Rating: C+
Dir: Aaron Mull
Star: Marcus Mull, Lyle Jones, Aaron Clark, Ryker Blackwood
There are a lot of Bigfoot movies out there. Probably not quite as many as there are shark or Amityville films, true. But searching on Tubi throws up a whole slew of titles, from Shriek of the Sasquatch to Apocalypse Bigfoot. It’s not a field I’ve dipped into much, but going be the results there, they mostly seem in the horror genre, and that’s where this stands out, taking a very different direction. This is a comedy. And a road movie too. For our naive heroes, park rangers Robert (Mull) and Sam (Jones) drive across country from North Carolina to the Pacific Northwest, to relocate the local Bigfoot (Clark), after their national park is sold as the site for a solar farm.
On this journey, they cross paths with a slew of kooky characters, ranging from a very suspicious hitch-hiker carrying a shovel through to Robert’s grandma, discover the joys of Cracker Barrel, and get briefly involved in running a fireworks stand which is a front for Russian gangsters. It feels like a hairier version of Paul, with the ‘squatch replacing the extra-terrestrial. Though here, the cryptid doesn’t say anything: you still get the feeling he is probably the smartest anthropoid in the vehicle. For example, Sam and Robert decide they need to disguise him. Safe to say the results (top) aren’t exactly going to fool anyone. They do, however, lead to an amusing spin on the “trying on clothes” scene.
“Amusing” is definitely the best word to describe this: I didn’t laugh much, but I sure did smile a lot. It’s unabashedly warmhearted, and there’s no real conflict here. I initially expected the evil solar farmers to be the antagonists, but once our trio hit the road, they’re discarded entirely. Then I thought the bigfoot hunter (Blackwood, looking like a deranged version of Larry David) trailing the vehicle would be the villain. However, he turns out to be entirely benign. So do not expect drama or tension. You need to go into this, ready simply to hang out with Robert and Sam for ninety minutes, and enjoy lines like, “I feel like I’ve just always known how to put on pants. You know, other than hats, they’re the most intuitive piece of clothing there is.”
To be honest, not all of the comedy hit for me, and it’s very much a question of whether this is in tune with any viewer’s sense of humour. I might have preferred a bit more plot, since it sometimes feels like a collection of disparate scenes, rather than a connected narrative. But it’s the kind of quirky independent film where the flaws are part of the end result. The source of this is also unexpected. I interviewed the director about his previous film, The Dolly Madison Murders, a documentary about a double homicide. I would consequently not have had “Bigfoot buddy comedy” as the genre for his next feature, and can only look forward to whatever might be to come for Aaron.
The film is currently available on Prime Video and Plex. Links to both are on its website.