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Cast: Martin Kove, Tony Becker, Lisa Wilcox
A blazing fire rips its way through Bear Valley National Park. As the firefighters try to contain it, the animals are being forced out of their habitat including a beast that was better left undiscovered.
There has been many films made starring bigfoot over the years, not many have stood out since it's pretty hard to come up with something different and original anymore. "Savage" attempts to different from the rest but having three story-lines going at once, there's the story of the fire and bigfoot himself, there's one involving a couple on the lame from authorities and there's the story of the hunter who is out for revenge. All three intertwine but the film never seems to build on suspense or tension, luckily Director, Jordan Blum does a good job at keeping things moving at a good pace but when all is said and done the film suffers from budget restraints in that it never really becomes a full horror film. The creature is mostly seen from a shadowy distance and the killings are all done off camera with some visible blood spraying. The film also lacks any real suspense or tension which might make it hard for some to keep their interest.
On the good side, as I just stated the film does have a nice pace to it and it looks good. Also the cast including, Martin Kove (The Karate Kid), Tony Becker (Tour of Duty), Lisa Wilcox (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4), Shane Callahan (Gods and Generals), Anna Enger (Meet the Browns) and Robert Pralgo (The Vampire Diaries) all give pretty good performances considering the material they had to work with here.
When you look at the good and bad points it comes out to be an average film, I have seen much worse that's for sure. I do give the director credit for attempting to make the film different than all the others and he was wise to use what he had to work with effectively.
So if you like this sort of horror/thriller you might want to pick it up and take a look, "Savage" isn't a complete waste mainly due to the director's ability to keep the film moving at a brisk pace and Martin Kove who gives an excellent performance as the revenge seeking hunter. You can order the DVD HERE.
Released by MTI Home Video
** 1/2 Out Of *****