The Unknown

Three poachers are ripped apart in a suspected bear attack in the woods on Echo Mountain. The town Mayor is on the scene, he tells the police that he doesn't want this getting out because it will put off the summer tourists (sound familiar? I'd bet that the script writer lifted this from "Jaws" (1975), and subsequent nature strikes back horror movies). Some good ol' boys head up the mountain looking for the bear, at the same time four horny teens are up there camping too. We get our first facial glimpse of the Sasquatch 29 minutes in, far too human looking for me. Looks like a Neanderthal Man on steroids. What's strange is that the creature wastes no time in tearing apart hunters yet when it comes to the kids it/he prefers to just spy on them. To its credit the acting was decent and the characters engaging. However some of the script sucked, for example one guy says to the group that they should set up camp because it's getting dark when in fact it was already pitch black. I do like film set in the great outdoors, plenty of wilderness here but nothing spectacular. On the gore front it's quite tame and despite some sex talk there is zero nudity. And as for the ending I found it disappointing. "Clawed - The Legend of Sasquatch" is a far better title than "The Unknown", however as Bigfoot movies go this one if unremarkable. Watch "Night of the Demon" (1980) instead.

Clawed: The Legend of Sasquatch (2005)

** (out of 4)

Four poachers are hunting bear when they're attacked by some creature. One survives and eventually goes back out into the woods searching for the beast. Four high school students are also in the woods doing research on bears but they're all soon going to face the legendary Sasquatch. Those, like me, who must see every movie that deals with the famous creature will probably check this one out no matter how much they're warned. If you must see all these types of movies then I'm sure you'll make it to the end but all others should stay clear as there's not too much going on here. The film was obviously shot with a very small budget but they have a fairly good looking Sasquatch outfit so why they don't show it and use it more is beyond me. For the most part the film is all dialogue, which really drags things down because quite often we get the same stuff over and over. Even though it's all dialogue there are still sequences that don't make any sense and that includes the surviving poacher wanting to kill an Indian ranger. This here drags out the running time, is boring and takes away from the subject line that fans are going to really want to see. There's some brief nudity and a little gore but not enough to carry the film. I thought director Kozak did a pretty good job with the visual look of the film. I also thought the performances were rather good for this type of film. The young cast do a pretty good job and deliver the type of performances you'd expect. While they're not Oscar worthy they at least keep you entertained. The biggest negative is that there's never any real threat here. We've told stories about the creature yet he's never frightening or threatening. That's not a good thing when you're watching a horror movie so the majority of people out there will want to skip this one. Originally released as THE UNKNOWN.

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

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.

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.