THE BIGFOOT FILES/Chapter Thirty-Nine: Man vs. Bigfoot

Man vs. Bigfoot is a low-budget creature feature from David D. Ford, who wrote, directed, and acted in the 2021 film. The movie is free to watch HERE on Tubi.

Ford plays a tormented cop named Jack on leave after a traffic stop escalates into a tragic shooting. He deals with the nightmares thanks to a supportive wife and a new therapy group, although he questions whether he can put on the uniform again.

The film kicks into gear when Jack’s brother Aaron heads to the woods for a solo hiking trip. Aaron calls his wife the first night, reporting strange noises in the night. Not surprisingly, Aaron goes missing. A search party finds Aaron’s cellphone, and Jack spots a shadowy figure in the background of one of Aaron’s selfies.

Ruled as a likely bear attack by authorities, Jack continues to search for his brother. During Jack’s first night camping in the forest, he encounters a Native American trapper named Don Bighorse. The trapper tells Jack, “The protector of the woods is angry and out for blood. I think your brother was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

The protector, of course, is Bigfoot. The trapper reveals he’s seen Bigfoot twice, including one week ago.

The next day Jack encounters the creature, and the movie becomes a cat-and-mouse game between man and beast for the remaining 45 minutes.

The Bigfoot in the film is realistic enough, and the battle between Jack and the creature is a gritty brawl at times. Both seem reluctant to deal a fatal death blow even when the opportunity is there.

Man vs. Bigfoot overcomes a slow start to finish strong with an emotional climax and one of the sweetest final shots ever in a Bigfoot movie. Ultimately, the film is about two creatures — man and beast — struggling with grief over recent tragedies in their lives.

Man vs. Bigfoot also features a cameo by Bob Gimlin, one of the filmmakers of the famous 1967 Patterson-Gimlin video that allegedly captured a real Bigfoot walking along Bluff Creek in Northern California.

In 2015, David D. Ford directed and acted in another Bigfoot movie titled Something in the Woods. Click HERE to read my review of Something in the Woods, which is also free to watch on Tubi.

NEXT UP: Chapter Forty: David Ford. I interview the actor/writer/director.

THE BIGFOOT FILES/Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Kiamichi Beast Expedition

The Kiamichi Beast Expedition is like watching two men fish for an hour without ever catching a fish. Sound boring? It may be, but in all fairness, most Bigfoot expeditions are probably exactly like the one depicted in this 2021 amateur documentary streaming free on Tubi.

Led by Bigfoot investigator Master Hughes with assistance from tracker Victor Inman, The Kiamichi Beast Expedition chronicles a two-week trip in 2019 to the Kiamichi Mountains, which extend from southeastern Oklahoma to western Arkansas.

Billed as the oldest Bigfoot in Oklahoma, the Kiamichi beast has apparently terrorized the region for more than 200 years according to newspaper reports and Native American stories.

“Many of the locals claim when they find a dead deer or a hog and the liver’s missing, it’s the Kiamichi beast that did it,” Hughes tells us at the beginning.

As amateur documentaries go, Hughes does a serviceable job of giving viewers an accurate account of his adventure. The problem is nothing really happened on the trip. While Hughes and Inman find an 18-inch-long footprint and hear strange sounds in the distance, the expedition was dampened by rain and limited the duo’s ability to track the beast.

The highlight is listening to the howls of what Hughes claims is the only known recording of the Kiamichi beast. Even though the expedition failed to yield any irrefutable evidence, Hughes believes the beast exists. He also makes some boldly specific claims about Bigfoot’s abilities and behavior that justify the lack of evidence.

“They have the ability to hear sounds that me and you can’t hear,” Hughes explains. “They can hear the click of a camera 300 yards away because of their hearing. You can’t get within a mile of Bigfoot with a firearm. He can smell the powder a mile away.”

Ultimately, I credit Hughes for venturing into the Kiamichi Mountains and showing us what he found. But other than hearing the wails of what may be the Kiamichi beast, the documentary doesn’t offer any compelling new evidence for believers. The film is geared more toward enthusiasts interested in Bigfoot expeditions the same way anglers will watch a fishing show even when no one catches a fish.

NEXT UP: Chapter Twenty-Nine: Primal Rage. I review the 2018 film directed by Patrick Magee.