Interview of Sasquatch Movie Maker Christopher Munch

Screenshot of Letters from the Big Man website

"Much later I came to acknowledge a deep and atavistic connection to sasquatch which I am only now beginning to understand, small piece by small piece, even while my commitment to their “cause” grows more steadfast every day." -- Christopher Munch; Writer/Director of Letters from the Big Man

Jeffery Pritchett, known for his radio show ChurchOfMabusRadio.com has recently posted an excellent interview with Christopher Munch, director of the true-to-life depiction of Sasquatch in Letters from the Big Man. You can buy the DVD at the Official Letters From The Big Man website.

Pritchett does an amazing job asking questions that get to the heart of Christopher Munch's journey from script to screen, a few of our favorite questions and answers are below.

1. I have to say your movie about Sasquatch entitled Letters From the Big Man is one of the best Bigfoot films I've ever seen. What was the inspiration behind it exactly?

Christopher Munch: The project literally showed up on my doorstep in 2005, punctuated by a Christmas gift of the humorous book In Me Own Words. Prior to that I had not considered the subject to any great degree one way or the other. I must have had a vague awareness that “they were out there,” and indeed had fond memories of the Ronald Olson 1977 docudrama Sasquatch, which I saw in the theatre as a teenager, and also the famous episode of In Search Of, my favorite TV series.

Much later I came to acknowledge a deep and atavistic connection to sasquatch which I am only now beginning to understand, small piece by small piece, even while my commitment to their “cause” grows more steadfast every day.

After being bitten in early 2005, I took the plunge and devoured every book, every issue of The Track Record, and every prior film that touched on the subject that I could get my hands on. Paralleling my developing interest in sasquatch was an interest in a particular area of southern Oregon where a drama had been unfolding surrounding salvage logging of Federal lands burnt in the 2002 Biscuit Fire. I became fascinated by the so-called Klamath-Siskiyou ecoregion, an ancient, biologically diverse, and mysterious land elegantly chronicled by David Rains Wallace in The Klamath Knot, a book that inspired the tone I hoped to achieve with my film.

As I developed the screenplay with an esteemed New York producer, Paul Mezey, whom I had known for many years, various stars (who would have enabled us to finance the picture at a larger budget) hovered around it. Every time I came close to setting the project up, however, invariably I ran up against the unwillingness of Hollywood to think in anything but the most cliché and untruthful terms when it comes to sasquatch. There had been intriguing smaller productions, independently financed – such as the Little Bigfoot series and the animated Legend of Sasquatch with William Hurt – that had slipped in some fascinating and seemingly truthful tidbits of information. And despite its unlikely premise, Harry and the Hendersons played the very important role of defusing monster stereotypes and opening the door to a more reasoned understanding of sasquatch. I believe this is why it is beloved by so many to this day. (Joan Crawford had made the same pleas in a different and campier way decades earlier in Trog).

Because I was seeking at all costs a truthful depiction of sasquatch, it seemed that the best way to do it was against a realistic backdrop, sacrificing suspense if necessary for the sort of detail that would ground my heroine’s emotional journey. Indeed, her journey paralleled mine at every step.

Early drafts of the script were focussesd less on Sarah’s internal life and more on external circumstances, culminating in our hero-sasquatch showing up, messiah-like, in downtown Portland and making a big public splash: a rousing but not terribly realistic conclusion. He even hopped a freight train to get there. :)

2. With all the horrific movies about Bigfoot out there that depict Sasquatch as a horrific creature it was great to finally see a movie that got it right. Who were some researchers that you took from that helped you to make sure you got Sasquatch depicted on screen correctly and especially positively instead of negatively?

