Curse of Bigfoot

THE CURSE OF BIGFOOT and TEENAGERS BATTLE THE THING are actually two different films. From what I can make out, TEENAGERS BATTLE THE THING was made in 1958. A VHS tape was released in 1997. It's in black and white and runs 60 minutes. I don't believe this version was ever released theatrically. THE CURSE OF BIGFOOT added newly-shot footage (some of it being needless padding) to the beginning and end of the film, leaving the TBTT footage basically intact in the middle. The new introductory scenes, shot over a decade later, use one of the actors from TBTT as a guest lecturer in a high school classroom. He recounts his amazing story of his encounter with Bigfoot. The TBTT scenes are then used as a flashback. Either version of the film is fun, although the new framing footage in BIGFOOT is a hilarious plus.

My brother and I also enjoyed making fun of how bad this film was back when channel 9 showed it every two months or so in the mid to late seventies. Remember the incredible delivery of the girl talking to her dog, reminiscent of that "What? Sandwiches again?" commercial about learning to drive a tractor-trailer? I mainly recall the moment when they pull the plate covering the ancient tomb off and gas spurts out, with the leader of the expedition a full thirty seconds later surmising that the gas might be coming from a hole. I wonder if that scene was in any way an inspiration for Steven Spielberg in the equivalent scene in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" when ... never mind.

Most of the negative comments about this revolve around slow pacing and lack of slick production values, plus goofy monster suit, yet in it's way it is an interesting piece.

Originally filmed as 'Teenagers Battle The Thing" around 1958-59 to take advantage of the 'Teenager' monster movie titles so popular, plus the great sci-fi film 'The Thing' of 8 years earlier, this film had very limited release and a very short run-time of about an hour. Then in the 1970s additional footage showing a Bigfoot attack was shot, including a return by an older 'Dr Wyman' (same actor) to relate the story of the first adventure to incredulous students of the 1970s. This was for TV release and the film was retitled 'Curse of Bigfoot' to use the 70s Bigfoot craze to it's advantage.

This in itself shows Barnumesque actions worthy of such greats at this type of promotion as Wm Castle and Roger Corman. It actually was a marvelous concept to pad the film with Bigfoot footage and the filmmakers were fortunate enough to get back the main actor, plus the fact that the creature, originally a zombie/mummy of some sort looked furry enough to pass as a Bigfoot. That was serendipity at it's highest level.

The original film was shot on reversal film stock, not the best type of stock for range of contrast and color, and the resulting prints show this. As an example, the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre was shot on reversal stock, and it's probably one of the best films ever to use that type of film stock well, yet it's also got problems in some areas regarding color and contrast.

It's actually pretty amazing that the additional footage shot 15 yrs after the original matches so well. That's an extraordinary feat, and praise should be given to the cinematographer and color timer here.

The complaints of slow pacing and production value, if looked at in the context of the late 1950s, are not as valid as comparisons to films of the 1970s and later. It's paced about the same as most films of this time, especially the low-budget independent ones, and is no worse than the 1970s hit Bigfoot film, Legend of Boggy Creek. Production is also on par with the period of the late 50s. I'd say the monster suit is as good as some I've seen from the same period in big studio productions as well, such as the notorious monster suit from Monster on the Campus, a Universal production.

Overall, this film is quite fun to watch, not excruciatingly boring nor so miserable that it can't be viewed, and while it doesn't really have any shocks or suspense, it's fine if one doesn't expect more than a typical low-budget C-movie indie from the 1950s.

At some point in about 1962 a film was made which revolved around the misadventures of a group of high schoolers on a weekend field trip to Pahrump, Nevada searching for Indian artifacts. What they find is terror at the hands of an ancient mummy. Badly acted and shot poorly this film resembled a made-for-students travelogue. It moldered over the years as it sat unwatched and unappreciated in some vault somewhere. And then, like the Pahrump mummy it rose to terrorize us all again.

It would appear that the director of the previous footage asked the main player from that film to appear in the new film as his old character being asked to tell modern (70s) kids about his experiences with "The Great Man-Beast of North America," which he reluctantly does. The older film is used in its entirety as a flashback vehicle to the supposed Bigfoot encounter. But, of course the creature isn't a Bigfoot at all, it's just an Indian mummy.

This is a bizarre melange. Just for fun, check out the end of the film where all the students are standing around the bonfire, and note that they are all pretty much acting normally, then remember the words of Roger Mason, that, one of those students will have to spend the rest of her life in a mental institution!

Long live paper mache monsters!!

A short (terrible) student film from the '60s is combined with some mid-'70s (also terrible) docudrama footage about Bigfoot and the result is this classic late-night insomniacs' favorite! The "monster" featured in the original flick is NOT Bigfoot, but rather some kind of mummy thing unearthed by a bunch of stupid teenagers digging in an Indian burial ground. A lot of very (unintentionally) funny dialogue and some of the worst acting ever committed to celluloid are highlights of the '60s footage, and make this sleep-inducing film worth watching.