BIGFOOT is a trashy Z-flick that manages to cash in on or rip off all kinds of popular trends from the period. The main thrust of the story, about a family of Bigfoot creatures living out in the forests who kidnap young women for procreation, has obviously been inspired by the supposedly genuine Roger Patterson Bigfoot footage that was shot in 1967 and released to much notoriety. This film even stages a homage in which one of the Bigfoot creatures strolls across open woodland just like in the movie. This flick becomes even more intriguing when watching, as it transpires that the director was responsible for a couple of shoddy biker flicks before he made this and, sure enough, a 'biker gang' are soon involved in the proceedings, although it has to be said that these bikers look more like university students!
The idea of bikers vs. Bigfoot is a good one but this film ruins it through shocking execution. The biggest problem is that the scant running time is padded out with endless upon endless scenes of bikers riding through the woods, cars driving through the woods, sometimes just landscape shots of the woods itself. There's about one few second scene of Bigfoot 'action' and the rest of the running time is made up of talking, which is boring. The characters are paper-thin and the actors are all poor, despite the presence of a few notables including John Carradine, hamming it up in a monster flick as only he knew how; brothers Christopher and John Mitchum, both sons of Robert with none of his ability; Joi Lansing, a cheesecake starlet who strips down to a flimsy dress early on and stays that way throughout; Bing Crosby's son Lindsay, who makes no impression whatsoever; even an ex-western star, Ken Maynard, severely down on his luck.
The cast alone and cheese factor saved this from the list of 'very worst films' I've amassed, but there isn't much to get excited about here. I thought things might pick up with the introduction of dynamite and a one-armed Bigfoot hunter, but I was wrong. The creatures – for there are a whole host of them running about in the murk – look like a cross between 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY's apes and those cavemen brothers from the cartoon series WACKY RACES. Needless to say that the costumes are tatty beyond belief and the multiple references to KING KONG only serve as a reminder of what trash this is. BIGFOOT crashes and burns from the very beginning and is a total waste of time.
The idea of bikers vs. Bigfoot is a good one but this film ruins it through shocking execution. The biggest problem is that the scant running time is padded out with endless upon endless scenes of bikers riding through the woods, cars driving through the woods, sometimes just landscape shots of the woods itself. There's about one few second scene of Bigfoot 'action' and the rest of the running time is made up of talking, which is boring. The characters are paper-thin and the actors are all poor, despite the presence of a few notables including John Carradine, hamming it up in a monster flick as only he knew how; brothers Christopher and John Mitchum, both sons of Robert with none of his ability; Joi Lansing, a cheesecake starlet who strips down to a flimsy dress early on and stays that way throughout; Bing Crosby's son Lindsay, who makes no impression whatsoever; even an ex-western star, Ken Maynard, severely down on his luck.
The cast alone and cheese factor saved this from the list of 'very worst films' I've amassed, but there isn't much to get excited about here. I thought things might pick up with the introduction of dynamite and a one-armed Bigfoot hunter, but I was wrong. The creatures – for there are a whole host of them running about in the murk – look like a cross between 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY's apes and those cavemen brothers from the cartoon series WACKY RACES. Needless to say that the costumes are tatty beyond belief and the multiple references to KING KONG only serve as a reminder of what trash this is. BIGFOOT crashes and burns from the very beginning and is a total waste of time.