Christopher Munch: My first advisor was Thom Powell, whose book The Locals was the one I most admired from my early reading. He very generously took me into the field and introduced me to his trusted friends, Kirk Sigurdson (Kultus) and Joe Beelart. Thom and Kirk encouraged me to put myself in places where I could conceivably begin to have experiences of my own – something which, at the time, I assumed was beyond my understanding or ability. My actress friend Jeri Arredondo (who, along with Thom, Kirk, Kathleen Grevie Jones, Dee Odom, Andrew Robson, and Jann Weiss, is featured in my documentary Sasquatch and Us), also encouraged me to forge further by opening my heart to the mystical aspects of sasquatch as she understood them from her childhood in the Mescalero Apache nation.

A year or so into the project, I corresponded with and met Kewaunee Lapseritis (The Sasquatch People, The Psychic Sasquatch), who advanced my understanding further. As a consultant on the film, he accompanied me in the field and opened a number of doors. I have consistently found his information to be truthful, and if he was ever unsure of an answer to a question, he would never hesitate to say “I don’t know,” rather than speculate too wildly. He steadfastly honors sasquatch. While he has paid a high price for being at the vanguard of “the fringe” over the past 30 years, thankfully “the fringe” is now becoming un-fringe as many others recognize the value of his methodology, and realize that the only way to connect with sasquatch is through the heart.

Close to the start of production in 2009, I began to work with an exceptional interspecies communicator, Kathleen Grevie Jones, whose strong capabilities as a trance medium facilitated a more rigorous communication with sasquatch, and in fact resulted in the voice-over lines spoken by our hero sasquatch in the film. The words are theirs.

Read the rest Jeffery Pritchett's interview at the Examiner.com. If you like, we have probably the most extensive Letters From The Big Man Coverage from it's premier at Sundance to the launch of the website. Speaking of the website, you will definitely want to buy the DVD at the Official Website for Letters From The Big Man. Oh and don't forget to tune into the Church of Mabus Radio: Saturdays 11pm EST/ 8pm PST

WATCH: The Woodsman, The Fourth "Found Footage" Bigfoot Movie of 2012

Another Found Footage Bigfoot Horror Movie?  Yes. 

Add another film title to the list of Bigfoot "found footage" movies this year; The Lost Coast Tapes, Exist, Bigfoot County, and now an internationally award-winning film The Woodsman. 

In case you need a refresher on the genre of found footage. Wikipedia does a great job:

Found footage is a genre of film making, especially horror, in which all or a substantial part of a film is presented as discovered film or video recordings, often left behind by missing or dead protagonists. The events on screen are seen through the camera of one or more of the characters involved, who often speaks off screen. Filming may be done by the actors themselves as they recite their lines, and shaky camera work is often employed for realism.

The Woodsman follows, in suit, with footage found from an adventuring TV show host, think Les Straub or Bear Grylls, looking for the Mayan Bigfoot. Although it premiered March 9, 2012, there has not been a DVD release yet as it is still being screened at other venues. After the following description and plot synopsis you can watch the trailer below.

Mauro Bosque (Maurice Ripke – Prison Break, Angel Dog, Doonby) is a true adventurer: he loves adrenaline and extreme sports. Mauro and his producer, Chucho (Julian Guevara – Prison Break, Missionary Man), are about to shoot another episode of their outdoor extreme-reality internet show, “Hombre y Tierra.” This episode has Mauro hiking through some very dense and deep woods in search of some of the world’s most significant and extraordinary caves in the mountains of Belize.

His journey began in January 2007. The reality show consists of Mauro videotaping himself looking for ancient ruins, or traces of long lost Mayan remains. But Mauro never returned from this trip.

What took place in the mountains of Belize has been a mystery until now. The recent findings of Mauro’s lost tapes will reveal the pieces of this unusual unfinished puzzle and settle the truth once and for all.

With Mauro now on his own he quickly becomes lost when the river he planned to follow becomes uncrossable. His journey to find a way across the river leads him directly into the territory of an ancient beast who does not want Mauro encroaching his boundaries. Mauro knows something is now tracking him and as the darkness closes in around him he becomes increasingly wary of who or what is out there waiting.
This is the terrifying story of a man searching for a dream, only to find his greatest nightmare.

