Don't Believe the Hype

A Brilliant Conflict

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

This one is marked as a horror about Bigfoot, yet in reality the creature itself only appears in the very end and the whole movie is more like a drama about some sort of a love triangle (or 2.5angle). A girl which lives in Chigaco decides to pay a visit to her mother who lives in a rural hometown and brings her boyfriend there. They go to a bar where she meets an old friend from her childhood, who's apparently very eager to romance and "steal" her from her boyfriend (alpha male bullshit and such). All of them together plus an additional friend of that alpha male decide to go on a Big Foot hunting trip, because that's where they were doing when they were kids (nostalgia and such).The great actors, natural and fluid dialogues and good camera work mix into a one big vehicle which drives the whole movie forward and you along with it. The characters are not some made up cardboard work, many of them actually reminded me people from real life I know (and Annie herself reminded me of the girl with the same name) and I'm not even an American. Absolutely not a fan of this "love 2.5angle" story, but still watched it because of the mentioned great actor work and dialogues.The appearance of yeti kinda looks awkward, the makeup is alright, but everything else is not, really. In motion and with such editing it's just looks like a man in a costume runs in front of a camera. It supposed to be a heavy beast, yet it has the ability to appear "out of nowhere" behind everyone and its steps are, apparently, silent (really, there are the sounds?).If you only want a yeti movie, I wouldn't recommend to watch it. But if you don't mind something else with a yeti included, then why not.sashadarko.com

STOMPING GROUND is a film which is marketed as a Bigfoot movie but turns out to be some turgid relationship drama instead. The story is about a young couple who go Bigfoot hunting in the woods, only to run in with another character who tries to break up the relationship. The production values are nil, and for a film described as a comedy horror, I didn't laugh once. There's a lot of bickering, a lot of arguing and conversations which add nothing to the overall picture, just endless soul searching which quickly becomes tiresome.

"Stomping Ground" is yet another tale about the legendary Bigfoot. Ben and Annie leave Chicago to return to Annie's small hometown somewhere in North Carolina. Funny thing is, this place is constantly referred to as "The South." Honey, there is no way in heaven or on earth that North Carolina is considered "The South." During their visit, Annie reconnects with two of her high school buddies--both males. During a night of drunkenness--where nobody could have possibly lived given the amount of alcohol intake--one of her friends tells the local tale about "Bigfoot." A camping investigation ensues. "Stomping Ground" is billed as a horror/comedy movie. It fails miserably on both attempts. It might have been funny; kinda' hard to tell when those involved tried to insert every over-the-top redneck caricature they could think of. The acting was bad, although the guy that played Ben was decent. Annie could not act her way out of a wet paper bag. Sorry, hon, but dumb looks and blank stares do not count as acting. And why the director was hell- bent on dragging on this one-sided love story between Annie and one of her former beaus is beyond me. I mean, this thing moved at a snail's pace. I was surprised I actually made it through until the end.Unrated (I think); however, this is pretty much PG13 stuff. The movie lasts 80 of the longest minutes you'll ever spend. Not recommended.

Good Bigfoot movies are just as hard to come by as good Werewolf movies. For some reason, they are generally done quite poorly, and this is no different. It's a weak story to begin with, a country girl takes her city boyfriend to where she grew up in the south. Old flame shows up and tries to sabotage the relationship all whilst they're out looking for Bigfoot. Yeah. The editing, dialogue and acting are all pretty bad here. The slow pacing and anticlimactic ending do not help either. It's a pity too, this is shot OK and even the Bigfoot creature looks decent for something i imagine was done on a very limited budget. Forgettable and mediocre. Pass on this one.