James Chick’s ‘FEET OF DEATH’ (2024) – Movie Review

Yeti. Sasquatch. Abominable Snowman. No matter what you call it, when it comes to urban legends, there are few, if any, bigger than Bigfoot. The stories have been around for centuries in every part of the country and every corner of the Earth. These stories, unsurprisingly, are also well represented in fiction, television, and film. Let’s face it. There are a TON of Bigfoot movies out there. Some good. Some not so good. Which brings us to James Chick’s Feet of Death, a 2024 horror film from Chick Flick Films. Does it do the legend justice? Or are the big shoes too big to fill?

Read on for our review!

Feet of Death Synopsis

In the quiet, mist-shrouded woods of a small town, the legend of Bigfoot has always been just that—a legend. But when a popular paranormal social media influencer mysteriously winds up dead, the town’s long-standing myth takes a terrifying turn. Now, a grieving U.S. Forest Service ranger is forced to confront his darkest fears as he uncovers a chilling connection between the influencer’s death and a series of bizarre, unsolved killings. As the line between myth and reality blurs, the ranger must hunt down the elusive creature before it claims more lives.

James Chick directed the film. The film stars Andrew Jacob Brown, Jack Vanover, Benjamin Watts, Eric Berger, and Emily Hyde.

Here’s the official trailer:

The Setup

Forest Ranger Jason Easterly’s life is in shambles. Mourning the loss of his wife, Jason finds no answers at the bottom of a bottle. What can he do, but throw himself into his work? The job, however, provides little comfort as the ranger finds himself in the middle of a murder mystery that is undoubtedly tied to a string of unexplained deaths in the forests around Mount St. Helens and the Swift Lake reservoir. The latest victim: a social media star out generating content for his YouTube channel, Myths of the Unknown. Was it an animal attack? Or something more sinister? Easterly must join his Forest Service colleagues, local law enforcement, and a few townies to unravel the mystery before any more lives are lost.

What Works

The film has some great locations. From the forest to the caves and every bit of wilderness you can imagine, the crew took full advantage of its shooting locations. This certainly doesn’t feel like you’re chasing Bigfoot around a sound stage, and that goes a long way.

This isn’t your standard monster movie. Feet of Death takes chances by going for a more character centric approach and blending it in with a mystery that goes way beyond, “So, is Bigfoot real or not?” Between the law enforcement angle, the evidence gathering, and a trip to the coroner’s office, the film in many ways functions as a police procedural whodunnit. It’s definitely not your stereotypical Bigfoot story. That’s also a good thing.

The cast is likable and the acting is competent. I also really enjoyed the film’s score, which is subtly synthy and feels very John Carpenter inspired. It does a lot to build tension, particularly in the scenes where the rangers are searching the darkness of the local cave system.

The handling of Bigfoot here is solid. Suspenseful, even. What gets shown is very effective and what’s not shown is possibly even more effective. The film makes the most of its budget without wimping out on the creature. The gore FX, while not pervasive throughougt, are very well done. Mad props to Eric Berger, by the way, for an amazing job not moving, blinking, or flinching during some rather extensive crime scene examination scenes!

What Doesn’t Work

While I appreciate the effort to make the story more character driven, frankly the film could have sacrificed a lot of it in the name of pacing. The runtime stretches to nearly 2 hours, and I think 90 minutes is probably the sweet spot for this particular story. A little “snip snip” in the editing room could have tightened things up a lot. The action sequences are pretty good. I just wish we could have gotten to them faster.

From a story perspective, I feel like there were some missed opportunities with the main characters. Ken, the local law enforcement, doesn’t seem too overly stressed out about the stack of bodies piling up and, while it’s mentioned, Jason doesn’t seem to be overly driven to uncover any potential connection to his wife’s death. A genuine, blind thirst for revenge would have done wonders here, in my opinion. I will say there is a pretty good dynamic between Jason and the Sheriff, Ken, but it feels like maybe if Ken was his brother in law or had a closer tie to the dead wife there could have been a deeper conflict dynamic and an even more nuanced relationship.

I can’t really go into details without spoiling it, but the end frankly pissed me off. It’s a good sign that I was invested enough in the movie to get angry, but still I felt it was not a satisfying conclusion. To the filmmakers’ credit, though, the ending was foreshadowed with an exchange that literary horror fans will undoubtedly pick up on. This foreshadowing, to me,keeps it from feelng cheap.

Feet of Death – Final Thoughts

Feet of Death does a nice job taking a minimal budget and some great locations and spinning a Bigfoot mystery that’s different from the rest. The practical FX and music score are top notch and the action scenes are well done. From a pacing perspective it’s no barn burner, but there’s enough there that you won’t be bored. There are some missed opportunities along the way and the ending might not sit well with some viewers, but overall it’s a good, if not quite legendary, indie effort.

Feet of Death is available to rent and own on Amazon Prime Video.