If you were alive at the end of the ’70s, you’ll remember two major scary things: the Amityville Horror house and Bigfoot. You couldn’t get onto a school bus without seeing a kid pouring through a ratty paperback of the Amityville Horror to get even more details about the gateway to Hell than the film provided. The same was true for Big Foot. The hairy monster was everywhere from Leonard Nimoy exploring the myth on In Search of… to the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman fighting him in primetime. Even when you couldn’t escape these two massive phenomenons, nobody thought to merge them. Why would they? Big Foot appeared to roam the Pacific Northwest. The Amityville Horror took place on Long Island in New York. How was Bigfoot going to get to Amityville? Could he get on the LIR? All these decades later, Shawn C. Phillips has brought them together in Amityville Bigfoot.
Deep in the woods is a secret lab being run by the Amityville Chemical company. The scientists are performing an intense experiment on a hairy creature. Naturally things go wrong and the experiment escapes into the wild two scientists head get out of the lab to tack it down. Ian (director Shawn C. Phillips) and Annie (Amityville Shark House‘s Lauren Francesca) aren’t quite at the company for the same reason. They seem to have different reasons for tracking down the hairy subject. Making things more confusing is a second Bigfoot roaming the woods. This is a fake bigfoot that’s part of a low budget movie being shot. There’s a bit of confusion when their movie version of Bigfoot tangles with the real Bigfoot. Turns out there’s a lot of folks looking for the monster including hunters and podcasters. There is one guy enjoying nature in a naturalistic view while pushing a baby cart. It’s like a Bigfoot-palooza. There are plenty of gross moments including a father camping with his kids who doesn’t quite realize the “rain” on his tent is coming from Bigfoot. There’s quite a bit of fun with the sasquatch on the loose.
You might be wondering about Eric Roberts. He’s given top billing on the DVD box. He does play the head of Amityville Chemicals. His character spearheading the main experiments at the secret lab. He’s not happy the Bigfoot has escaped into the wild. While he’s only in a few scenes, Roberts makes an impact on the production including the shocking twist. I was shocked to see how many low budget films Eric Roberts has made over the last few years. He was a serious star in the early ’80s with Star 80, Pope of Greenwich Village and Runaway Train. Now he’s an actor who seems cool to work in smaller films if he has a free afternoon. In the case of this film, he’s as anticipated as Bigfoot on the screen. He is worth the wait.
While Bigfoot doesn’t actually go to the Amityville Horror house, it’s not that much of a game breaker. The Bigfoot action on the screen is more than enough to keep you watching the weirdness devolves. My favorite character in the film is the pissed off father/producer who is getting frustrated at his director/son’s Bigfoot movie screwing up. The local hobos are stealing food from the craft service table. The kid with his director’s ballcap seems rather inept and dad is there to blast him ever misstep on the way. It’s part of the comedy gold captured in the woods. Amityville Bigfoot is as goofy as the title and you get Eric Roberts.
The Video is 2.35:1 anamorphic. The transfer allows you to see the difference in the two bigfoot costumes so you don’t get confused on that element. The film is rather natural since a majority was shot outdoors in the woods which comes across in the transfer. The Audio is Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo. You’ll hear all of Bigfoot’s antics in the woods. The movie is subtitled in English.
Commentary has director/star Shawn C. Phillips gets into how the concept came about. He gets into the improv elements on the screen. He had shot Camp Blood 8 on the same location and knew about the cabin that he turned into a “lab.”
Trailer (1:01) promises to be the most bizarre film you’ll ever see. It’s Schlock-riffic.
Behind The Scenes (16:39) has Shawn C. Phillips shooting the film in the park. They shot in Topanga Canyon area of Los Angeles which explains why Eric Roberts had no problem dropping by the location for a few hours one evening. We witness how to groom a Bigfoot to look good on the camera. This is a small crew production with many lights to lug around.
Photo Gallery (4:44) is a montage of the cast and crew in the park.
SRS presents Amityville Bigfoot. Directed by Shawn C. Phillips. Screenplay by Shawn C. Phillips and Julie Anne Prescott. Starring Eric Roberts, Tuesday Knight, Lorelei Linklater, Lauren Francesca, Shawn C. Phillips, Ashleeann Cittell, Aric Garcia, Bryant Smith, Dustin Clingan & Trent Haaga. Running Time: 88 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: May 7, 2024.
