The past is a curious thing, and confronting it head-on is a challenge many of us reckon with on a daily basis.
Writer/director Steven Tsapelas’ The Bigfoot Club opens with a brisk compilation of old VHS tapes intercut with modern-day goings-on. Times have clearly changed, and for a once great cryptid hunter, it’s clear that their best days are behind them. They’ve been forgotten, their show resting on dusty shelves, as have their contributions to help locate the legendary sasquatch. Dorothy March (Kathryn Mayer), the mastermind behind those wild escapades, is now a loner who vehemently denies her ties to the once beloved club, but when her self-professed biggest fan, Willow Fernandez (Samantha Sayah), scouts her with new revelations, a fuse is lit, and the hunt might just be back on.
Friendship lies at the core of The Bigfoot Club, where new relationships are formed and old ones are revisited through skillful character work by Tsapelas’ screenplay. Dorothy is put in a position where, once given the opportunity to revisit the past, she must accept what comes her way, which includes reuniting with the original members of her club. The acting can be a bit all over the place in terms of its consistency, but for the most part, they do a very commendable job at supporting an already outlandish tone (Meghan Palmer’s Maggie Breezemopolis is a perfect example of this). Tsapelas’ own kids also take on some supporting roles.
Although fans of conspiracy theories and the Bigfoot mythos will find plenty to appreciate, Tsapelas’ film is less about the mythical creature in the woods and more about the characters (specifically Dorothy) who have seemed to stagnate, unable to find purpose in their lives. On the surface it’s a playful nostalgia dump, where the novel visuals and supernatural elements gradually give way to the more profound layers hidden within. There are also some outstanding narrations and showtime inserts from Jerry Colpitts’ Dr. Peter Greenport, whose performance really helps bridge the decades-long gap between timelines.
Then of course, there’s Mayer’s character Dorothy, always sporting her signature orange beanie while trying to slowly open back up to the world around her. Mayer is incredibly likeable, at times even incredibly relatable. You want to know more about her and, of course, what her notorious little group got up to back in the day. We get just enough of that, peppered throughout the feature film in little sections that help build a compelling mystery. It keeps you guessing, and with the aforementioned reliance on character-driven storytelling, it’s an entertaining watch, the kind that all ages can enjoy.
Bigfoot and heartfelt adventures are two concepts that don’t necessarily go hand in hand, but Steven Tsapelas’ latest film melds the two together into something more than just another cryptid hunt.
