The story: Sci-Fi/Fantasy/RPG lovers Maynard, Hobie, Gavin, and Sophie head out to Deer Cliff Falls in search of arrowheads, but wind up finding tracks (and dung) that they think might belong to Bigfoot. Little do they know, however, that the mullet sporting redneck Zerk and his friend Shirts pulled off this Bigfoot scam in hopes of making a little money to save Zerk’s car from being repossessed.

“The Sasquatch Gang” will draw comparisons to “Napoleon Dynamite,” especially since a few of the same cast members make appearances and some of the same producers worked on it, but I honestly think “Sasquatch” is a better film. Aside from having classic one-liners (my man-boob stings!) and a heartfelt story about friendship and romance, the film has a superior comic book style story structure and contains characters that you can actually relate to and care about. ‘Napoleon’ may have a number of great quotes and memorable (albeit one-note) characters, but the movie is rather flat and empty. In ‘Sasquatch,’ writer/director Tom Skousen has crafted a story in which the characters aren’t mercilessly made fun of like in ‘Napoleon.’ Instead, every character from the America loving, beer drinking, slacker Zerk to the shy, image obsessed Sophie is fully developed and is in some way identifiable.

Speaking of the character Zerk, I have to say that actor Justin Long (of the Mac commercials and “Live Free Or Die Hard”) completely steals the show here. Granted, the rest of the cast is perfect in their parts, but Long completely transforms himself into the character with such ease. I’m hoping Zerk will get his own spin-off movie.

One last thing, as I do live in Oregon, I might be biased in saying that the location shooting (in Oregon) was superb. The location scouts did a commendable job in finding places that not only give the viewer a sense that these characters live in a small town, but they also found the perfect places that geeky folk would hang out (ala the arcade, laser tag arena, video store, etc.)

---

Bookmark us!