Here we go again…
A documentary film crew seeking to prove or debunk a local legend ends up in a fight for their lives. Sounds familiar… First five off the top of my head: The Blair Witch Project, Yellowbrickroad, The Last Exorcism, Atrocious, and The Innkeepers. I bet you can name 5 more in under 2 minutes. Go ahead!
So why even bother mentioning The Lost Coast Tapes? What may perhaps differentiate this film from the near-countless Blair Witch echoes is the legend it tackles: Bigfoot. This isn’t some obscure myth from some isolated rural town, this is one of the biggest mysteries on earth—a certified global phenomenon that spans centuries and continents.
Like actual purported footage of Bigfoot encounters, the trailer for The Lost Coast Tapes is brief and opened to interpretation. See for yourself after the jump…
Synopsis:
Sean Reynolds, an eager Television Host, is on a mission to debunk famed Bigfoot hunter Carl Drybeck, who claims to possess the body of a dead Sasquatch. When the team arrives in Northern California they are immediately thrilled — Drybeck’s zealous belief in his hoax is going to make for a wildly entertaining episode of campy-paranormal television. However, when Drybeck’s hunting partner is mysteriously attacked, the team is left alone and reality begins to set in. The evidence is stacking up, Drybeck’s theory may not be a hoax, and the existence of Bigfoot might just be the least of their worries.Shot on location in the region of the world’s largest concentration of Bigfoot sightings and based on the real accounts of locals, THE LOST COAST TAPES reveals a new truth about America’s oldest living legend.
Trailer:
Much more impressive to me is this chilling poster: Bleak, foreboding, and ominous.
The inherent, built-in twist is that Bigfoot (or at least the Sasquatch of Northern California) is almost always envisioned as a reclusive, shy, gentle-giant, but not so in The Lost Coast Tapes. If indie directors insist on perpetuating the found-footage sub-genre, at least they can try to be unique by subverting our expectations.
Another thing that speaks to me is the fact that The Lost Coast is an actual place about 4 hours north of San Francisco. Nice fun to imagine a monster in my backyard.
Dread Central says: “The Lost Coast Tapes is slated for release this year in the UK, Japan, Benelux, and Scandinavia. Continental Media (sales rep) is hosting a buyers screening on April 12th in Hollywood to determine who will be releasing the film Stateside.”
Saucy Josh writes a blog for intelligent Horror Movie aficionados called Blood and Guts for Grown Ups: https://bloodandgutsforgrownups.wordpress.com/