Bigfoot

Released in 1970, "Bigfoot" was one of the first quasi-horror films devoted to the legendary beast-man, if not THE first. It relays the story of a couple of girls kidnapped by some bigfoot creatures and the mixed posse of country police & bikers who seek to find them.

Unfortunately, this is Grade C filmmaking all the way. For instance, the opening credits don't appear until almost the 10-minute mark. Most the scenes leading up to this are overlong time-wasters, like Joi Lansing walking up to her small plane and entering. Totally pointless! I guess they had to pad this turkey somehow, which is only 83 minutes long as it is. Also, most of the "acting" is laughable, and I mean that literally.

For me, the film's worthwhile for three reasons only: (1.) The gorgeous Judy Jordan in a bikini, mostly tied up to a tree (also check her out in 1973's underrated Western "The Gatling Gun"); (2.) the cool hippie-era score; and (3.) the nostalgic badness of it all, which is sort of entertaining.

The movie was shot at Big Bear Lake and San Bernardino National Forest.

GRADE: D

One thing about the stories of Bigfoot...they never talk about a Mrs. Bigfoot and all the little Bigfoots. So, the brave makers of this masterpiece(?) decided to not only make the world's first Bigfoot film but answer that burning question about Bigfoot procreation. No...there's no lady Bigfoot...just some hot women the creatures have abducted to turn into their baby mommas!

While the film has plenty of scenes with various Bigfoots walking around in the wilderness, the film STILL manages to be rather dull. Even with the biker gang and a couple sexy ladies....dull. About the only reason to watch it is to laugh...and I only chuckled a few times. I also did enjoy seeing a few down *John Carradine, Ken Maynard and James Craig) and out or nearly famous folks (the Mitchums)...but not enough to merit watching this silly mess of a film.

And finally, if you think about it, the plot of "Bigfoot" is very, very similar to "King Kong"...but bad.

BIGFOOT (1970) * (D: Robert F. Slatzer) Thank God for John Carradine, as he at least provides laughs as a southern hunter... but the rest of the movie is without value other than what he does/says next. Long, dead scenes pad out the 80+ minute running time.

Well, that was the quote on my video box by someone from THE POST. So, judging by that rather anonymous endorsement, I knew I was in for a real treat. Not to mention the box artwork, which features a large, vaguely ape-like creature tossing a motorcycle (yay! a hybrid biker/monster flick!) Toss in John Carradine, and the blurb "America's abominable snowman... breeds with anything!", and you've got yourself an epoch du frommage. The uncomfortably long (and silent) travelling scenes, the paper mache sets, the unbelievably bad bigfoot makeup(or shall I say BigFEET?), the dinner-theatre-style acting, wonderfully inane script - all a testiment to the ultra-low budget that this "classic" drive-in flick flaunts in spades. Demands repeated viewings.

Bigfoot (1970)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Various women are being kidnapped and it turns out Bigfoot and his clan are behind it. Apparently their race is dying off so they're needing women to have more creatures with. Jasper B. Hawks (John Carradine) gets the idea of capturing one for the money while a biker gang goes after the creature to get their women back.

Bigfoot was always my favorite mythical monster when I was a kid and I was always disappointed because there really aren't too many good movies about him. I continue to watch movies on Bigfoot yet they continue to get worse and worse. This film doesn't have the greatest reputation around but it's certainly a real hoot and a rather fun film as long as you don't take it too serious.

I mean, just take a look at the sequence where the three hot ladies are tied up talking about why they have been captured. This here alone shows that the film wasn't supposed to be taken serious and then you throw in a biker gang and you've got pure drive-in madness. There are some really nutty scenes throughout this movie but the greatest thing about it is the fact that they don't keep the monsters off screen. Nope, the monsters are constantly on the screen and there are multiple ones as well as children!

The cast is also a lot of fun as we get Joi Lansing as one of the victims, Chris and John Mitchum and even Ken Maynard has a small role. Then there's Carradine who eats up the picture just like it was a big bowl of spaghetti. He's really a lot of fun here as he adds in the camp as this redneck looking to make a quick buck. His final line delivery, ripping off the KING KONG ending, is pure joy.

As I said, BIGFOOT isn't a masterpiece and it's not even a really good movie but if you enjoy these low-budget monster movies then there's plenty here to enjoy.