Hoax review: The legend of Bigfoot has remained an attractive proposition to Horror genre film-makers. According to IMDb, there have been over 150 related works about this mysterious monster legend, be it the cute family adventure BIGFOOT AND THE HENDERSONS from 1987 or the notorious video nasty from 1980, NIGHT OF THE DEMON, which provided some ghoulish pleasure to video fans, notably in some gory flashbacks.
Now we have another entrant into the mix, HOAX, a brand-new offering which poses the age-old question of whether Bigfoot exists.
A TV Producer decides to go deep into the American backwoods to pursue the legend, with help from an anthropologist (Cheryl Texiera) and the father of a girl who has recently been reported missing. Taking a helicopter trip into the wilderness, they set up camp near a lake with all the medical and technological requirements that they can carry and muster.
Before long, it becomes less a question of whether the monster exists – and more of finding an answer to whether the group will be able to survive long enough to tell the tale, let alone have the footage and proof for the Producer to complete his programme for broadcast….
HOAX is not going to win any major awards for being the greatest Bigfoot or woodland-based monster epic in the world. Truth be told, despite a strong marketing campaign, it might not get too far out there in the Home Entertainment / Streaming market.
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Older viewers who remember the examples quoted earlier and some, if not all, of the other countless offerings out there will probably be turning to some of those for their dark entertainment requirements, as they are far more entertaining than this film, which resorts to a lot of clichés and long-used imagery.
The John Carpenter influence is also here, given that his long-time musical collaborator Alan Howarth does the score and the brief, but welcome appearance of his ex, Adrienne Barbeau, bring back fond memories of their work on THE FOG (1980).
The cast try their hardest and the twist at the end has been telegraphed so many times over the years in some of the 1970s and 1980s horror classics we have grown to love as horror fans over the years.
If you are looking for a proper in-your-face, woodland scarefest, then check out Adam Green’s HATCHET trilogy, which does the same thing far more effectively with its’ brand-new iconic villain, Victor Crowley. I am sure that there is another competently done Bigfoot movie out there, but HOAX is exactly what the title promises in terms of a horror treat.
HOAX is out now on VOD and Blu-Ray.
