The Wild Man: Skunk Ape (2021) by Ryan Justice

Director: Ryan Justice

Year: 2021

Country: USA

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Bigfoot/Sasquatch

Plot:

Desperate to prove the creatures’ existence, a group of documentary filmmakers heads out into the Florida Everglades to prove the existence of the Skunk Ape in the area, but when they stumble across the truth behind the creature realize there’s something far more sinister than they expected as the source.

Review:

Overall, this was a pretty solid and enjoyable effort. One of the better factors involved here is the strong setup that gives this one a strong start. With the initial documentary approach that announces the history of the creature, the connection with the residents in town, and their desire to head off to film nicely in getting the main story set up rather quickly. With their documentary approach focusing on the investigation of the locals and the information gleaned from these scenes, the film comes off pretty well as the group going through town being intimidated into leaving or confronting crazed locals offering bizarre and over-the-top explanations for the most simplistic of events creates a nice start to things.

Once the group hits the woods trying to follow through with their expedition, this one has plenty to like about it with the collection of scenes out in the middle of the woods hiking through the underbrush or getting a chance to lay their guards down to catch up on the different personalities involved. The few instances of finding something out there with the animal growling in the distance, the craziness of the trap being sprung, and then the twist involving the government agents being involved that leads to the somewhat enjoyable finale featuring them sneaking onto a military base to complete their mission. While the general action in the finale is fun in principle with the creature rampaging and running loose that makes for a fun time here, these are what hold this up overall.

There are some issues with this one. The biggest drawback to the film is the utterly bizarre notion of the group going through the series of intimidation tactics and break-ins that are supposed to drive them away not doing much to advance the story. While the group rightfully decides to press on in the face of the adversity, the central idea present here doesn't do the film any favors with the need for including it over the interactions with the creature. With no logical reason for forsaking the police to investigate the events beyond hear-say and just going forward with the investigation is somewhat foolhardy especially with the revelations later on, this is quite difficult to figure out the point behind including it when the rest of the film makes no mention of this aspect.

The last flaw to be had with the film is the highly underwhelming third act that goes off the rails and into some interesting if not necessarily exciting territory. Rather than being a straightforward creature-on-the-loose-in-the-woods genre effort, the sudden turn into a series of political manipulation and government conspiracy theories is incredibly underwhelming. It’s the exact opposite of what this kind of film should’ve been and could’ve been with the concept having been working fine beforehand. This just comes out of nowhere and takes the creature out of the film as a result since the focus is now on unraveling this bizarre government cover-up rather than having this murderous creature involved in the film which hurts this one a lot.

Overview: ***/5

Despite a few missteps here with some underwhelming storylines that don’t need to be here, the film has a lot to like elsewhere here with its general setup and approach that makes for a fun time at points. Give this one a chance if you’re a fan of these kinds of cheesy creature features or intrigued by the style involved here, while most others who are turned off by the flaws here should heed caution.