Director(s) – Jason Figgis (Dark Tales, Gore Theatre), Tony Newton (Blood Tales, Gore Grind) and Sam Mason-Bell (Home Videos, Toxic Schlock)
Starring – Shawn C. Phillips (Ebola Rex, 5G Zombies), Alexander Hauck (#Shakespeare’s Shitstorm, Halloween Hell Night), and Christopher J. Long (Ted 2, Z)
Release Date – 2020
Rating – 1/5
It’s no secret that I’m a fan of the bigfoot/yeti horror flicks of the 70s. I couldn’t imagine living through the drive-in era when these movies would often play as a double feature on the big screen. These films are shitty by today’s standards but I fucking love how cheesy and fun they are. The last few years has seen a few movies pop up trying to pay homage to the famous cryptid and capture that cheesy gorilla suite fun that made these so much fun. Some completely miss their marks while others nail it.
A few weeks ago Wild Eye Releasing sent me American Sasquatch to review. They often hear me complain about artwork but my last two reviews for films from them featured some awesome artwork. They will never top their Lycanimator release but I do like the artwork for American Sasquatch. I want to take a second to thank Wild Eye for sending this one over.
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows a group of UK based cryptid investigators who travel out into the woods in search of bigfoot after a man has claimed to have seen the American cryptid. Their trip starts out innocently enough but before long they find exactly what they are looking for with dangerous consequences. **Spoiler Alert**
Honestly, I don’t know what I watched but this is one of the messiest indie releases I’ve ever seen. I’m struggling to find any information on this one and the fact that it doesn’t have an imdb page makes me wonder if this was unfinished projects put together to make one. The movie feels like it was segments filmed prior to the pandemic with filler shot during the pandemic following the guidelines.
The acting in this one is one is a bit rough. The film starts with Shawn C. Phillips talking to a webcam in similar fashion to his YouTube channel. Not much to really say here about that before we move to a man ranting while filming muddy water talking about it being bloody. Once again, nothing much to say here. We then move on to a group on YouTube talking UK bigfoot sightings. They are very awkward to watch but they are very comfortable with each other. This is a bit of a strange set up before moving into the found footage aspect of the film where their interactions become even more forced with each other. The last portion of the film follows two hunters out looking for bear. This is the best acted part of the film. The characters fit the film nicely and they work very well with each other.
The story for this one is very confusing and jumps around a bit. It’s based in the UK…but titled American Sasquatch. I understand it’s in reference to UK sightings of a mostly American based cryptid but that title is very misleading. Then we move into the YouTube like videos that break up the actual film and introduce the story. The opening with Shawn C. Phillips makes no sense and could be removed from the film. The movie has nothing to do with his character and his intro is just a waste of time because the we get a second intro from the actual YouTuber’s that the film is about. We then follow them on this dreadful trip before the film once again changes gears and we follow two more people into the woods. It feels like this was a project that had to stop filming or something or that nature and was pieced together the best it could be.
Finally, is one of the driest bigfoot films I think I have ever seen. The creature has very little screen time and the kills are so bland, out of focus, or off camera that we cant enjoy them. Overall, American Sasquatch is a very difficult film to finish. The acting and pieced together story makes for a very confusing and boring experience that I can’t recommend. Wild Eye knows that I love them but this one was not for me. Skip it.
