[Review] ‘On the Trail of Bigfoot’ is an Insightful Look into the World of Bigfoot Hunters

If I’m being honest with you I’ve become more of a skeptic over the years.  I probably started life as a Fox Mulder, but I think I’ve slowly grown to be a Dana Scully. So when you present me with a documentary about Bigfoot my immediate reaction is that of complete and total skepticism.  But I’m still willing to watch if there’s something to learn.

“On the Tail of Bigfoot” comes by way of Small Town Monsters.  I hadn’t heard of them before, but they seem to be an indie production company with a focus on documentaries that explore cryptids and the unknown.

First of all, before I even talk about the content of this package, I just have to say how absolutely beautiful the cover of this DVD is.  Check it out for yourself below. It’s the kind of thing I would hang on a wall.

This is a 2-disc DVD set that features six episodes that are less than thirty minutes each.  The discs are divided into “The Legend” and “The Search.”  One focusing mostly on where the mythos of Bigfoot came from and the other following the narrator as he ventures out for his own Bigfoot hunt.

I haven’t seen too many Bigfoot documentaries, so I couldn’t tell if you a lot of the topics in this series have been covered extensively before.  But speaking as a novice who doesn’t have a whole lot of knowledge about the mysterious creature, I thought they went pretty in-depth on the subject and I certainly learned a lot of tidbits I had never heard of before.

In the first disc a lot of the content centers on where the stories of Bigfoot originated and the history of not only the creature, but on the hunters who have chased after Bigfoot.  For example, one episode discusses the four men who pioneered the field of Bigfoot hunting.  The episode goes into their tumultuous relationship with one another and how they basically shaped the field of hunting cryptids.

Other episodes go into the numerous theories of what Bigfoot is and where he came from.  One episode focuses on the theory that some believe Bigfoot is tied to aliens. I really loved this one because there seems to be a bit of beef between pro-UFO/Bigfoot believers and anti-UFO/Bigfoot believers.  Some slight shade gets tossed around in the documentary and I got a little giddy over it. I kind of wish they had just brought the two parties together to have a proper throw down.

But that’s probably one of the most endearing parts of this documentary.  It doesn’t try to tear anyone down.  It gives everyone the same amount of respect and platform to tell their story.  It would be incredibly easy to poke fun at people in this kind of scenario.  Especially when they get into the personal lives of hunters and discuss their personal beliefs and how they hunt for Bigfoot.

That being said, I would’ve preferred someone with a more analytical or skeptical approach to weigh in on the subject.  Even the skeptics presented here are still basically saying “Oh yeah, there’s something out there.” It would’ve been interesting to have an expert in some sort of field offer their insight into what could be possibly going on in the woods.

But I respect that this documentary isn’t taking that kind of approach.  Instead it’s a series that approaches the mystery of Bigfoot with a sense of wonderment and awe.  It’s not taking a hardline approach to the subject and dissecting it. Instead it sets out to tell a story of the legend and let people earnestly express themselves.

I don’t know how this will rank for Bigfoot experts out there, but for someone like me I found it entertaining and I came away with a unique insight into a culture and group of people that I had never explored before.