Documentaries at their best can tell amazing real life stories, take deep dives into complex and controversial topics, and even change hearts and minds. Sasquatch comes from Indie movie aficionados the Duplass Brothers and stars an experienced investigative reporter.
What could POSSIBLY go wrong??!! ‘What’, indeed…
The Plot – Sasquatch
‘Big Foot Dismembers Three Men At Marijuana Farm’.
As far as elevator pitches go, ‘Sasquatch’ sounds like it SHOULD be great. Add in an Investigative Journalist trying to solve a mystery from his youth using the skills learned from two and a half decades of experience; and it should be golden.
“The ‘Emerald Triangle’ is… Known for the Redwood Forest and perfect marijuana growing weather.”
The ‘Emerald Triangle’ is a three county area along the Northern California coast, known for the Redwood Forest and perfect marijuana growing weather. ‘Sasquatch’ opens with David Holthouse recalling an event from his early 20’s.
After showing archive interviews of Sasquatch eyewitnesses over the opening credits, Holthouse narrates his arrival at the marijuana farm, and the dramatic weather that greeted him as he arrived. Expensive looking CGI animation recreates the rainy weather and conversations Holthouse remembers having in October of 1993.
Next, an extended resume establishing Holthouse as an investigative journalist, followed by an extended history of Humboldt, Trinity, and Mendocino counties, and extended video of Holthouse making phone calls follow.
Holthouse hires a local cop-turned-private-investigator. Several short interviews with Big Foot witnesses come and go (that don’t have anything to do with the murders). And, a grainy video from 1967 and the man who shot it briefly show on screen. Additionally, a retired cop even emotionally recalls his Big Foot encounter while fishing.
We hear from a college professor in Idaho. Holthouse recalls witnessing a conversation from an eye witness to his boss, and describes in even greater detail the map of the area.
Holthouse calls a friend about a marijuana farmer named ‘Razor’. Next, we hear a phone call with the marijuana farmer named ‘Razor’. And FINALLY, we see a surprisingly brief interview with Razor.
The first episode ends with an ominous text message from the Private Investigator.
The Good
The effort put in to establishing Holthouse’s credentials as a journalist, the many locations the crew shot interviews at, and the expensive CGI animation all show the resources poured into this 3-part documentary series. In other words, they tried too hard.
The Bad – Sasquatch
For being a documentary about Big Foot murdering three men, ripping their bodies apart, and being surrounded by marijuana and Red Wood trees; ‘Sasquatch’ is REALLY short on visuals.
While the CGI animation over Holthouse’s story was undoubtedly expensive, it did not add much to the documentary. It did not add to the storytelling, or the believability of the claims. The rest of the video shown consists primarily of drone shots of the woods, people setting up for their interviews, and shots of random marijuana plants. Oh, and shaky archive video that hasn’t been cleaned up or enhanced.
As someone who spent nearly 20 years editing video for news stories on television, I often ran into video-poor stories like this. We often would call filling in the video gaps on stories like this “Wallpaper”. Sadly, the vast majority of the video shown in Sasquatch is nothing, but wallpaper.
The actual content of the documentary is even worse. No video or photographic evidence. No eyewitness testimony. Zero forensic, DNA, or legal document evidence. The focus seems to be on procedure, and the buildup to an interview. Then, very little of the interview actually plays. On top of that, the interviews have nothing to do with the murders. Most just briefly discuss Sasquatch sightings.
The Review – Sasquatch
‘Sasquatch’ is a three episode documentary series. Only the FIRST episode was made available for viewing at SXSW.
On top of this, ZERO evidence or eyewitness testimony was shown or even teased regarding the murders in episode 1. Also, the filmmakers seem more interested in showing how hard they worked, rather than paying off the value proposition teased about Big Foot murders.
The closest we get to hearing anything direct are the David Holthouse and ‘Razor’ testimonials that they HEARD people talking about the Sasquatch murders 25 years ago. They NEVER actually heard or saw it for themselves. Not exactly a smoking gun of proof.
As someone who loves a good documentary, I had high hopes for a marijuana fueled hominid homicide investigation. Sadly, the 43 minutes of episode 1 showed NOTHING of that story. On top of that, nothing teases that we will get any answers in episodes two and three.
There’s little to no hope for any answers in the remaining episodes. And, there’s ZERO reason to watch the episode I did watch. SKIP IT.
Additional Information.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14035948
Score
Score
Review Nation Score
Sasquatch teases a Big Foot Murder Investigation at a Marijuana farm. NONE of those words are paid off.