American Bigfoot (aka Kampout)


"Sonny, I know what a deer looks like, and this was no deer. It was big...huge." - Lois


release year: 2017
genre: monster horror/drama
viewing setting: home streaming 7/28/26

synopsis: After one of their family is shot and killed by a human, two Bigfoots go on a rampage in a small, remote forest town.

impressions: The imdb site informs us that this movie was made in weeks and with a crew of less than six people. While I don't doubt that, I will say that it looked much better than you'd expect given those metrics - and much better than many other monster films with a higher budget, more time, and more crew. The acting wasn't always great, but several of the characters were fun and memorable. It should be noted that this movie contains an inordinate number of guys who wear sleeveless shirts but lack any arm muscles, or even any semblance of arm muscles. Guys, it's just not a good look. Also, there was no CGI here - it was all practical effects (suits) and generally looked fine. My wife wanted me to make sure that you knew the music in this film was subpar. Also, the ending was very abrupt, and might have been the result of the low budget; at least things weren't completely left unresolved.

body count: 5 humans, 1 Bigfoot

acting:  Lately, I have sometimes chosen to list and discuss characters rather than actors, because it entertains me (and hopefully you) when I do so. Accordingly, behold the complete cast of characters in this movie:

  • teenage girl in house - one of two people in the prologue, her quiet solo evening of being bored and making popcorn is interrupted by a Bigfoot visit
  • friend or relative of girl in house - this guy may have been her dad, it was unclear, but he ran into the forest, then ran into the Bigfoot, then ran away before tripping and...his fate remains unknown
  • John - a bubba Keanu Reeves lookalike who has problems with an empty wallet, alcohol, and his wife; he starts this whole thing off by shooting and killing a member of the Bigfoot family, for which he is rewarded by being impaled on a tree branch by another, very angry Bigfoot
  • Nick - the clean-cut main hero, a park ranger who's a nice guy and also competent; one of the "main three" who figure out what's going on and team up to deal with it
  • Marilynn - a waitress at the diner and Nick's girlfriend, only shows up at the beginning and the end of the movie (after her date with Nick is cancelled due to his Bigfoot-hunting with his new friends)
  • Marilynn's boss - woman who runs the diner and isn't very helpful to anyone
  • Tom - chunky head police officer and Fred Ward lookalike, somewhat overwhelmed by all the happenings, hands out a lot of his business cards; second member of the "main three"
  • Paula - the dingbat girlfriend of Tom who's also the town's police dispatcher; seems okay with date night being a meal at the diner
  • the poachers - Jebediah and his immense beard, and the older guy; they get caught by Ranger Nick for shooting a deer out of season, then never appear again
  • Brian - turkey hunting documentarian #1, Johnny Knoxville lookalike, somewhat hyperactive; comic relief
  • Duane - turkey hunting documentarian #2, less intelligent; comic relief
  • Betty - Duane's angry wife, loves to yell and curse
  • random camper - some dude who's just camping at night, until a Bigfoot shows up and "cracks and squelches" him (according to the subtitles)
  • Lois - old lady who swerved to avoid a Bigfoot and crashed into a tree; serves as one of the multiple accounts that led Tom to understand that something was afoot, err, aBigfoot
  • Tommy - kid who lives, along with his dog and mom, somewhere near where Lois crashed; abducted by a Bigfoot to become part of the family, but slips ouf the Bigfoot's embrace at night and wanders away from their lair to be rescued eventually
  • Tommy's mom - pretty much hysterical; serves as another account of Bigfoot activity
  • Bear - Tommy's constantly-barking dog, detects the approach of a Bigfoot but has no other apparent function, useless defensively due to small size
  • Paul - veteran actor Clint Howard; here, his job is to examine the Bigfoot hair sample and then call in his friend
  • Hank - Paul's dial-a-friend who's also a Bigfoot expert; third member of the "main three"
  • Bob - Chris Farley lookalike and general buffoon, he connects the turkey hunting weirdos with the ranger
  • Joe Hicks - random guy who's at the police station to "pick up the survey maps"
  • Sergeant Moody - asshole officer at the police station
  • the kids - ten teenagers whose names include Frankie, Claudia, Steph, Susan, Liz, Jimmy, Terry, "man in blue shirt" according to the subtitles...they are there to hike, camp, and party and are basically interchangable...the majority of these people were stopped in the road by a tiny branch that they kept referring to as a tree, if that gives any indication of their general competency; Terry and Susan sneak away for some booty time but get impaled
  • random jogger - some dude who's just jogging through the forest and comes face-to-face with a Bigfoot; flees, but doesn't run fast enough and thus gets face-planted into the side of a tree
  • Dan - nighttime janitor (maybe? he looked like he was in charge of something, but he was mopping the floors so who knows) who finds Tommy after the kid escapes the Bigfoot nest; calls for help, providing yet another clue to the "main three" that something strange is going on
  • Steve - random reporter who shows up; ends up interviewing the turkey-hunter guys, much to his disdain
  • "Cletus" - unnamed drunk guy who wandered into Steve's interview; he needed a name so I gave him one
  • the Bigfeet - originally a family of three that becomes a family of two thanks to the idiot John's drunken target practice, after which the killing begins; they are noted by just about everyone they encounter to smell really, really bad
    •

    final word: Pretty entertaining low-budget Bigfoot movie, but could have used a higher body count (I mean, really...look how many potential victims there are!)

    back to the main review page