Big Legend

A strong, strong opening that sadly devolves to worse and worse a state over the course of the movie, culminating in those positively absurd final moments. Final rating:★★½ - Had a lot that appealed to me, didn’t quite work as a whole.

Men seeking you-know-who in the wilds east of Mount St. Helens I’ve seen close to 20 Bigfoot flicks over the years, and my favorites are the creative “Sasquatch Mountain” (aka “Devil on the Mountain”) and “Exists,” followed by “Primal Rage” and maybe “Abominable.” “Sasquatch Hunters” has its points of entertainment as well. I would place this after those. It starts like many monster-in-the-woods flicks do. Think “Man-Thing” or the more recent “The Texas Witch.” Thankfully there’s a nuance and the movie actually tries to be serious, not to mention frightening. It does work up a sense of horror, and I like the way the characters are allowed to breathe without rushing things. I’m talking about the ex-Army ranger (Kevin Makely) and the aged loner with whom he teams up (Todd A. Robinson). Lance Henriksen shows up at the end. This happened to be his fourth Bigfoot movie, after “Untold” (aka “Sasquatch”), “Abominable” and “Sasquatch Mountain.” Amanda Wyss and Adrienne Barbeau are also on hand in bit parts. The problem for me is that the flick’s too sparse and needed more entertaining staples. As such, it can be a tad boring. Moreover, there’s a useless exchange at the end that hints at an ongoing series, but it never manifested, probably because this didn’t stir up enough interest. It was the writer/director’s first full-length film. I’m talking about Justin Lee. He would release three more direct-to-streaming movies the same year, 2018, including the nigh excellent Western “Any Bullet Will Do.” Five years later he would release “Hunting Games,” which is similar to this one in the sense of armed men in a desperate situation in the woods of the Great Northwest, but it’s significantly better, which shows that he improved, using this as a building block. His area of expertise is effective shooting in wilderness areas, as well as wisely fleshing out his characters with interesting-but-mundane dialogues. It runs 1h 29m and was shot in the region of Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Washington, including Lewis River Falls. GRADE: C+