Shriek of the Sasquatch! (2011)

***Bigfoot is lopping off heads in the Deep South, 1979***

This is a micro-budget indie with the limitations thereof, including the creature consisting of a guy in a shaggy ape suit and pullover mask, yet it delivers the goods in several ways if you can roll with the cheap production values. For one thing, it captures the feel of 1979 with grainy footage and several hints of that era. The title of the flick was obviously inspired by 1974’s “Shriek of the Mutilated” (which is also a spare-change Bigfoot flick, sort of).

Before viewing this, I tried watching a spare-change budget cabin-in-the-woods flick, but I had to turn it off within 25 minutes because the dialogue was so shallow. I get that people in their late teens/early 20s are interested in the opposite sex, but if that’s all they talk about it gets tedious after 10-15 minutes. I bring that up because I switched to this film and was impressed by the dialogue of the two protagonists. These are people with a refreshing bit o’ depth.

The female happens to be played by blonde Sarah French, who’s a highlight. As for the peripheral feminine cast, there’s Alice Ford as blonde Janice, Lanee Landry as cheating redhead Debbie, and Deanna Meske (aka Deanna Rashell) as the memorable blonde hitchhiker. The latter sequence ends in a decapitation that made me bust out laughing.

Despite some amusing moments like that, not to mention the cheesy ape costume and low-rent production values in general, this is a serious creature feature and compelling enough. It has the confidence to take its time, creating fitting mood, augmented by quality music, especially the ominous piece played during the end credits. You’ll also observe Sergio Leone-like facial close-ups. Lastly, the flick offers an insight about the nature of the creature, which isn’t believable, but at least it’s something distinct.   

It runs short ’n’ sweet at 1h 21m (not 1h 30m, as is often cited) and was shot in 2010 in Biloxi, Mississippi, which is a 55m drive east of the southeast border of Louisiana. I bring up that part of Louisiana because the movie references the Honey Island Swamp monster, which is that state’s version of Bigfoot and the creature featured here.

GRADE: C