The Unknown

Another tiny-budgeted creature feature in which various campers, poachers and hunters find themselves tangling with the Bigfoot legend. I caught this one on DVD under the title CLAWED: THE LEGEND OF SASQUATCH and quickly wished I hadn't. The paucity of the budget is evident from the very first scene and what follows is entirely predictable. The creature itself isn't the worst you'll see, but it gets very little screen time and there's not much in the way of gore FX for the horror fans. Instead for the most part we're stuck with the annoying teenager characters and their inane chatter. Miles O'Keeffe, of ATOR THE FIGHTING EAGLE fame, makes a rare appearance.

Anyone who approaches a movie based on Sasquatch must know:

1) It is not going to be a large budget film 2) There are not going to be any recognizable stars 3) Nothing in the movie can be construed as complete fact 4) It's not going to win any awards

Thus, a movie such as this needs to be approached with an open mind and low expectations.

I read one good review here when I saw it was going to be on Showtime Extreme (542 on DirectTV), so I decided to watch.

What I saw was somewhat interesting. The acting was not bad and a few actors actually did a really fine job. On top of that, there was a good mix of some light-hearted humor, a couple times I laughed out loud, not out of sheer stupidity, but original humor.

The movie could have done less with the stupid rednecks. I did like the close-up scene with the bear, and not knowing what Sasquatch truly looks like, I had no problems with what I saw.

I guess if people go into this with high expectations, they're going to end up disappointed, but if you take it for what it is, it's not a waste of time.

I could see Hollywood making a larger budget film out of the Sasquatch legend and put a couple (somewhat) big(ger)-named actors in it. I mean, if some hacks can make the Blair Witch Project and manage to turn that pile of crap into a blockbuster smash, why not something that has some plausibility?

I gave it a 7 because I want to help see the rating of this film climb. I probably do not think it deserves more than about a 5 of 10, but it's certainly better than 2.3.

Like someone else said, grab a girl, and cuddle up with some popcorn. At times she'll hold you close, and other times you'll both laugh together.

Reviews Of Unusual Size!

Re: Sasquatch is killing people in the woods, so a few drunk hunters and stereotyped high school kids decide to dink around in the woods for an hour of my life.

Outstanding: The Bigfoot costume was pretty decent for a B-Movie.

Unacceptable: The music was overbearing, the acting wooden, the story non-existent and even worse, the whole shambling mess was as boring as watching plaster dry in a footprint casting.

Summary: It's a bad sign when the most charismatic actor in a movie is the "blond bimbo" whose only purpose is to take her clothes off and act as a plot exposition device. Which would have been fine, if the Sasquatch had been cooler or acted less randomly. And really? The native American deputy was named John Eagleheart? Was the name Indian Plentywampum already taken?

1/5

"The Unknown " is not a particularly appropriate title for the movie as any experienced creature feature viewer will pretty much know what to expect virtually as soon as it starts .The set up involves a legend surrounding Echo Mountain where a mysterious Big Foot type creature is said to walk .The creature ambushes and slays most members of a small hunting party .This prompts the surviving member of the group to set up a revenge mission with some of his buddies ,to the displeasure of the local law .Also stumbling around on the mountain are a quartet of high school students seeking material for the term project on Endangered species ,and a Native American ranger The budget is obviously shoestring in nature but the director is able to disguise this by judicious camera angles and cutting .The creature is pretty convincing however and this does help .Variable acting and a rushed conclusion are downsides but if you approach this in the right frame of mind it is moderately satisfying and unpretentious movie making

This was obviously a low-budget film but even so it wasn't so bad. I've definitely seen tons worse low-budget films. This didn't have anything really special or outstanding to offer but with the money they had to make it they did quite well. The acting wasn't too bad. The sound could have been better but that's just because of the lack of funds to pad that area. The big foot costume could have used a little more work tho in my opinion. As well, the views when we were looking thru bigfoots vision were level with the top of a car and not of something 8 feet tall lol. This is worth a view if there's nothing better on but don't expect too much, just enough to pass the time.