For some reason, every time I go to a certain friend’s house we end up watching movies about bigfoot or aliens. It’s almost become somewhat of a tradition. When it comes to Big Bad, I’m actually not sure what the creature in this feature is supposed to be. The script calls it The North American Sasquatch, but it’s quite clearly a werewolf. It appears to shapeshift, howls and hunts by the full moon. That’s a werewolf, especially based on the design of its feet. However, this confusion may be attributed to Big Bad being a horror-comedy with way more doses of comedy than horror. All of the characters are a few sticks short of a bundle and being wrong about what’s attacking them is in the realm of realism. That’s just the type of content you’ll find here, but it has some charm to its humor in an Airplane kind of way.
Big Bad is the feature film directorial debut of Opie Cooper. He co-wrote it with Daniel Dauphin and Beth Kander. Rick Moore produced with cinematographer Jeff Dolan and editor Justin Lutsky. It stars Ainsley Bailey (“Shake It Up”), Cameron Deane Stewart (“Aquarius”), Madeline Thelton, Daniel Dauphin, Clint Carmichael (“Magnum PI”), Hannah Bryan (Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies) and Brad Bishop. It follows a group of group kids spending the night in an abandoned jail for a school fundraiser. Soon after it begins, they’re attacked by a mysterious beast and are forced to flee into the woods. They’re stalked by the predator as they attempt to make it to safety and the monster will go through anyone to get to its prey.
Big Bad started off… bad, like excruciatingly bad. I remember turning to my friend and asking her if she read the plot before renting it on demand. The opening scene is way too long and doesn’t do a good job of setting up the tone and the following scenes make the core four characters marginally unlikeable. I can see how three people worked on the script because once they get to the prison, everything changes. Big Bad becomes one of those movies where it’s so bad it’s good. The subtle humor, the dimwitted antics, the quipping and the lack of problem solving skills made this title pretty funny. It became one of those movies where you keep watching to see what happens next so you can laugh at it. My favorite part was near the end that was back to back bloopers including a production vehicle driving away in the background. It’s a fun movie that doesn’t take itself to seriously and that’s what saves it from being a bomb.
Surprisingly, it has ample levels of suspense and gore, which is great because it certifies itself as a horror-comedy that delivers on both genres. There’s a whole lot of chase scenes, although the majority of the character deaths happen off screen. Don’t be turned off, though, because the creature is on full display for the majority of the movie. It is heavily featured, runs, attacks, etc and that’s a joy to watch because it was made with practical effects and it’s actually one of the better made costumes I’ve seen in 2016. The bigfoot costume alone makes it a horror throwback that people will dig and it is far and away the best aspect of the film. I just wish the characters were more afraid of it and its rampage, but they were always just standing around and talking. I know I’d be hauling ass if this monster was following me! Excellent work on the creature, the last half of the script and the camera work. A great indie feature with a crazy creature and a whole lot of unintentional humor, Big Bad is best watched like I did – with your friends and some beer.
Final Score: 6 out of 10.
