Tahoe Joe

After hearing strange animal reports, a documentary filmmaker and his partner head to the area where the sightings have come from in a remote section of the woods near Lake Tahoe hoping to spot an elusive creature, but they soon discover the tales might be true and try to leave the woods alive.

This was a generally fun genre effort. One of the better features here is the enjoyable setup that features quite a lot to like as it moves through several fine storylines. Starting with the backstage footage of their collaborations together leads to the decision to start the project on a fine note as the scenes looking at the series of video footage they see to change focus on the spate of recent sightings. This all creates a strong starting point as it spells out the various stages necessary here with the starting point of the filmmakers' relationship with each other and the general introduction of the search for the creature that is the overall point here. The other big positive to this one is the final half where the group, out alone in the woods filming, is finally given the space they need for a great time. The simple-minded scenes out wandering around looking for a campsite or dealing with personal issues is a fine way to start this and the escalating issues get brought out even further with the big confrontation in the woods as the switch from the noises in the background to plenty of evidence that the creature is out there featuring the discovery of the dead body, the series of night-vision encounters that are quite chilling as the creature effects are kept brief but effective. These make the film quite enjoyable overall while there are some flaws to be had with this one. The biggest factor here is the general lack of action in the second half which it focuses on a lot of investigating at the expense of creature action. The group going through the community talking with eyewitnesses and survivors or looking into the wilderness expert they eventually bring along slows the pace of this one considerably taking these elements into the forefront rather than getting more confrontations with the creature. The other slight issue here is the general lack of traditional creature action which leaves this one without much in the way of expected gore or attacks which is enough to hold this down.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Mild Violence.

I liked the makers' attempt at keeping almost everything meta, but this found-footage film takes a tad too long in its setup, whereas the payoff is pretty minimal. The acting by the kid was pretty terrible, and they didn't do much with the third character Shane. He is presented as a storehouse of information, but the protagonists never question his sources or intentions. Why would he decisively get drunk when he knows the area is dangerous? It's obvious that all the FF horror movies on Tubi only feature scares (if any) in the final 10-15 minutes, and that's the case here too. The creature effects are not bad, but the stakes felt low. Make a part 2 maybe, with these guys (+ additional crew) returning to the forest to prove a point to the world that they weren't staging it. This felt kind of incomplete.

Lot of unnecessary character development. I mean really doesn't need to take 3 1/4 of the film to get us to where we need to go.

I really wanted to like this. But had a hard time keeping up. I just kept waiting for just anything and actually fell asleep at one point. Disappointed because you really didn't get any action until about the last 10 minutes. The acting was ok for low budget film. Mike and the camera man was ok and wish it was just those two doing the film and give us more action. Could've been a good film but for me a hard no. But I am watching Tahoe Joe 2 I'm just about 5-10 into it and it looks like it's going to be a bomb too. I would not recommend unless you have an hour to spare of your life.

One thing that the horror genre lacks in, is the inclusion of cryptozoology. But not to worry, Tahoe Joe fills that need to a T! Best of all, this is a horror film that even a younger audience can watch, but not to young! This clever mockumentary is a wild ride and full of twists that will have you on the edge of your seat and pointing at the tv screen. The real life chemistry and friendship between the film's creator, Dillon Brown and actor, Michael Rock really shows and helps build a foundation of the fictional versions of themselves that they play. But it is the legendary Sasquatch known as Tahoe Joe that steals the spotlight in this one. The creature is displayed beautifully terrifying and has a unique look made up of unspeakable monster and natural animal. As an avid horror fan and a believer, I definitely recommend checking this one out.

TAHOE JOE's title refers to a large humanoid creature which supposedly roams in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and dispatches people who have the misfortune of crossing its path. The film tells the story of two filmmakers who try to find it because the friend of one of them who was looking for Joe disappeared there, and they wish to ascertain what happened.

Despite the fact that this is a bargain basement budget production of a found footage concept that has been done many times, it still manages to squeeze some fun into it. It also breaks a few genre conventions, especially at the end, but what struck me the most was the meta-modernistic approach it took to its subject.

Meta-modernism is a relatively recently identified trend in the arts and in philosophy which can be viewed as the successor to post-modernism and modernism. Its main feature is that it combines elements from these two, sometimes by jumping from one approach to the other in short succession.

The main characters use their real names and elements of their real lives in this film. This has been done in found footage horror before (for example, DASHCAM (2021), SHADOW OF THE MISSING (2018), BE MY CAT (2015), DIGGING UP THE MARROW (2014) ) in order to make the fiction seem more real, and enhance the impact of the horror when it eventually happens. Nevertheless, annihilating the boundary between fiction and reality can also be regarded as a post-modernist technique.

Another such technique pertains to the in-movie found footage of the missing friend, which the director character describes as "exactly how he would set up a horror movie". Since we are actually watching a horror movie, this can be regarded not just as the movie poking fun at itself but also as a deconstruction of a horror trope.

On the other hand, much of the film and especially the chase scenes are played straight, and there is a definite story arc which is more in line with a modernist narrative.

I don't believe that the film-makers set out to make a movie with such theoretical ideas in mind; rather these ideas are meant to summarize certain aspects of cultural trends in the past and the present which inevitably imprint themselves in the output of the times. In short, the movie has these features because the Zeitgeist of a movie like TAHOE JOE reflects the last decade or so, as of this writing.

The movie is entertaining and does the most with its budget. It is not the best example of this particular found-footage sub-genre (that honor goes, in my opinion to EMBEDDED (2012)) but it is decent enough for fans of Sasquatch, found footage or even horror movies in general.