Bigfoot: The Lost Coast Tapes

The Found Footage sub-genre, yea I think it's time it got it's own genre. Just when I was thinking that it (F.F.) was only a fad & on it's way out, film makers are refining how to make this type of film rise in interest & the subtle ways to creep you out. When I read the word "Bigfoot" my mind went to that place of stupidity & a whole bunch of very bad attempts that the SyFy Channel has churned out over the years. Then I made sure this was not a TV movie which it was not and I actually became interested. Anyone that happened to catch TrollHunter(2010)and really liked it will undoubtedly like this as well. I don't know the inspirations of the film or any details behind the making of or script writing but I continuously got that great Trollhunter vibe and it was fantastic. It was like an American re-make to a foreign film but with switched up local legends. The acting of Drybeck(FrankAshmore) was perfection & paralleled the man in T.H. in the subtle ways he makes the scene frantic by saying less & always seeming to be preoccupied with something dangerous. Some of the other film crew actors got annoying at times with their over the top panic & fear but it wasn't bad enough to hurt the film any. It's not perfect by any means but I absolutely admit to having fun watching it and if it's offered on PPV or digital rental I do recommend it as long as you know what you're in store for. This studio managed to take a ridiculed subject like "Bigfoot" and freak the viewer out with it. So I think it deserves a solid 7/10 for the fun & creepy sides it displayed to a theme that hasn't had a respectable take done on it in what seems like forever.

Like found footage movies, love Bigfoot. In The Lost Coast Tapes a TV journalist decides to give a man $75,000 to see a Bigfoot corpse and prove it's a fake. Quite why he thinks making yet another show proving Bigfoot is a fake is worth his life savings is anyone's guess. They get out to the woods and of course start to hear noises and see trees rustling. It plays its found footage premise pretty well. There are no real contradictions in sound or shots, however the cast try far too hard to be quick and witty. The dialogue is also constantly riddled with references to the show they are making. The obsession of Sean, the lead. Is enough to convince us that they would continue to keep the cameras rolling, as he is in fear of being made to look the fool at the hands of someone's prank. Unfortunately, towards the end, the film adds a very interesting spin to the Bigfoot myth, but fails to elaborate on it. This wouldn't be so bad, bu it brings it in in the last few minutes and seems to use it at an excuse to not show anything. I'm all for leaving some things to the imagination, but sometimes a film's ideas do warrant further exploration. Up until the end you can kind of guess everything that happens, and apart from the actual violence all of these things can be seen in a show like Finding Bigfoot, which is a lot more fun because it tries so hard to convince you of what's real. Not the worst found footage film or Sasquatch film, but that isn't saying much.

This is another one of those cheap 'found footage' films that would have been pretty new and different about fifteen years ago. Since the film has nothing but that gimmick to offer your enjoyment of it will depend almost entirely on whether you want to watch some buffoons running around in the dark with some guy who is channeling Elmer Fudd.

Mr Dryrot or whatever he is called lives in the middle of nowhere. He still gets on youtube though uploading videos of his dead bigfoot. Strangely no newspapers, TV shows, debunkers, academics or TV networks have bothered to follow up on these videos which are apparently "epic". We don't get to see those by the way. I was so bored by the movie I started imagining old Mr Drywall out there in the forest prettying up his youtube page and perhaps watching the odd episode of bigfoot hunters to chill out.

There's no real plot here but the little that you do get is ridiculous and gets worse as the film plods on. There's no tension at any point, no scares or anything. I've probably spent more time reviewing it than they spent writing it so I'll just say don't waste your time, it's awful.

Now this film started off pretty good, the acting was pretty good too, but the movie took a good 50 minutes or so before anything really started to happen. Then when it did happen it was either out of focus or something was in the way or the camera was pointed in the wrong direction. I was actually hoping for more out of this film as I'm a 'found-footage' fan, and I'm kind of a Bigfoot fan too, but this movie (although well done in parts) failed in it's delivery. Just when you think you might see something, you're soon disappointed by the camera missing most of the action, or you only see some feet. It isn't the worst 'found-footage' movie out there, but it's definitely not one of the better ones. So I give this a 4 out of 10, only because it actually had potential, if only the makers had of done it better.

A group of filmmakers go to make a documentary about a man who claims to have body of a Bigfoot but they find themselves in real danger.

To director Corey Grant's credit Bigfoot: The Lost Coast Tapes is one of the better made POV films, in the vain of Bigfoot County of the same year but even with its real life Bigfoot hoaxer Rick Dyer style element at the beginning it never manages to suck you in like REC, Exists, Devil Pass to name a few. It's not a budget issue either as similar films Grave Encounters and The Tunnel for example manage to pull it off it. For some unexplainable reason it just lacks that je ne sais quoi.

Writers Bryan O'Cain and Brian Kelsey have all the element there it just never feels the full package. Naturalistic Drew Rausch is notable as Sean Reynolds, the producer who'll do anything to get the money shot and the rest of the cast are pretty convincing including Rich McDonald along with Ashley Wood who deserve a mention. Energetic actor Japheth Gordon scree time is minimal as he has the oomph to put the much needed spark into the proceedings.

It's not a keeper but Grant's offering better than many of SYFy Bigfoot films, hopefully a sequel or remake would correct and inject that much needed Bigfoot magic.