Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

I remember "Sasqua" very well, though I had not seen the film in many years. It was a cool fall night in Dracut when my father noticed a lot of lights in the back of the town library. He called my brother and I to go out with him and check it out, and low and behold we walked right onto a movie set. A local producer was filming a low budget horror flick in our area--and of all the place to film he was within walking distance from my backyard! "Sasqua" was released in 1975, but this filming was probably a good year or two before the release date. I got to meet some of the actors (smaller, supporting roles) and Scot himself. I ever got to be in on a blink and you miss me cameo. It was a turning point in my life, since then I've really been interested in film production, and twenty some odd years later I actually made my own low budget horror movie, a direct to video never to be seen tale of terror that was probably a product of my childhood encounter with a movie crew.But back to "Sasqua." I finally saw the film again a few days ago. To be honest it was actually better than I remembered, although from what I understand the film has about twenty minutes of footage and probably seen some reediting. Regardless the concept is still a good one. A group of hippies are forming a commune in town, and are quickly viewed as creeps by the towns people. The film was made in the early seventies, so this negative stereotype was probably pretty accurate. Evidently the hippie arrival has infringed on the turf of a group of Sasquatches, and before you know it they are killing both hippies and town folk alike. The town naturally blames on the hippies and sets the police after them. In the end the challenge is will the town and the hippies co exist and turn their attention on the sasquatch problem, or will hate and prejudice prevail? Prejudice is a big theme is "Sasqua." A major conflict in the movie is racial intolerance, where one particular member of the hippies doesn't like the black members of the commune, and one particular member of the black group doesn't like the white guys. Intolerance really is the core theme of the film, which is kind of reminiscent of George Romero's "Night of the Living Dead," which also featured a racist subplot.The acting in "Sasqua" is hit or miss. The lead actors--the ones with actual experience--is fairly decent. A lot of the other actors were pretty terrible. The dialog is decent at times, cringe worthy at others, but the pacing is fairly good and the sasquatch outfit not shabby at all. The film has virtually no gore effects, which is probably a good idea since the budget likely wouldn't have allowed for that.In hindsight, having worked a bit in film and video myself through the years, I think Scot made some good decisions in this movie. I kind of learned the hard way to avoid spending cash on great special effects that can not be maintained throughout the movie. I had a professional make up guy do the effects for my monster, and while he looked great for two or three scenes, I never got the guy back to finish the job. I ended up with lots of talk and little action. Scot kept things simple and consistent and ended up with a better movie as a result.It is kind of a shame this film was never professionally released on DVD. It reminds me a lot of the old "Creature Feature" films that used to play on local TV on Saturday afternoons. It is not a great film, but I've seen many movies on DVD that are legitimately much worst than "Sasqua."

