Hunting Grounds (AKA Valley of the Sasquatch) (2015) Review

Hunting Grounds (AKA Valley of the Sasquatch) (2015) Review

Father and son Roger and Michael Crew (Jason Vail, Miles Joris-Peyrafitte) have lost their home, following the passing of their wife and mother, and they are forced into relocating to an old family cabin in the woods of rural Washington. Both find the lifestyle adjustment difficult to adapt to. Family friend Sergio (David Saucedo) and Roger’s brother-in-law Will (D’Angelo Midili) join them for a weekend of drinking and hunting. However deep in the forest the foursome stumble across a tribe of Sasquatch, who are none too pleased that their territory has been disturbed. Things get hairy, literally, as the foursome’s weekend escalates into a fight for survival.

American myth Bigfoot, AKA Sasquatch, has recently enjoyed something of a movie career renaissance of late, featuring in a number of found-footage flicks, most of which are crap. When I came to view Hunting Grounds I found myself lacking enthusiasm having recently been deluged with a number of flicks containing the same lumbering beast. It didn’t help matters when when I discovered that the plot’s main thrust centred around a fragmented family unit, a plot arc I’ve seen far too many times in far too many recent movies.

The dysfunctional family element does grate (you just know that father and son will bond through adversity) and Sergio (David Saucedo), the prick of a mate that Roger brings along for the hunt, proves so insufferable that you’re tempted to switch the film off – DON’T! Genre favourite Bill Oberst Jr. pops up and does his CV a big favour, and the film, after appearing in some risible miserable material of late, and, most importantly, the monsters convince. Also first-time feature director John Portanova builds up the tension nicely, ensuring that the climactic beast attack on the cabin is worth sticking around for.