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.

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.

A interesting take on the cliche big foot found footage style movie. Could have been way better than it was. A number of things that made it interesting are never explained. Worth a watch though. It's such shame so many these found footage flicks have such potential and then fall short. The biggest fail of this was the actors who put on a textbook display of overacting. It's really quite awful in a lot of scenes.

I came across Willow Creek the other day and was pleasantly surprised. Deciding to see what other bigfoot horror is out there, I came across this. I've watched more bigfoot films in the last few days than I can count and this one surprised me. I'm lukewarm on found footage films, and this one is a slow burn, but it does a great job of building tension and the characters aren't as awfully cliched as most are in these sorts of films. They definitely could have done more with a bigger budget, but they did well with what they had. They made the smart choice to go with "less is more" when it comes to effects. We dont get many shots of monsters, but there are some impressive death scenes. If you're looking for a monster heavy found footage gore fest, you may be disappointed, but since so many similiar films dont pull off their creatures well anyway, they made the smart choice to focus on suspense and universe building. It looks like there's another project listed. I'm interested to see it!

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.