First and foremost I wish to express my gratitude and deepest respect to a certain IMDb member and horror board buddy who went on a personal crusade to bring this allegedly lost 70's film out of oblivion and succeeded in it as well! Regardless of how good or bad the actual movie is, this man's unconditional devotion and perseverance is highly admirable to say the least. Thanks to him, a mate and myself were amongst the first people in over 30 years to check this film out. Hopefully other like-minded fanatics of the genre will follow. Respect, Mr. HumanoidOfFlesh! Then for the film itself. "Sasqua" surely isn't a masterpiece, but then again, what do you expect from a zero-budgeted amateur production that went missing for over three decades? "Sasqua" is a typical product that ensued from the extremely popular 70's Bigfoot horror-hype. Movies about Bigfoot, Sasquatch, the Yeti and the Abominable Snowman have existed since the fifties, but it was the unexpected mega-success of "The Legend of Boggy Creek" at the American drive-in theaters that suddenly caused a massive overload of cheap and sleazy exploitation movies about hairy monsters running amok in remote areas. "Sasqua" fits perfectly amidst all the other contemporary Bigfoot flicks. It isn't better than most of them, but it certainly isn't a whole lot worse, neither. There are some elements that I appreciated, some elements that are disappointing, and then there are a whole lot of aspects that are just plain bad but forgivable considering the budgetary restrictions and lack of experience. "Sasqua" opens atmospherically and prototypically 70's with a convertible bus (!) of youngsters cruising through a forestry New England region, guided by the tunes of a moodily sung melody that carries throughout the widely spanned opening credits. The people on the bus form some sort of unusual hippie community and settle themselves in an abandoned farmhouse on the edge of a small town, much against the will of the close-minded villagers and especially the drunken redneck deputy. Unfortunately for all of them, the nearby woods belong to a family of cannibalistic sasquatches that are very happy with the arrival of fresh meat! When several people go missing, in the village as well as in the community, the locals naturally blame the hippies, but luckily the sheriff (the only one with an IQ over 75) realizes that they should combine forces against the monsters instead of killing each other. The brief synopsis sounds promising and full of potential, but the film suffers from a lot of substantial and technical shortcomings. There are too many characters and their relationships often don't make any sense. The hippie community members are continuously arguing with each other and don't show any signs of group spirit or unity. Their leader Big Jim (and he really is a BIG guy) spends most of his time intervening in fights and oppressing rebellious behavior. The community even contains a handful of black members with robust looks and attitudes. Could it be that writer/director Channon Scot even intended to insert a minor Blaxploitation sub plot, which was also a hugely popular cult cinema trend around that time? We surely can't complain about the amount of screen time given to the sasquatches. They – literally – run across the screen quite a few times, albeit mostly in the distance and only for a couple of seconds. You naturally don't witness any of their massacres or cannibalistic rituals, but at least there are a few sequences (notably the one with the trio of hunters) that feature a slight bit of suspense and excitement. Apart from some brief images of bloodied bodies, there isn't any gore or action to enjoy in "Sasqua" and I personally found the climax to be extremely disappointing. Surely Channon Scot could have thought of a better ending than this, even without money or directing experience? Technically speaking the film is very substandard as well, with mundane and unimaginative camera-work, lousy editing, miserable sound effects and practically inaudible dialogs. You could state this is normal and even charming, but in comparison with other no-budget amateur attempts (like for example "The Evil Dead"), "Sasqua" is rather weak. With all due respect I can't refer to "Sasqua" as a great film, but nevertheless I'm very happy that I've had the privilege of watching it. It's a genuine curiosity and worth your attention in case you're a fan of the grainy 70's exploitation culture.

A bunch of hippies move into an abandoned farmhouse out in the woods in rural New England. Deputy Richard (Dick Bryan) is always hassling them and of course when the bloody Bigfoot murders start the hippies are blamed. At the very end the hippies had all gone away, leaving the farm to the Bigfoots. A sheriff walks into the empty barn and when he is inside, you can see the outline of the monster step into the doorway behind him. The group of hippies is led by Big Jim (Jim Whitworth), who forms a commune. The first one to die is Diane (Carmella Gallien). The girl is mauled to death by Sasqua. The slasher style murders begin. Another local girl is savagely killed. Three local hunters are devoured in the deep forest regions of New England. Tension among the members of the commune rises. The fights between them are erupting. After discovering Diane's bloody corpse it's time to stop the terror of Sasqua. Sheriff Tom (Wayne Woodruff), Big Jim and his family decide to pursue an elusive creatures. A female member of the commune sees a group of Sasquas sitting around the fire and eating tasty human flesh. Deputy Richard is killed by Sasqua and the fight between hunter Joe and the creature becomes lethal. Big Jim and his family finally decide to leave the farmhouse. Sheriff Tom is the last one to meet with the wrath of Sasqua. "Sasqua" is a fine piece of low-budget regional horror filmmaking. The acting is surprisingly decent and there are some eerie scenes of Sasqua stalking its human prey. We don't really see the creatures - "Sasqua" relies more on suggestion than gore. But one thing for sure: they are mean and cannibalistic monsters. The overall tone of the movie is extremely memorable, as it shares a lot with slasher sub-genre. I particularly liked POV shots of the monster. Channon J. Scot directs with a sure hand and manages to create some suspense. The cinematography is grainy and the editing is quite abrupt, but the quality of my copy is not very good. Still "Sasqua" was regarded lost for many years and I am possibly the first person, who truly noticed its existence. After 35 years of obscurity "Sasqua" simply deserves to be seen and appreciated. http://www.cultreviews.com/interviews/the-story-of-sasqua/Now it's time to find "Revenge of Bigfoot" (1978).

I found this web site recently. I was involved in the production of this film. I have background information and copies (duplicates of duplicates) of the film. I was the "still photographer" for the movie, a featured player (actor with lines), and a production assistant. I am familiar with the location shooting and local people involved in the filming of the movie. I would love to obtain an original copy, DVD or crisp copy for my archive. A local re-showing would be welcome by the community. People still remember the movie and several of the local talent are still around. Massachusetts is still a great place to make movies.