Greetings & Salutations Fellow Movie Fanatics!
I don’t know about this rest of you folks, but I happen to be one of those weirdos who prefers the cooler climates. I’m not too keen in summer weather which is one of the reasons I feel right at home in the Pacific Northwest. Yes, that also includes the rainy season which is over 65% of the year. On those rare occasions I get to tired of the rain, I can always retreat indoors and binge watch movies. Let’s be honest, if you’re going to engage in a serious movie binge there’s nothing like a B-Movie/Cult Classic marathon and today’s film for your consideration will certainly fall into that category. On a related note, today’s film also includes a twisted take on one of the great legends that the Pacific Northwest is known for … BigFoot.
‘Big Legend’ is action-thriller film written and directed by Justin Lee and stars Kevin Makely, Summer Spiro, Todd A. Robinson, Skotty Masgai, Adrienne Barbeau, Lance Henriksen, Amanda Wyss, and Ashley Platz.
The film begins 1 year ago in the woods of Washington state. Army Ranger veteran Tyler Laird (Makely) has returned home for good to his girlfriend Natalie (Spiro) and is ready to settle down. and build a life. One the first day of a camping trip to celebrate the start of their new life together, Natalie disappears. More specifically she is ‘taken’. Everyone but Tyler, is convinced that Natalie was the victim of a bear attack. Tyler knows better. However, he can do nothing since everyone thinks he’s lost his mind and the authorities decide to institutionalize him. Fast forward one year later. After convincing his doctor (Wyss) that he believes what everyone else does, that Natalie was the victim of a bear attack, he is released into the custody of his mother (Barbeau). Knowing the kind of person her son is and that he will not stop until he gets answers Tyler’s mother encourages him to seek out the truth and to find out once and for all Natalie’s fate and with that Tyler returns to the woods where she disappeared. After several days during which he’s attacked by an unknown assailant, he crosses paths with Eli (Vernude). A hunter who has some questions of his own about the same area in which Natalie disappeared. Eli claims to have seen and heard things about the region which make no sense and together he and Tyler set out to find answers to these questions. What they discover will completely change what people know about a legend that has its roots in the pacific northwest and proves that people have every reason to be afraid when they go out into the woods regardless of the situation.
Now, this film was certainly a new one for me as I had never before watched a film in which the legendary ‘BigFoot’ was portrayed as an antagonist. It’s been done before in several films I’d just never seen them. Basically what they did is took a B-movie script and used it in a film with A-List caliber actors and actresses plus the production values you’d see in an independent film with huge financial backing but managed to keep it ‘down to earth’. That is until you actually see the monster about halfway through the film. Then it gets to B-movie status. In a way, I almost wish they would’ve filmed it where you don’t actually see the monster but rather a silhouette of the monster instead. You’d never know that it was a B-film until the monster actually shows up. However, despite the Sasquatch’s appearance, the film carries itself well all the way to the end. Not a bad way to kill an afternoon. Plus, Lance Henriksen’s cameo? Badass. I’m going to give the film 3 out of 5 stars. The actors and actresses (particularly Makely, Spiro, and Vernude) most definitely carried the film. It was a welcome site to see once again what an underrated actress Barbeau is in her brief appearance in the film. It’s most certainly worth watching although I’d recommend waiting until after dark or when it’s raining outside. It’ll help amp up the fright factor of the film.
On behalf of myself and my fellows at ‘Skewed & Reviewed’ I’d like to say many thanks for Ready and we’ll see you at the movies.
