How sad is this?

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

One would think that Sasquatch, being one of the most popular culture icons of the Americas, would be given decent treatment in at least one of the monster flicks that was based on its legend. Sasquatch has revolutionized the minds of the curious and the adventurous anew over the years, so why is it, I ask many times, that whenever somebody decides to bring the concept to a film story, does it have to be given the poorest of treatment? There does not have to be a big budget. History has taught us that one does not need a big budget to make a good, or even wonderful film. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", the Best Picture-winner of 1975 is all the proof anybody needs. "Clawed*: The Legend of Sasquatch" (or "The Unknown") is also a low-budget film, but that does not excuse it from the fact that it's dreadfully boring, amateurishly (and sometimes poorly) acted, awfully written, and an utter catastrophe of a motion picture.I was not expecting much from a movie called "Clawed: The Legend of Sasquatch", but even the plot I got with low expectations disappointed and baffled me with disbelief. A high school punk (Brandon Henschel) is told by his biology teacher that if he doesn't pass his endangered species report, that he will fail. So he teams up with the school brainiac (Dylan Purcell), two girls, and head out to film grizzly bears and look for Sasquatch when all they have to do is write a paper. Ridiculous, but then again, something has to get the stupid, brainless characters into the woods, doesn't it? Meanwhile, a cantankerous poacher (Miles O'Keeffe) is out seeking revenge on a Native American ranger (Nathaniel Arcand) whom he blames for the deaths of his friends, when in reality…well, you know. It's just the basic B-grade monster-on-the-loose flick. And even with this being in mind, it still disappoints.I guess two nonsensical human stories was just too much for me and there wasn't enough of the cheesy Sasquatch attacks to keep my interested. I would have rather the story focused on the kids in the forest as opposed to the unnecessary hunters-seeking-revenge subplot. Not only is the latter utterly absurd (even for a film of this grade), but the actors who played the hunters…well, let's just say they'd be better off in another line of work. The young actors and actresses playing the kids were decent. Not great, but decent.But of course, we can't leave out the Sasquatch. Now, the film tries to work in the "Jaws" (1975) realm, with the monster hardly being seen and its presence being merely suggested. But where as the mostly unseen shark in "Jaws" was terrifying, the Sasquatch suspense in this B-movie is not riveting in the least manner. And why is it, I ask, that every creature in these B-movies needs to have some crazily-colored vision? Now, when the Sasquatch does appear, which it rarely does, well, it's also a disappointment. I am glad they chose not to go with CGI, for looking at the rest of the movie's qualities, it would have been deplorable. Instead, a man in a suit was used with some animatronics. But the Sasquatch looks pathetic even still save for a few close-ups of the eyes, in which it's merely passable. In full-view, the creature looks like a nine-foot-tall version of Gollum from "The Lord of the Rings" with a little bit of muscle. I was literally waiting the entire film for the creature to just cough out "GOLLUM! GOLLUM!" every time I saw it.In case I haven't made it clear yet, which I think I have many times, I abhorred this detestable B-grade malicious monster 'adventure' film. This is one of three film adaptations of the legend of Sasquatch that I have seen over the years. And I'm still waiting for that good version to come along.Scratch that…I'll live with a PASSABLE Sasquatch story. And then I'll be satisfied.*footnote: Sasquatch is supposed to be a primate. And as far as I know, primates do not have claws. So even the title of the movie doesn't work.

Anyone who approaches a movie based on Sasquatch must know:1) It is not going to be a large budget film 2) There are not going to be any recognizable stars 3) Nothing in the movie can be construed as complete fact 4) It's not going to win any awardsThus, a movie such as this needs to be approached with an open mind and low expectations.I read one good review here when I saw it was going to be on Showtime Extreme (542 on DirectTV), so I decided to watch.What I saw was somewhat interesting. The acting was not bad and a few actors actually did a really fine job. On top of that, there was a good mix of some light-hearted humor, a couple times I laughed out loud, not out of sheer stupidity, but original humor.The movie could have done less with the stupid rednecks. I did like the close-up scene with the bear, and not knowing what Sasquatch truly looks like, I had no problems with what I saw. I guess if people go into this with high expectations, they're going to end up disappointed, but if you take it for what it is, it's not a waste of time. I could see Hollywood making a larger budget film out of the Sasquatch legend and put a couple (somewhat) big(ger)-named actors in it. I mean, if some hacks can make the Blair Witch Project and manage to turn that pile of crap into a blockbuster smash, why not something that has some plausibility?I gave it a 7 because I want to help see the rating of this film climb. I probably do not think it deserves more than about a 5 of 10, but it's certainly better than 2.3.Like someone else said, grab a girl, and cuddle up with some popcorn. At times she'll hold you close, and other times you'll both laugh together.

