EXISTS

2.5 stars (out of 5)

Bigfoot, America’s ever-elusive cryptozoological superstar, is, according to the ‘facts’, timid and harmless, and yet films almost always depict the shaggy thing as vicious and nasty (see Creature From Black Lake, the Boggy Creek films and so on – and so on). And Eduardo (The Blair Witch Project) Sánchez’s latest pic opens with a subtitle warning that the beast is only aggressive when provoked, which it certainly is here, and by characters so annoying you can’t wait for them to get clobbered.

Five bozos journey into the remote Texas wilderness for a weekend’s partying at a cabin in the woods (hey, great name for a movie!), and immediately weird things start happening: they hit something with their car, grunts are heard in the darkness, and the house is a dusty hovel with a wild pig inside to provide a cheesy false scare. The next day the group behave like idiots (filming themselves riding bikes into the river for YouTube, a little skinny-dipping and nookie in the undergrowth, setting off firecrackers), properly establishing not only that this is yet another awkward mockumentary/‘found footage’ flick but that Bigfoot has every right to be pissed off. And, after too much lurking about, it finally attacks, with Sánchez managing some pretty cool and vaguely frightening sequences before the survivors start Blair Witch-ing (ie. running around screaming in the dark) and just begging for a serious Bigfooting.

Strikingly similar to Bobcat Goldthwait’s Willow Creek, which was made at the same time, this is familiar stuff with irritating playing by the unknown cast (especially Chris Osborn as gormless Brian) but a handful of fair moments to keep you watching (as when, for example, Samuel Davis’ wannabe-heroic Matt is chased after foolishly venturing out on a bike in an attempt to get phone reception). It also manages to stop us from clearly seeing the Bigfoot until late in the action, which is a good thing as it’s really just a guy in a gorilla suit. And funny about that…