Stomping Ground

Director - Dan Riesser (Night of the Punks)
Starring - John Bobek (The Condom Killer), Tarah DeSpain (Burnout), and Jeramy Blackford (Nashville)
Release Date - 2014
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "Beware what you go searching for.  You just might find it"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     As most of you have noticed, I recently had a little movie night watching three bigfoot films.  Two of these films were sent to me to review and the other was a pick up while on a trip.  The first two were horror comedies where there was almost more comedy than horror.  The third, sent to me from Brinkvision, was a more serious creature feature with little to no humor.  That film was Stomping Ground which was originally filmed in 2014 but recently found distribution with Brink Vision.  Knowing that I had Bigfoot vs. Zombies and Bigfoot The Movie sitting on my shelf, I reached out to Brink for a review copy and they were kind enough to send one over.  Thanks guys for allowing me the chance to check this one out!

     The film follows a young college couple who return to the girl's home in North Carolina to see her mother. While they are visiting her new boyfriend is introduced to all her old friends and quickly learns that she is not the girl he thought she was.  On top of that he learns that one of her best friends was once her boyfriend who took her virginity.  To make matters worse, he learns that they all were once Sasquatch hunters and want to do another trip before they head back to college.  The boyfriend goes along for the trip and soon learns that her ex still has feelings for her.  They bicker with each other while they travel through the woods to meet up with some friends.  They come across their camp which has been ripped to shreds and they find the finger of their friend nearby.  Panic sets in when they realize that Bigfoot is real and they are on the menu.
      We don't get a lot of monster movies anymore.  The horror scene goes through trends when something sells dozens of filmmakers will jump on the wagon to try and make a buck.  We have supernatural found footage, zombies, slashers, but we haven't had a creature feature revival.  Stomping Ground may not bring about a new found love for the monster movie but it is damn sure entertaining.  The acting in this one is actually pretty well done.  The cast works very well with each other and create some genuine characters.  No one outshines the other and that is the way a movie should be.  The story for this one is great but it does have some problems.  The story uses the traditional big foot setting with nothing original but it does build some great suspense and tension.  It is rare to see an indie horror film with atmosphere like this one has.  With that being said, the characters are very flat and not very likable.  Justin Gidding's character Jed is the only one I didn't wish would die.  He was funny and nothing like the others.  A little more creativity in the characters would have benefited this film greatly.  Finally, the film does have some gore but none of the kills take place on screen which is a huge let down.  The effects we get are great but that makes me wonder why these kills couldn't take place on screen.  We also get another great looking creature that is only shown for a brief moment.  This adds some mystery to the creature but almost makes it feel cheap.  Overall, Stomping Ground is a solid creature feature.  We have a great looking creature, some great monster movie atmosphere, and some solid practical effects.  Check this one out as soon as you can.