Bigfoot lives in ‘Savage’

Confession: I’m a sucker for all things Bigfoot. One of my dreams in life is to see the big hairy man traipsing around the woods, roaring at the moon and defying evolution.

In my fantasy world, Bigfoot is a misunderstood beast that will resort to violence if threatened (similar to the Monster in the original Frankenstein).

Anyway, Sasquatch dreams aside … without any tangible evidence or concrete video footage, us Bigfoot folk are relegated to interpretations on the silver screen. The ape-man has been the subject of many a cheesy horror film, more than a few of them starring Lance Henriksen.

But there’s something genuinely entertaining about these Syfy Network-like duds. Call me a hypocrite, but I love them for all their ridiculousness.

The latest entry in the sub-genre is Savage, a simple-minded, albeit effective, thriller that doesn’t quite live up to its title, but nonetheless keeps one’s interest for 87 minutes.

The setting is Bear Valley National Park. A blazing fire is ripping through the brush, and this means that the wildlife are getting driven out of their natural habitat. One of those creatures is the big man himself, and he’s looking for blood.

The beast (Jack Harrison) that appears in Savage is not exactly Harry from Harry and the Hendersons. He’s a quick-moving, sharp-toothed monster that doesn’t even allow his victims those precious few seconds before imminent death when they can assess the situation. He simply attacks, bites and it’s over.

Like Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, director Jordan Blum smartly keeps Bigfoot off the screen for the majority of the film. This proves to be a clever hook, beckoning the viewers to stay with the movie at least until a full-bodied shot is achieved.

To stop the onslaught, a motley crew of rangers, scientists, poachers and campers team up to bring down the beast. Martin Kove, who you may remember from The Karate Kid, gets the most mileage out of his character of Jack Lund, a backwoods tracker that reminded me of Robert Shaw’s portrayal of Quint in Jaws.

So if Kove plays Quint, then Tony Becker plays the Brody character: Owen Fremont, the local ranger. The Hooper character, if we’re going to tease this metaphor out, would be Dale Davis (Shane Callahan), a scientist looking for evidence of an evolutionary mishap.

The two campers — Gabrielle (the beautiful Anna Enger) and Richard (Quint Von Canon) — are on the run from the law and secretly trying to poach some animals during the off-season. Needless to say they stumble upon Mr. Bigfoot in the woods.

Everything (and nearly everyone) eventually meets up with the man of the hour, and the results are typically deadly.

Savage could use some humor; after all, this is a low-budget Sasquatch movie. The acting isn’t terrible, and most of the scenes with the beast are believably tense.

One vital missing component is the actual horror factor. Savage simply isn’t scary enough. Nothing is learned about this Bigfoot. We don’t know whether it’s working in concert with other beasts, or if it’s a loner in the forest. There’s no explanation of its evolution or how it has survived for so many years in the wilderness.

Savage is much more interested in sticking to its cinematic guns. It plays it straight from beginning to end, and, to be honest, that’s commendable. The director and company value their work, even though it’s the definition of sub-par.

I can’t fully recommend the movie, but I am unwilling to condemn it as just another low-budget schlock fest. Savage proves that you can’t go too wrong with Bigfoot.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• Savage

• 2009

• Directed by Jordan Blum

• Written by Blum, Lynn Drzick, Nancy Gideon and DJ Perry

• Starring Martin Kove, Tony Becker, Quint Von Canon, Lisa Wilcox, Shane Callahan, Anna Enger and Robert Pralgo

• Running time: 87 minutes

• Not Rated

• Rating: