Search for the Beast

If you didn't grow up watching Universal Studios classic monster movies, never went to a downtown theater or sat in your car at a drive-in watching low-budget gore-fests, if you don't know artists such as Sid Haig or Rudy Ray Moore or David Friedman, you likely won't enjoy this movie. If all your pampered senses are only accustomed to fifty million dollar films with more computer animation than real people and things, you'll think this movie is bad. For the rest of you who gets it- Search for the Beast is an authentic exploitation thriller with genuine roots in the old tradition of fast-and-cheap movie making and over-the-top storytelling we loved so much in those drive-in masterpieces. This pedigree is solid with the inclusion of two b-movie stars: The late, GREAT David F. Friedman (Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS, 2001 Maniacs) and Rick Montana (Charlie and Sadie, Bikini Hoedown, Redneck Revenge). It has it all- nudity, violence, double-crossing villains, hillbillies, and a bloodthirsty monster. So find it, watch it, get a copy for your collection.

it is what it is a classic "B" movie and its great in classic "B" style Rick Montan stars in this big foot style thriller. Check it out if your a bigfoot fan. The lust filled beast scavenges the hills of central alabama looking for unsuspecting victims. One the scene comes the classic good DR.Stone(Rick Montana) who is employed by a "b" movie classic villain (classic movie maker Dave Friedman) to find the beast for "scientific" purposes (snicker). The good DR searches the Alabama woods with the classic blonde looker and several bad guys who are trying to thwart the good DR. In the end all the bad guys die the good DR. gets the girl but not the monster. Do I smell a part two? I hope so I love this classic stuff.

Search for the Beast (1997)

* (out of 4)

Director R.G. Arledge's tale of a scientist (Rick Montana) who is paid to go into the Okaloosa wilderness to try and track down the mythical Bigfoot creature who has been said that have kidnapped several dozen people. The scientist takes his female assistant and a bunch of rednecks with guns in to try and see what's really going on. I first heard of this film while reading Michael Adams' "Showgirls, Teen Wolves and Astro Zombies," which was devoted to bad movies. I certainly didn't hate this movie as much as he did but there's no doubt that it's one of the worst Bigfoot movies to ever be made but to be fair, the entire Bigfoot genre really hasn't produced any good movies. It's obvious that this here was an incredibly low-budget film and it should go without saying but with a budget this low it was going to be impossible to come up with anything good. The first part of the film's soundtrack is so full of loud hiss that you'll want to hit the mute button and it's funny because in the second half the hiss is gone and instead of an actual soundtrack we're given narration. I'm really wondering if this move was done because of all the hiss. There are countless other problems from the horrid dialogue to the awful acting to the hideous looking creature. The creature is obvious just a gorilla suit that isn't going to full of 2-year-old and just wait until you see the dead skull in the scientists lab. As bad as the film is, there are a few good things I'll give it credit for. For starters, the director was actually able to get a couple girls to take their clothes off. Usually in these types of movies the director can't pull this off so I'll give him credit for the nudity. The film also features a hilarious seduction scene that takes place inside a tent and I swear it's just about as hilarious as anything Keaton and Chaplin did. Another hilarious moment is a sex scene that happens towards the end of the picture where the girl is bent over a chair and has the most boring look on her face even after Bigfoot jumps in for some action! It is worth noting that exploitation pioneer David Friedman appears in a role and it was nice seeing him. SEARCH FOR THE BEAST is a bad movie, there's no question about that but at the same time it has enough camp and laughable scenes that make it a must-see.

A must watch for fans of bad movies as it encompasses every bad movie element-bad special effects, laughable performances from most, bad creature costume, confusing plot or lack thereof, continuity issues, nudity for no reason, and a gonzo out there Sasquatch love scene-I am not joking.

Of the films enduring qualities is that director Rick Montana and the rest of the cast and crew don't seem to take themselves serious.

Also this has to be the only Bigfoot movie set in Alabama as opposed to the remote Pacific Northwest. I caught it as part of a triple feature with Shriek of the Mutilated and another Yeti film that I can't remember.

This film could be deemed a Sasquatch-exploitation film. Give it a watch if you can find it.

If I could give zero stars, I would. This is present on a 4 movie DVD of Bigfoot movies and this is the worst. It concerns loosely a tracker going into the wilderness after the "missing link" to earn 100,00 dollars. Of course, his backer has ulterior motives. That is as comprehensible as the plot gets. The acting is nonexistent; the lead reads his lines in scene after scene, including a trek thru the forest, from a clipboard he holds. Finally the entire movie, halfway thru, is completely voice-over. People appear and disappear at random, they run from the beast in terror and the next moment are chatting quietly. There is no resolution of the plot, people are killed right and left and the characters don't seem overly concerned.

For those that care, there are several scenes of naked breasts, all the female leads, simulated sex including bestiality by the beast on one of the females, not a pleasant sight. and there is totally gratuitous guitar and mandolin playing a la Deliverance.

Worse than "plan 9 from outer space"