[CFF 2020 Review] The VICE Guide to Bigfoot is Laugh-Out-Loud-Hilarious and Smart

“Every journalist is looking for that one story,” whether that story is about artisanal antibiotics (“it’s their flaws that make them beautiful) or urban camping or the world’s first CBD oil...cryptocurrency? Today, “fake news” is the sign of the time and real journalists struggle to make ends meet while YouTubers are making a killing eating fast food for 72 hours as a challenge. Clickbait articles become du jour because it works and sites need those ad dollars. So The VICE Guide to Bigfoot feels incredibly timely as it satirizes...well everything above. 

Brian Emond (Brian Emond) has hit a rocky patch in his career. He initially skyrocketed to pertinence when he was able to snag a coveted interview with a secretive rapper but now he’s put on the clickbait beat. His latest case is to cover Bigfoot sightings in the foothills of Appalachia. When his friend and producer/cameraman Zach (Zach Lamplugh, also the director) asks him if he’s excited for the story, Brian responds, “Oh hell no.” He has his eye on a broadcaster spot and a future working on real stories.

But when that opportunity goes to Dirty Dollar Sign, a YouTuber (who compares fastfood fries to “a bitch’s asscrack in the summer time, late in the day after like some yard work or something on a hot summer day”), he finds himself resigned to uncovering the truth about the Bigfoot sightings. The centerpiece of his documentary is Jeff Stephenson (Jeffrey Stephenson), the self-proclaimed one man Bigfoot-hunting army, AKA the Cryptid Commander. Jeff runs a YouTube channel (of course) called Paranormal Pursuits, where he also promotes ALPHA SNACKS for all his protein needs. 

Jeff becomes a guide for Brian and Zach, taking them into the woods to hopefully catch Bigfoot on camera. The first night in the woods--and in a funny satiric homage to The Blair Witch Project--Brian wakes up, turns on his camera and films himself reacting to sounds in the woods and even catches the briefest glance of a monstrous creature...before the batteries die. Now hooked that there might be a story, they progress further and further into the forest on a search for the reclusive missing link. 

The VICE Guide to Bigfoot is an absolutely hilarious satire that has its sights on modern journalism and “journalism.” It can be acerbically funny as it zeroes in on the cultural moment we find ourselves in before transitioning into more broad physical comedy…sometimes in the same scene. The humor comes from a place of authenticity as it illuminates the absurdities that, say, a YouTuber who compares salt to an asscrack has more broadcasting clout than a journalist who’s actively searching for truth and trying to bring attention to real stories.

As YouTubers gain popularity and make money, it pushes the real journalists to adopt similar tactics, whether that be clickbait articles or hyperbole or, well, reporting on Bigfoot when the real story is how the opioid pandemic is destroying the region. This is a real issue and Zach Lamplugh uses genre tropes and comedy to make it palatable…which is yet another level of satire here.

Brian plays the perfect comedic straight man as he reacts to the absurdity around him. From a Bigfoot hunter who drinks animal pee to Jeff’s proclamation that Bigfoot supports the second Amendment “but would never carry a gun himself,” Brian’s reactions and comedic timing are perfect. But the film also lampoons Brian’s character in various ways. My favorite is the fact that Brian doesn’t actually need glasses to see. In one scene, he puts them on as if he’s blind and yet it’s obvious they are a fashion accessory…since they’re missing lenses. It’s moments like this that really sells the characters.

Jeffrey Stephenson, likewise, plays the likable goof and their banter and interactions feel like the ultimate odd couple...if the Odd Couple were about cryptids. He’s described as a GameStop Indiana Jones and the way he focuses so intently on his search for Bigfoot, in part, to take his mind off of his ex and their doomed relationship is touching.

Director Zach Lamplugh, meanwhile, films The VICE Guide to Bigfoot to perfection...to the point, I went down a Google spiral, trying to figure out if this actually was a VICE movie/documentary. The characters feel so real at times that I found myself caught up in their stories...as if this were a real documentary. And while this is absolutely a comedy, Lamplugh is able to wrangle some tension, particularly in the Blair Witch-esqe first night attack. There’s a particular moment of foreground/background perspective that I had to rewind because the sudden movement surprised me. 

Comedy is such a group, communal experience for me that when I watch something by myself, I might find something humorous but I won’t laugh. Yet The VICE Guide to Bigfoot had me laughing in spite of myself and if that’s not a solid recommendation, I don’t know what is.