So, I just spent 84 minutes of my life watching "Clawed: The Legend of Sasquatch" And, Yeah...I wouldn't mind getting that time back.Now, I found this movie in a bargain bin at a local pawn shop for $3.00. Knowing that, you can understand why I wasn't expecting much. I, at least, figured it may be worth the time of putting it in the DVD player.Any of you who know me, or read any of the old wetmutt horrorcast articles would know that I am a huge cheesy movie fan. Especially cheesy horror movies. I think of horror movies as an art form all their own. Something about the low barrier of entry for filmmakers with horror movies really makes for great movies. Anyways, back to the film.The story is virtually non-existent. Much like a snuff film. They have points A, B & C in the script & didn't seem to care how they get from A to B to C. The story seems like it must have been an afterthought.The camera work wasn't bad, but there were some interlace & artifacting problems. Suggesting that the camera was not your high end model & the editing system had some rendering problems. There was even a transition in the middle of the movie that was very plain and "home-movie" like. It was your typical wipe where both shots are on screen at the same time at one point.The "Bigfoot Vision" was mediocre at best. A simple sepia overlay with ZERO contrast. Leaving all shadows grey & washed out. While on the subject of the "Bigfoot Vision", I want to make a point that Bigfoot seemed like a pervert, spying on teenagers while they sleep or even taking a leak!The death scenes were terrible. Every one of them the same. Bigfoot vision creeping up on the unsuspecting victim, followed be a quick cutaway to some unrelated part of the woods, a scream, then a bloody (sort of) body. And not that good of a bloody body. The dead bodies seemed like another afterthought. Which is amazing to me since the movie has an R rating, but shows no death scenes and very VERY little blood. Sadly, some of the people you wanted to die...didn't.My overall rating of Clawed: The Legend of the Sasquatch is a 3.5. Replayability is NIL. I will only watch this movie ONE MORE TIME. That will be for a vidcast review with Mikal & KC (coming soon).The people who made this movie had some of the Sasquatch myths correct, from throwing large rocks at camp sites to having the ability to teleport. But they broke the cardinal horror movie rule...If you see a girls stuff in the film...her character CANNOT survive!

The Unknown is set in the small Pacific Northwest town of 'Pine Creek' & it's surrounding forest's & in particular an area called 'Echo Mountain' which has been the location of a series a mysterious disappearances & the center of lots of local legends about monsters. While out illegally poaching Ed Janzer (Miles O'Keefe) & three of his mates (Don Brady, Paul Cagney & Art Hickman) are attacked by something which slaughters Ed's mates & almost kills him but is saved by Indian forest Ranger John Eagleheart (Nathaniel Arcand), back in town & the general theory is that they were killed by a Grizzly Bear while Mayor Potts (John Patrick Lowrie) tells Sheriff Kassel (Jack Conley) to try & keep things as low key as possible & keep it out of the papers in fear of bad publicity. Meanwhile Ed has rounded three more of his mates up & head off into the wilderness for some revenge. At the local high school two pupils Jay Kelter (Brandon Henschel) & Richard Winslow (Dylan Purcell) are forced to work together & hand a report in on endangered species or they will both fail, along with a couple of chicks Shae (Casey LaBow) & Jenny (Chelsea Hobbs) they head off to Echo Mountain to gain some 'feild' experience & impress their teacher. I won't bother saying anything else as you can easily fill in the blanks yourself...Co-edited, co-written, co-produced & directed by Karl Kozak The Unknown in my humble opinion is boring low budget crap, it's as simple & straight forward as that. The script by Kozak & Don J. Rearden is far too slow & boring to have any impact, after the first ten minutes when the three poachers are killed it's the best part of three quarters of an hour before anything even remotely exciting happens & someone is killed, imagine all that time just sitting there watching a really slow, dull & boring film pass by as the hope that something will happen rapidly turns into desperation. There are simply not enough attacks in a film that has no other redeeming features, the character's are OK in context but they're still dull & clichéd, the angry hunter, the good natured Sheriff, the corrupt town official worried about bad publicity & scaring tourists away & of course the horny teenagers. A lot of the story doesn't make much sense, what is the creature protecting? Why did Ed shoot his mate? What the hell happened at the end? Everyone just sort of stands there for ages. What are those stupid flashbacks all about? Are we to believe that this creature is in fact 100's of years old? After three armed men are brutally killed four teenagers decide to spend the night in the same location for a school project? These kids are stupid yes, but that stupid? Most of The Unknown is just people walking through a forest, well that's the overall impression I'm left with anyway. I can't believe how many people have given this piece O' rubbish a good review, I clicked on three of the users who gave The Unknown 8 stars or above & they all only have one comment which really isn't a surprise is it? I am in hysterics at how these comments try to paint this film as deep, scary & meaningful!Director Kozak does a pretty good job on a low budget, although obviously shot on video The Unknown has good production values & the locations used are nice & have have lots of trees. Forget about any scares, shocks or surprises because there aren't any, at all. Forget about any gore either, the opening scenes feature two mangled bodies & someone whose guts slide out of their stomach wound but apart from that it's just the odd splash of fake blood. At the end of The Unknown a video tape of the creature is given to a news program who give it to an expert who claims that it's a hoax & is nothing more than a 'guy in a monkey suit', well I reckon he's giving them too much credit because the Bigfoot creature in this looks really naff.With a supposed budget of about $700,000 The Unknown was filmed in 2003 but not released until 2005, need I say anymore? The acting was OK, hey I don't mind giving credit where it's due.The Unknown is a really boring Bigfoot film, there's no gore, no scares, a dumb looking creature, really bad dialogue like 'we may be dumb but we ain't stupid' & a 'join-the-dots' plot. This is one to avoid, watch Night of the Demon (1980) again instead as it's the perfect example of how a killer Bigfoot film should be done. Released on DVD under the title Clawed: The Legend of Sasquatch although a bucket of s%*t still smells as bad under any name.