By Geno McGahee
I love Bigfoot. I am a believer and a fan of the mighty Sasquatch and considering my addiction to horror, the combination of the two are a match made in heaven for me…if don’t right. Certain flicks like SHRIEK OF THE MUTILATED and SNOWBEAST were able to bring the man-ape to the screen in a good way, but most others have failed miserably. The latest is another one of these “found footage” films by the name of “BIGFOOT: THE LOST COAST TAPES.”
A group, led by Sean Reynolds (Drew Rausch), has headed deep into the woods to meet with Carl Drybeck (Frank Ashmore), a man that claims that he has the body of a Sasquatch. Reynolds has put together 75 thousand dollars for the opportunity to film this special.
The writing here is all over the place and the characters are unbelievable and unlikable. The most unbelievable is Kevin Lancaster (Noah Weisberg), a substitute audio guy that was, at first, very gung ho about the special, and then has a change of heart and begins to become terrified of his own shadow. It gets annoying fast as he takes the time to look at the camera every two seconds and notes just how much of a bad idea it was to be part of this thing.
We have Sean Reynolds’ former girlfriend and producer of the show, Robyn Conway (Ashley Wood) that is very calm and with nature, but after finding a Sasquatch nest that prompts Kevin to leave, becomes infuriated. Her demeanor and character totally changes, but this is common place in this film. I have a sneaking suspicion that things were changed as they went along.
Another annoying thing about this movie is that EVERYONE is constantly recording EVERYTHING. When Kevin is killed by the Bigfoot, he is recording himself the entire time just talking to the camera and bitching…until he is beaten to death. When Robyn sits bedside with an injured guy, she sets up a camera to record it. It makes this unbelievable film that much more unbelievable.
Some of the death scenes are decent, but they do not come close to saving this terrible film. When it comes to horror films with Bigfoot, I’m an easy man to please. They should have won my fancy easily, but this movie is just so horrible, it fails across the board at every turn.
BIGFOOT: THE LOST COAST TAPES is a sad BLAIR WITCH PROJECT rip off with zero direction. The film stumbles along to the conclusion, which features a little twist that was OK, but the movie was obviously not thought out. As a Bigfoot and horror fan, I’m disgusted. I know all the Sasquatch across the globe will remain in the woods and stay away from the Redbox when word of mouth spreads about this insult to their race. Avoid this one people. It’s as bad as it gets.
Rating: 1.5/10 – How do you screw up a Bigfoot Horror movie?