The Capture of Bigfoot

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.

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.

A great film like this is a result of the rare convergence of many talents: Rebane (Ito), Neumeyer (screenplay), Wally Flaherty et al. In fact it is Bill Rebane's innocent and somewhat naive approach that turns his earnest effort (like the turning of water into wine) into this true camp classic. No one could set out to purposely make a film like this; they would fail.

When Lartronic rented this movie from the "Le Bad" section of Blockbuster, what did he expect? Those who want a good laugh from a movie that can entertain as only a true camp classic can, then this is your movie! Also rent "The Alpha Incident", "Gift From the Red Planet", "Giant Spider Invasion" and Rebane's other classics. Mr. Rebane should be honored by the Academy for his lifetime contributions to the camp category of motion pictures. He is truly a genius in this respect.

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...

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.