The Bigfoot Hunters

Who doesn’t love Bigfoot? I’ll tell you who: The Bigfoot Hunters. Either should you, judging by how these drug crazed hairy beasts behave in this short film from Matt Hausmann. “The Bigfoot Hunters” is a low budget comedy, focusing on the formation of our aforementioned party of six. It’s “vulgar humor” wrapped in a warm furry mass of Sasquatch love. Just the way it should be. Even though our lead baddies look like they’ve stepped right from a twisted version of “Harry And The Hendersons” I can assure you, this ain’t no Amblin Entertainment picture. When characters like “Shit Kicker” and “Unleaded Diesel” invade your personal space, you’ll have no choice but to agree that the “creature makeup” itself, is about as close to a family romp in the park as you’re going to get. Comic inspired or not, this isn’t a family friendly picture.
After a brief chase scene, where we are treated to quickly edited glimpses of our hairy bad guy, getting as high on drugs as he possibly can while still maintaining the chase, we end up in a “Bigfoot Anonymous” meeting. Yes furs and fur-ettes, such meetings apparently do exist because the Bigfoot epidemic has been quickly escalating. This gathering is quickly barged in on, by the character who more or less ends up becoming the team leader. In a glorious over the top introduction, we meet Mr. Shit Kicker himself and from there, all hell slowly breaks loose. Here exists a small group of people, who all appear to be some kind of bat-shit crazy. Together they end up becoming the infamous Bigfoot Hunters, appointed to defend the nation by the President himself. Led by our favorite foul mouthed clergy member, our heroes make their stand against the hairy menace to society, after spouting off their individual stories of why they were in the meeting to start with. The final battle ensues and in true comic form, we’re left with an ending that is actually the beginning of a larger story. A cliff hanger of sorts. Was “The Bigfoot Hunters” worth my twenty plus minutes? I’d have to say yes. Simply for the sheer dialog of the production. As you should have pieced together, this isn’t no family film. That’s ninety percent of the fun.

Amid the chaos of the film, a few things did stand out and really bothered the snot out of me. For starters, why was the namesake of the film so absent? It surely wasn’t a costuming issue. When we finally get to see the full out “Bigfoot” it really looks cool. Cooler still, when you consider this is an indie low budget film. So why the secrecy? During the film, we’re treated to many glimpses of “The Hairy Foot” but until the end, we essentially have nothing. Was this an attempt to surprise the viewer? If so I don’t see the point. We already know it’s a Bigfoot… by simply reading the title.Other notable issues included the slightly long length and the over use of the “Dizzy-Cam” as I like to call it. The time has come to throw away the hand held camera boyz. We’re all grown ups here.

I did love the visual gags such as the huge closet scene, and the tribute to Larry, Curly and Moe. The vulgar dialog driven jokes and overall personality of the characters were also another huge high point. This cast really knows how to have a good time!

“The Bigfoot Hunters” is essentially a smattering of juvenile jokes and bathroom humor, all rolled into one crazy package. The B-movie, comic inspired hybrid works as both an excuse for the cheesy comedy, and a buffer for being a low budget film. When you don’t have much to work with, you get the best results embracing that very fact. Something Matt Hausmann does well. I would have loved to see Bigfoot himself much earlier in the film, but that’s really not a totally bad thing. Makes you stick around even if the crude jokes are not your thing. I would also love to see this crazy crew again, and have my fingers crossed for another entry. Maybe someday right? As for the overall film itself, clearly enjoyable for guys like me. Although maybe not for everyone else.  I’m sure enough genre junkies exist to help make this a huge success. I know for me, it was a blast. Bring on the next part – and long live Bigfoot!