THE BIGFOOT FILES | Chapter Six: Big Legend

(Editor’s note: This review contains major spoilers.)

The 2018 horror film Big Legend, written and directed by Justin Lee, is a no-frills creature feature, meaning diehard Bigfoot fans should enjoy the 89-minute ride. I know I did.

Set in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Big Legend opens with couple-in-love Tyler and Natalie about to embark on a camping trip. Tyler (Kevin Makely) is a former soldier and hopes to make the excursion extra special for sweet Natalie (Summer Spiro).

However, romance transforms into tragedy during the first night. Natalie hears wood knocks and guttural growls outside their tent. Tyler leaves to investigate, a decision he’ll regret for the rest of his life. Some kind of beast grabs the tent and drags it along with Natalie into the darkness where she disappears.

Twelve months later, Tyler is dealing with survivor’s guilt on his final day in a psychiatric ward. He tells psychiatrist Dr. Wheeler that he believes Natalie was attacked by a bear although her body has never been found. Amanda Wyss portrays Dr. Wheeler. You may remember her as the iconic Tina Gray in the body bag, Fred Krueger’s first victim in the 1984 horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Tyler doesn’t really believe Natalie’s disappearance is bear-related, and the anguished soldier discusses his decision to search for Natalie with his mother Rita. It’s the most heartfelt scene in Big Legend. Rita is portrayed beautifully and too briefly by another horror icon, Adrienne Barbeau. You may remember her as radio DJ Stevie Wayne in the 1980 horror film The Fog.

The authorities drop off a box of items, including Natalie’s digital camera, left behind at the campsite after the attack a year ago. Tyler starts flicking through the photographs and stops at a random picture with a shadowy figure lurking in the background. That was my favorite moment in Big Legend. It was perfectly eerie.

His suspicions almost confirmed, Tyler loads up his gear and returns to the scene of the Bigfoot crime. During his search for answers, Tyler encounters another hunter named Eli, portrayed by character actor Todd A. Robinson.

Bigfoot is protective of his territory, and the human duo faces off against the beast in a tense showdown that had me flashing back to the 1987 sci-fi horror film Predator when Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger) tires of being the hunted and decides to challenge the alien.

The most important feature of a Bigfoot movie is the Bigfoot, and I’m pleased to report the makeup department of Angela Bulmer and Jill Colwell do a commendable job. Bigfoot looked suitably savage and realistic enough to me.

I recommend Big Legend to those of us who enjoy an outing with Bigfoot. It’s a gritty little movie with big aspirations. Seeing Wyss and Barbeau on the screen again after so many years was an unexpected delight. There’s even a cameo by horror icon Lance Henriksen (Pumpkinhead, Aliens) who drops by at the end to introduce an interesting twist to the story.

 

NEXT UP | Chapter Seven: Willow Creek. I review the 2013 horror film Willow Creek written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

LINKS TO PREVIOUS CHAPTERS OF THE BIGFOOT FILES:

THE BIGFOOT FILES | Chapter One: The Idea of Bigfoot

THE BIGFOOT FILES| Chapter Two: Dweller

THE BIGFOOT FILES | Chapter Three: Swamp Monster Massacre

THE BIGFOOT FILES | Chapter Four: The Road Best Not Taken

THE BIGFOOT FILES | Chapter Five: Wood Ape

 

Slasher Horror Books

While looking for slasher horror novels I found a book right away that really shocked me. It was Friday the 13th Church of the Divine Psychopath by Scott Phillips. The reason this book shocked me is because it’s actually a novel based on Jason from the Friday the 13th movies. I’m not a fan of the Friday the 13th films and I wouldn’t think that Jason would be a good subject to base a novel on, but this book looks pretty good.

This is actually the first book in a series based on Friday the 13th’s Jason. The story is about a religious cult who goes to Camp Crystal Lake so they can revive Jason. They think he will become an angel and do gods work. Needless to say things go badly, Jason starts killing everyone and a secret government agency comes in to take down Jason and the cult.

There is also a series of novels based on A Nightmare on Elm Street. The first book in the series is called Suffer the Children by David Bishop. Six teenagers have volunteered to be in a sleep study where they will test a new anti-insomnia drug, little do they know that by taking the drug they have now become the plaything of Freddy Kruger.

Another book I found was They Never Die Quietly by D.M. Annechino. Detective Sami Rizzo is in charge of a task force investigating serial killings in San Diego. The killer on the loose believes that god has given him absolute authority to purify his unholy victims. Sami finds the serial killer but is captured and must outsmart the killer to escape.

Staying with the theme of serial killers is I Am Not A Serial Killer by Dan Wells. This book kind of has the same story as Showtime’s Dexter. The lead character is a high school student named John who happens to be a sociopath and is obsessed with serial killers and dead bodies. John follows a set of rules that keeps him from giving in to his dark side. He also helps out in the local mortuary where his mother and aunt work. One day while inspecting bodies that have been slashed open in the exact same way, John realizes that his town has a serial killer and decides to track him down so he can study him.

One of my favorite novels that fits in the slasher genre is The Island by Richard Laymon. The story is told from the diary of a teenager named Rupert. He had taken a yacht trip with his girlfriend’s family to a deserted island for a picnic. While enjoying the picnic they see their yacht explode and are stranded. To make things worse they soon find out that they are not alone on the island. Two members of their group get their throats slashed and the rest of the castaways have to find the killer and escape the island.

I’m a big fan of Laymon. This book is filled with several plot twists and non stop action. If you are willing to suspend your disbelief, overlook some ridiculous scenes, and you don’t offend easily, this is a good read. The only part I didn’t like was the ending, which was meant to be shocking but only seemed to make me mad. I don’t want to give it away, you’ll have to buy the book.

There are two other books that I wanted to mention, I didn’t have to much to say about these because I couldn’t find much of a description on either one but they did fit the genre so I thought they were worth bringing up. The first book is Endurance by Jack Kilborn which follows a killer who is hunting down and killing female athletes.

The second book is The Killing Kind by Bryan Smith which is about a group of college kids partying at a beach house. Little do they know that their party is about to be crashed by a pair of homicidal maniacs.

Know of any other slasher books? Please let us know.