Think of a micro-budget production, with micro-budget actors, and micro-budget special effects, and then reduce those values by 50%, and you have "Taku-He".
The movie is about a film crew, who while preparing to film a zombie horror movie, stumble upon a local legend about a Saquatch type creature that is reputed to haunt the rural location chosen for the zombie movie. The producer decides that he wants to film a short documentary about the creature, and the crew goes along with the idea.
Long story short, it turns out that there IS an actual huge, hairy cryptic, and after a frightening experience with the beast, the crew hires a local hunter and guide to track the creature down.
Despite the infinitesimal budget, and the no-name cast, there are some things that "Taku-He" gets right. Instead of the usual "check-the-box" stereotypical characters, there does seem to be at least some semblance of camaraderie amongst the crew. There is no buxom bimbo eye candy, there is no obnoxious jock, no snide, arrogant smart-ass whom no one else in the group can stand, no one aching to get stoned or smashed at every opportunity. That's not to say that this is a good movie, but it at least avoids the same sorely over-used cliches and stereotypical characters of countless, similar horror movies, thus I gave it 3 stars instead of just 1.
The movie is about a film crew, who while preparing to film a zombie horror movie, stumble upon a local legend about a Saquatch type creature that is reputed to haunt the rural location chosen for the zombie movie. The producer decides that he wants to film a short documentary about the creature, and the crew goes along with the idea.
Long story short, it turns out that there IS an actual huge, hairy cryptic, and after a frightening experience with the beast, the crew hires a local hunter and guide to track the creature down.
Despite the infinitesimal budget, and the no-name cast, there are some things that "Taku-He" gets right. Instead of the usual "check-the-box" stereotypical characters, there does seem to be at least some semblance of camaraderie amongst the crew. There is no buxom bimbo eye candy, there is no obnoxious jock, no snide, arrogant smart-ass whom no one else in the group can stand, no one aching to get stoned or smashed at every opportunity. That's not to say that this is a good movie, but it at least avoids the same sorely over-used cliches and stereotypical characters of countless, similar horror movies, thus I gave it 3 stars instead of just 1.
