The Ultimate Bigfoot Drive-In Movie

One of the rarest first fiction films about the hairy creatures of the forests to locate today is Bigfoot (1970), directed by Robert E. Slatzer. It is a modest movie made for the drive-ins involving, in the jargon of the time, “babes and bikers.” Director Slatzer’s claim to fame, other than this movie, appears to have been that he was a former husband of Marilyn Monroe, and the director of Hellcats (1967), another biker movie.

Starring in Bigfoot are John Carradine (“Jasper B. Hawks”), John Mitchum (“Elmer Briggs”), Joi Lansing (“Joi Landis”), and Christopher Mitchum (“Rick”). Of some interest to us is the actor Nick Raymond who played both “Slim” and “Evil Bigfoot.” Villians always get top billing, but what I find remarkable about this movie is that it portrayed a Bigfoot family, a rare element in early hominology cinema. Of course, there was a family of Snowmen in the 1957 Japanese film, Half Human, which coincidentially also starred John Carradine in the American revised and dubbed version. But Bigfoot/Sasquatch families are not that frequently shown.

Anyway, here are the actors for Bigfoot’s family: James Stellar (“Lead Bigfoot”), Jerry Maren (“Child Bigfoot”), Gloria Hill (“Female Bigfoot”), Nancy Hunter (“Female Bigfoot”), and Alesha Lee (“Female Bigfoot”).

I recently finished an article for a forthcoming fall 2007 issue of TAPS Paramagazine about Bigfoot drive-in movies, and this specific one certainly ranks as one of the major films of the genre.

With the advent of YouTube, I discovered that a long clip from this scarce film has just been uploaded. Here it is for your viewing pleasure, a piece of Bigfoot popular culture from the days of drive-in movies (please pass the popcorn). Note the quality of cinematic Bigfoot costumes, circa 1970:

Loren Coleman About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct). Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015. Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.

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