Our Price: £6.03 (subject to change)
A BETTER FILM THAN YOU WOULD EXPECT
Review date: 2007-11-04 Rating: 6 out of 10
A plane crashes in the mountains of Northern Washington. Since his daughter Tara (Erica Durance) was on board, Harlan Knowles, (Lance Henriksen) heads up an expedition to go find her, but since he only knows his way around a board room, he hires experienced tracker Clayton Tyne (Russell Ferrier) and animal expert Winston Burg (Philip Granger) to help him. Guided along by Marla Lawson, (Andrea Roth) Nikki Simmons, (Mary Mancini) and Plazz (Jeremy Radick), they search in the area where she may have been lost. The forest starts playing tricks on the group, as they start to suspect that something may be after them. Hiking on with no luck, they seek shelter in a cave when a storm sets in. after it passes through, they head off again. Locating the plane but none of the passengers aboard, Marla discovers evidence that a Sasquatch may be responsible for the disappearances. Soon, they are picked off one by one, and only Harlan, Clayton, Plazz and Nikki are left. Even though they have proof of the animals' existence, they leave it so that they have a chance to escape unharmed.
The Good News: One of the things I really enjoy about this movie is its really suspenseful attacks. The first one is really the highlight in the film. With one of the characters trapped inside a sleeping bad, they feel something brush up against them outside. Playfully thinking it's the crew-member who likes her, she gives him the cold shoulder, then is suddenly dragged out of her tent and pulled along for a short distance until it finally lets go. She looks up and doesn't see anything that could be dragging her. One of the good creepy moments in the film, as well as this tape that is used to verify that the daughter is missing. Also creepy was the handful of scenes where you could hear something in the jungle pretty away, and the reactions of the people to the noises. Even still, the creepier moments of the film take center-stage, as only two people are shown to be killed on-screen. The film also provides tons of clues as too what exactly is following them. From cave-paintings to pieces of debris found lying on the floor of the jungle to blood found on trees, there were plenty of clues needed for even Watson to deduce that it was a Sasquatch hunting the few people it kills. After all that, we do get some nudity to help smooth things over for all of us. They even kept the appearance of the creature a secret until the very end, so it wouldn't be considered a letdown when it shows up on screen.
The Bad News: This really needed to let some of the cast members to die. Two on-screen kills aren't nearly enough to satisfy even a third grader. It had the stereotyped characters to kill off, yet it never even introduced them to danger in meeting the creature. That would've made their situation all the creepier. Had they actually been in a dangerous environment, I would've cared if they survived the trip, but as it stands, none of the characters are really that special.
The Final Verdict: This really reads a lot like the "Creature Features" the Sci-Fi channel loves to showcase almost every week. The main difference is that the creature isn't shown a whole lot in the film. It has a lot more riding for it than against it, and is at least worth a look for those who are interested in the legend of the creature, as it is mentioned a few times in the movie.