An ex-soldier ventures into the Pacific Northwest to uncover the truth behind his fiance's disappearance.
Despite the nearly endless amount of monsters practically begging to be
adapted to film, the wild world of cryptozoology remains a criminally
underused source of inspiration for horror movies. While a few lucky cryptids
have become ingrained in popular culture over the years, none have graced
the silver screen as often (or as prominently) as the Big Man himself. The
latest of these Sasquatch flicks is Justin Lee’s Big Legend, a surprisingly
compelling survival story with more than a few surprises up its sleeve.
Big Legend stars Kevin Makely as Tyler Laird, a man haunted by the tragic
disappearance of his fiancé during a camping trip. After a year in psychiatric
care, Tyler returns to the woods that claimed the love of his life, hell-bent on
finding the monstrous creature responsible. As he ventures through the
mysterious beast’s territory, his suspicions that what he experienced was no
mere animal attack are confirmed in the most gruesome way imaginable.
The film also features a brief but lovable performance by Adrienne Barbeau as
Tyler’s mother, not to mention Todd A. Robinson as a quirky hunter/Bigfoot
enthusiast, but the majority of the picture dwells on Makely’s interaction with
the Pacific Northwest wilderness and the secrets that lurk within. The limited
amount of characters and lonely backdrop make this a more intimate and
contained ordeal when compared to most Bigfoot movies, while also focusing
on the inherent solitude of Tyler’s journey and struggle for survival.
Luckily for us, Makely does a great job of carrying the film through these
lonely sequences, and it’s hard not to feel sorry for Tyler after all he’s been
through. The dialogue occasionally feels forced and the overall script could
have used some more polish, but it’s still an entertaining experience.
That being said, there is a certain aura of cheapness permeating Big
Legend, with nearly every element of the film feeling slightly rough around
the edges. This is obviously a result of the limited budget, but I feel that many
of these issues could have been avoided by beefing up the art direction and
trimming some hammy lines from the script. Bigfoot himself also looks very
mundane, but there are only so many ways you can depict a bipedal ape on
film without straying too far from eyewitness accounts, so I can’t quite blame
the filmmakers for that.
Action,
Horror,
Thriller,
