Bigfoot: Beyond the Legend Blu-ray Review: I’m Honestly at a Loss After Watching This

Bigfoot: Beyond the Legend looks at the legend of Bigfoot using historical accounts, testimony, and information from Bigfoot experts and enthusiasts intercut between artistically imagined images of Bigfoot and other stock images and footage.  

This documentary features interviews with cryptozoologists and enthusiasts: Matt “Mattsquatch” Mordovanec, Danielle Winkler, Alex Mistretta, Pete Wolff, Luthor Upton, Ashley McPhaul, Lee Peacock, Bobby Hamilton, the late Dr. Floyd Mike Cartwright, Nick Redfern, Roderick Martin, and J. Horton.

As a reviewer, I always try to go into any film I review with and open mind. And of course, when you are reviewing a film about a creature that may or may not exist, you definitely have to have an open mind. However, I’m honestly at a loss after watching Bigfoot: Beyond the Legend.

First off, there are what seems to be AI-generated images all throughout the film. Perhaps this was to save money, but if there is so much evidence out there, why not use more footage of that evidence and then computer-generated images. I understand that I am not going to get an actual clear photo of a Bigfoot, but the constant barrage of these images throughout the film was distracting. And then when footage from documented encounters was used it was shown so quickly I could barely tell what I just saw.

Then there are the issues I found surrounding the stock photos and stock footage used in the doc as well. While I know that free stock footage can be a true gift for filmmakers, I would hope the filmmaker would want the footage to at least attempt to tie into what is being shown or discussed. This is not the case for most of this film. For instance, at one point the scientific study of Bigfoot is being discussed and the footage that accompanies this voiceover is footage of two scientist-looking people making research notes while standing next to rows and rows of large orange pepper plants. Nothing at all to do with Bigfoot. Then when personal accounts from witnesses are being shared, instead of actually filming the encounter locations tied to the accounts that are being shared, they use of stock footage of random house or location is used. Even attempts at recreations would have been better than this footage.

Then there were the two images that actually made me pause the film to ensure what I was seeing was what I was actually seeing. The first appears when the theory of the “missing link” is being discussed and an image is put up on the screen that features four skulls: the skull of Australopithecus africanus, the skull of Homo erectus, the skull of Homo sapiens sapiens, and the skull of the missing link. But here is the rub, the skull of the missing link is wearing a pointed hat and has pointed ears like Link from the Zelda games. Because this image is from a product by an artist that was making a joke referencing the Zelda games!

The second image appeared during the film when there is a discussion about the possible height of Bigfoot in comparison to primates and humans, which seems reasonable. However, the image includes one other creature who Star Wars fans know as Chewbacca. It feels like either AI chose these images and no one checked, or perhaps a person actually chose these images and no one checked to make sure they were factual and not the work of other creatives.

And while someone out there may say, perhaps they were trying to be a little tongue and cheek about things. Nothing else in the film has any humor to it at all. The tone of this documentary is serious and in no way comes across as jokey.

I understand that not everyone has big budgets to make their films. But writer and director Cora Anne got some known people in the Bigfoot circles to appear in this film. I have no idea what happened with the rest of the film. The lack of attention to detail with these footage and image choices left me wondering if AI was used to generate the rest of the film.

While Bigfoot: Beyond the Legend has a runtime of only 65 minutes, I don’t recommend spending the time. This lack of doing due diligence for the information presented in this documentary and the lack of attention to detail throughout causes it to lose all credibility with me.