Full movie (supposedly) here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZYn1vc6v0c
I just watched it, for the second time in my life, at that link. (FTR, there was no Indian boy and the story about the trapper had an obvious excision of whatever became of the fellow who went off alone to get the last traps.) First time was when I was probably about 9, not long after it came out. Scared the CRAP out of me when that damn howl came on, and I remembered the sound for the rest of my life until just now when I watched the movie again. Worst sound I've ever heard! I ever hear that in the woods, I just hope my heart doesn't give out. Last night I was talking with a friend about this and he remembers it exactly as I do. We had both seen it when young and that howl stuck with us the rest of our lives. The term "hair-raising" is actually applicable here.
The movie really does have some gorgeous "big nature" scenes, which those of us who live in the PacNW have known about all along. Yes, it really is that pretty here, if you go to the right places. :-)
One major complaint I have with S:TLOB, watching it now, is that the soundtrack sometimes is simply diametrically opposite of the mood the filmmakers are trying to create at a given moment. It's hard to feel a sense of foreboding while hearing carefree-children-in-a-playground music. So, there are some rough edges to this production. Also, the computer is treated as some kind of magic oracle; just program in the known data and POOF, somehow, out comes the answer to whatever question you had. Heh. Still, it's not bad, all in all, for what it was.
When I was young, I think that the documentary feel to the movie confused me somewhat. I'm not sure whether I understood that it was entirely staged; my best recollection is that I just wasn't sure how real it was, but it seemed real enough to be quite scary to me at that age.
My ratings:
Movie (for adults): meh. Entertaining if you're in the mood for a groovy 70s monster mockumentary, otherwise not anything special. 5/10
Movie (for kids): it depends on if they are sophisticated enough to laugh at the cheese. It was scary to me as a kid, but movie-making was much more primitive then. So, hard to predict how engrossing it would be to a modern kid. ?/10
Sasquatch howl: OOHHH SHI/10
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