for some good campy sci-fi. I was not disappointed with "Capture of Bigfoot". It had a few moments of really nice photography, filmed in some snowy northern area. I appreciated the fact that it was real snow in real cold (plumes of car/truck exhaust and lots of steaming breath as people talked). Any high budget film would have created plastic snow on a set. The only downsides for me were that 1 - almost anybody could have done a better voice for the creature, and 2 - the Olson character was unbelievably mean, but in the movie's defense, he was supposed to be as mad as Ahab. But these did not detract too much from the movie for me.

Also, I disagree with all those who liked "The Alpha Incident" better. For me, this film was much more enjoyable.

From Box office magazine 6/18/79: "The Capture of Bigfoot", the Bill Rebane production from Studio Film Corp., will be delayed for an unknown amount of time, due to the recent disappearance of 400 feet of film negative. According to Rebane, the disappearance of the footage, out of which 200 feet was to be used in the actual movie, will delay the mid-July openings previously scheduled for Arkansas and Memphis . . .How long that delay will be depends on the results of laboratory tests currently taking place in Denver. Insurance adjustors have made a duplicate negative from the work print, and the results of the lab tests will determine whether it is commercially feasible to use it in place of the missing footage...

Hard to find but if you can get a copy, you're in for a real treat. Years before ANACONDA "terrorized" us with a giant rubber snake, there was THE CAPTURE OF BIGFOOT. If you like outrageously bad special effects and over-the-top acting, this one's for you. A real campy funfest.

Some highlights: * The guy who plays the rich old miser (I believe his name in the film is "Olsen") recites his lines with such vigor and energy, each scene necessitates at least one press of the "rewind" button on your VCR remote. Watch for the scene where he interrogates a hospitalized employee of his. He shakes him vigourously, demanding he answer "Who was it? Was it Arak?!" * The special effects and sound effects are a hoot. Hard to do justice in words, they have to been seen to be appreciated. * And listen closely to the lyrics of the closing credits song. It sounds like a Harry Chapin record but the words must've been written by Ozzy Ozbourne: "You'll never find freedom, you'll only find lies/ You'll only find freedom the day that you die". Yikes. And just what the hell does that have to do with Bigfoot?

Also recommended: STARCRASH (1979)

Watch this with a group of people, or find a screening where everyone yells about the movie. By far one of the funniest movies I've seen, but for all the wrong reasons. By no means is this is a good film, but I didn't make it, so I can't complain.