THE HUNTING GROUNDS

HUNTING GROUNDS (2015)

Directed by  John Portanova

Written by John Portanova

Starring Miles Joris-Peyrafitte, Jason Vail, D'Angelo Midili, David Saucedo, and Bill Oberst Jr.

Rated R

Just watched a movie. Here's what I thought.

With SPOILERS as usual if you're worried about that sort of thing.




Watched another Bigfoot movie. This time HUNTING GROUNDS, available to stream on Amazon (and free for Prime members which is how I watched it).

The good - actual Bigfoot costumes and practical effects. Always welcome, in my book. Nice scenery, as it was shot in Washington state in the general areas that "Twin Peaks" and "Northern Exposure" were filmed. Easy to believe they really were way off the beaten path in the woods somewhere. Generally speaking, it looked pretty good.

I also have to give the makers some credit for knowing some bigfoot lore. The story takes its cues from the stories of Ape Canyon - http://www.bigfootencounters.com/classics/beck.htm and Albert Ostman - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Ostman, both of which get referenced in the film.

The bad - most everything else, really.

There's a brief prologue with Bill Oberst, Jr. out in the woods meeting something large and hairy to make sure we know what we're in for later. Much later.

Then we cut to a very down-and-out father/son duo who have had to pull up stakes and relocate to a cabin - that's little more than a shed - out in the middle of the forest after the death of the lady of the house. A death that might've been related to the dad's drinking, as there's dialog in the film about him promising to get his act together and stay clean after the funeral.

The place has been kinda trashed when they arrive, but no big deal. It's already got no electricity and no running water so some tipped over furniture and torn cushions aren't going to be a deal-breaker, and as we're reminded a few times, dad has no money and no options left.

Dad/son are soon joined by Will and Sergio. Will is the brother of dad's late wife, and it letting him use the cabin which used to be his family's vacation place when they were kids. Sergio is dad's ol' drinking buddy, and a complete asshat. The only bigger asshat is dad, who lets Sergio talk all sorts of smack to his son and even takes Sergio's side when they're out hunting and decide the boy needs to shoot a deer to prove he's a man or some-such nonsense.

Yeah, we spend a lot of time with "family drama" before getting to the good stuff. Unfortunately, neither the writing nor the acting is really there to make us (well, me, at least) care about what's going on.

During the hunting, they finally run afoul of the local Sasquatch, only to find out there's more than one and they're all pretty miffed at the intrusions onto their land.

And the peeved Bigfoots (Bigfeet?) aren't the only problems, as interpersonal strife also takes its toll on the small group.

It tried, I guess. Another pass or two at the screenplay so some of the dialog didn't sound quite as stiff, and maybe a few more takes to smooth the edges off of the acting, would have helped a lot.

Can't say it's the worst bigfoot movie I've seen, as at least in this one you do actually get to see the starring creatures, even if the outfits aren't the fanciest. If you've a particular affinity for these flicks, it's probably worth watching over a pizza. If not, this isn't the one to whet your interest.