Cry Wilderness

Cry Wilderness is the kind of film that gets made because some writer / director had an idea that nobody else believed in (with good reason). Instead of waiting for a better idea, the script gets filmed on a shoestring budget. The minimal plot gets heavily padded by stock wilderness footage, which makes the constant changes in terrain (forest, scrubland, mountain) and season (snowy winter in one scene, bright greens of summer in the next) obvious to a bright three year old. Then there is the acting, which makes me wonder if the next door neighbor's kid and a few drinking buddies were assembled to round out the minimal cast. Then there is the Bigfoot costume, which looks like somebody took a set of hair clippers to a Chewbacca halloween costume and called it a day. Do not attempt to watch this without the cast of MST3K. Given a choice between watching this film and viewing your second cousin's home movies of a trip they took to Yellowstone back in 1978, pick the latter.

It's nearly impossible to put into words how awful this movie truly is. The acting and dubbing is beyond laughable, it has the worst stock footage ever and barely has anything resembling a plot. The entire world in the film seems to operate without logic or reason. Somehow the kid, Paul, makes his way into the middle of the Sierra Nevada mountains after running away from boarding school because Bigfoot told him his dad was in danger. Paul is then picked up by a trucker who doesn't seem at all puzzled that a 10 year old is out there. Paul then proceeds to magically find his forest ranger dad walking around in the middle of the woods despite having no possible way of knowing where he would be, and his dad barely questions it. And that's just in the first ten minutes. The whole movie plays out like there wasn't even a script and instead the director made it up day to day. I'd recommend watching the MST3K version of this so there isn't any lasting mental scarring from the absolute mess assaulting the senses. The two people rating this movie an 8/10 and 7/10 either must've been involved in the production or actually had their sanity affected by this turd, because literally nothing in this movie is redeemable, save some nice shots of the California wilderness, and that's why it gets one star. This movie isn't healthy for children and other living things.

I saw this film years ago when it came to theaters for an extremely limited release. I remember the film so well because I won a door prize the day I viewed it. I watched the film with a theater full of young kids and even the kids didn't like it. Many slept and others just shook their young heads in disbelief. How could such a poor film be produced.

I place this movie in my personal category of movies that cross into an area of unusually poor film-making, and in doing so, leave you unable to pull yourself away. Even telling friends, you have to see this movie because it is SO bad. I have to tell myself that this is the goal of those who make movies like this. I just can't honestly accept that someone wrote this, thought it was good, and was able to make the movie, with the honest intention of having it be good. So, if you are considering watching this movie, chances are it's because you've found it at a library, (I've never seen it in any video store), but if you have made the unfortunate decision to pay money to rent, or, heaven forbid, buy it, I suggest a healthy dose of your preferred inebriant and low expectations. REALLY low expectations.

Upfront, I feel I need to say that I had never seen Cry Wilderness until it appeared in one of episodes of new MST3K. Regardless, I will be as objective as possible. I'm not one of those who thinks a movie is necessarily bad for appearing on MST3K. Some of the films on the show are actually very good and enjoyable on their own. Unfortunately, Cry Wilderness isn't one of them.

In short, Cry Wilderness is a mess of a movie. What little plot there is concerns an annoying little boy who receives a warning from Bigfoot that his father is in danger. This thin thread of a plot doesn't really hold the film together, however. The movie consists of a series of unrelated scenes haphazardly put together. The acting ranges from bad to downright atrocious. Continuity is non- existent. Characters go from one location to a completely different location in seconds. The mystical hokum of the old Native American and his band of animals is ridiculously presented. And Bigfoot is a disaster. The costume isn't even complete. On the positive side, there are some nice animal-in- nature type shots, but that's about it. Overall, a lowly 2/10 from me.