Throwback

Director - Travis Bain (Scratched)
Starring - Shawn Brack, Anthony Ring (The Straits), and Melanie Serafin
Release Date - 2014
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "They went in search of legend, but found another"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     When I was in high school I was turned on to cryptozoology by a friend of mine.  We were close friends at the time and he wanted to follow in the steps of cryptozoologist Lauren Coleman.  His interested in the unknown rubbed off on me to some extent and I became obsessed with crytpozoology as well.  I loved reading eye witness accounts and watching documentaries on the subject.  My favorite of all the cryptids was any featuring a large ape-like creature.  These were just so fascinating.  There has been numerous flicks over the years about big foot, Patty, sasquatch, skunk apes, and the like but most are just so bad.  Last year news of the creature feature Throwback was being tosses around it it looked fun but I completely forgot to follow up on it and it slipped from my mind.  Lucky for me, MVD released the film and was kind enough to send a review copy my way.  Thanks guys!
     The film begins in Australia during the 1800s as a Chinese immigrant is prospecting for gold when he is held a gunpoint and his findings are taken from him.  The outlaw makes his way through the woods and comes across another outlaw who is now holding him at gunpoint before something in the woods spook them.  Soon a giant beast is seen through the brush and kills both the gunmen.  We then jump to present day and two men are canoeing down a river nearby with riches on their mind.  The two men just pulled off a heist and plan on hiding out until they could get our of harms way but one of the men has another plan.  He wants to kill his partner and take all the money for himself but there is something much worse in the woods with them.
     When doing a horror flick involving a bigfoot like creature it can be tricky business.  My biggest complaint about them is that they never show enough of the creature.  A counter argument to that is that when we do get a lot of the creature it then looks like shit.  Why is it so hard to make a convincing looking bigfoot suit?  The point is that we can never find a happy medium with a little more creature that just happens not to look like ass.  The acting in this one is solid by the entire cast.  Everyone works well with each other and this really helps the film along.  The story for this one is rather on the bland side and several scenes will try the viewer's patience.  The story has so much possibility with the two evils clashing but fell into the trap of a cat and mouse flick.  They passed off originality and took the safe route which resulted in a lackluster flick.  Finally, the film does not have any real on screen kills.  Most take place off camera or is insinuated.  The film does have some practical effects that are hit and miss.  We do get a few dead bodies that looked great but we once again get a creature that looks horrible.  This is one of the times where less would have been more.  Overall, Throwback was a creature feature that had so much promise only to walk the line to mediocrity.  The film deserves at least one viewing but does not have any replay value.