Streaming on Tubi from First Look Home Entertainment!
Directed by Karl Kozak
Written by Karl Kozak, Don J. Reardon
Check out the trailer here!!
A spikey haired jock, a floppy haired nerd, and two chicks venture out into the woods to investigate endangered species for a school project about grizzly bears in a nearby woods and run into an ancient creature of myth. That pretty much sums up CLAWED: LEGEND OF SASQUATCH, another middle of the road installment in a long line of hum drum Bigfoot films.
CLAWED starts out with a bit of promise after a few stoic words from a Native American narrator who let’s us know how the land has been affected by the white man’s intrusion. Then a group of hunters are kakked during the opening credits by a hairy beast. Apart from some pretty gory scenes of Bigfoot tearing out the throats of the hunters, this is some mid-level fare. Director Karl Kozak tries to be creative with some black and white Bigfoot vision which isn’t very scary or exciting. There’s just no atmosphere or suspense to be seen or felt in this one. And while the Bigfoot looks decent, the way he is filmed running through the forest like he just ran off of a track and field event from the Olympics doesn’t help hiding that this is just a man in a suit. Had they given the beast more of a hunched over walk, it would have been much more convincing, but this Bigfoot runs like he has a broom up his bum.
The acting is ok, but nothing to scream about. Jack Conley has made a career of playing hard-nosed cops in such films as TRAFFIC, LA CONFIDENTIAL, PAYBACK, and THE CELL. Here he plays, what else, a hard-nosed sheriff. Miles O’Keeffe from WAXWORK, TARZAN THE APE MAN, and the ATOR Swords and sorcery movies is the sole hunter who survived the first attack. Shrewd eyes will also spot THE FUNHOUSE’s Cooper Huckabee and VALLEY GIRL’s Lee Purcell in smaller roles.
Once again, the film is set to JAWS with the tourist season endangered with the attacks and there’s a mayor who does everything he can to keep the deaths under wraps. There are plenty of stereotypical hick hunters wanting to take matters in their own hands and of course, the noble Native American who sheds a single tear when no one listens to him about this “gentle” giant he refers to as Taka-he. There’s not a lot of characterization here, just generic roles to fill.
This film gets a foot or two for the Sasquatch costume, which looks a bit buff and superhero-ish, but is nicely done. The mask looks much better than average as well, with even a nice range of articulation. Props for this one for using a real bear in key scenes too. The one thing I liked about this one is that they categorize the Sasquatch as a noble savage rather than a rampaging monster, though he does his fair share of rampaging, but only on the people who deserve it.
CLAWED: LEGEND OF THE SASQUATCH gets 2 foots, 3 toes!
The film does manage to retell a variant of the Siege of Ape Canyon tale, which ties it in with this video pretty well. The genre filled supporting cast and the quality of the Bigfoot suit gives CLAWED: LEGEND OF THE SASQUATCH a foot up on most Bigfooters, but not by much.