The camera was found in a remote part of the San Ignacio Forest in Belize. Covered in dirt and blood and broken beyond repair, it sat on a forestry official’s desk for weeks before being linked to a missing internet personality, Mauro Bosque.

The government of Belize made the decision not to release the disturbing footage found on the camera and memory cards found in Mr. Bosque’s personal effects located nearby. Mauro’s Producers located the footage some time later and somehow managed to have it returned to them. Accusations of bribery abound but to date have not been proven.

What happened to Mauro in the forest during that three day period has remained a mystery until the recent discovery of this footage – footage that was likely stolen from a government office in Belize. This is the terrifying story of a man searching for a dream, only to find a living, breathing nightmare. This is the story of Mr. Bosque’s ill-fated, final adventure. Some things should remain a mystery.

For more info check out the The Woodsman's Facebook Page

Tonight on the Science Channel; UCLA Physicist, "Bigfoot is a UFO Pilot"

Dr. Ruel's dismembered top half floating through space
holding a picture of Bigfoot next to a feathered T-Rex 

"I feel that the scientific community has been myopically narrow-minded concerning the feasibility of these various subjects. As a Ph.D. in theoretical nuclear physics, I endeavor to bring the scientific perspective to these controversial topics from an open-minded stance." --Dr. Ruel, Ph. D

You can get a full dose of Dr. Franklin Ruel, Ph.D. tonight on the Science Channel at 9pm (check your local listings). For those that do not know him, The Dr. holds a Ph.D. in theoretical nuclear physics from UCLA and intends to answer questions like: Are some UFO abductees being implanted with control chips? Is it possible that Bigfoot could be an alien entity? Was the mighty T.Rex covered with feathers? Who has been stealing female cadavers from Russian cemeteries?

The show is called Professor Weird. You can read the Doctor's pitch below:

It focuses on the scientific evidence for UFOs and ETs, paranormal phenomena, cryptozoological entities, weird crime, bizarre medicine, strange people and anything else of an unusual and fascinating nature. I feel that the scientific community has been myopically narrow-minded concerning the feasibility of these various subjects. As a Ph.D. in theoretical nuclear physics, I endeavor to bring the scientific perspective to these controversial topics from an open-minded stance.

The program will be a combination of fascinating field reports and intriguing in-studio presentations,including a "Realm of Bizarre News" feature.

My able assistant on the show, Laura Brunkala, who is a superb researcher, provides a counterbalancing skepticism to many of my viewpoints so that I do not go off on a tangent!

You don't have to wait until tonight to hear why Bigfoot are UFO pilots. Below we have one of Dr. Ruel's articles followed by a short video supporting his Bigfoot UFO pilot theory.

Is Bigfoot Possibly an Alien Entity?

Dr. Franklin Ruehl, Ph.D.

Rather than being a missing link between man and the apes, Bigfoot may possibly be an alien entity. This intriguing possibility is derived from evidence in several solid UFO cases.

The earliest clues date back to 1888, when a cattleman described an encounter with friendly Indians in Humboldt County, California. They led him to a cave where he saw a hefty humanoid creature covered in long, shiny black hair, with no neck, sitting cross-legged.

One Indian told him three of these "Crazy Bears" had been cast out of a small moon that dropped from the sky and landed.The "moon" then ascended back into the air. So it's highly likely the "Crazy Bears" were really Bigfoots, and the "moon," a spacecraft.

Now fast-forward almost 100 years to 1973... and Mrs. Reafa Heitfield. She and her 13-year-old son were sleeping in a trailer in Cincinnati, Ohio on the morning of October 21. Reafa arose at 2:30 a.m. to quench her thirst, and noticed strange lights in the adjoining parking lot. Looking out the window, her attention was drawn, in particular, to an inexplicable cone of light, shaped like a huge bubble umbrella -- about seven feet in diameter.

Nearby she spotted a grayish, ape-like creature with a large, downward angled snout, no neck and a sizable waist. Moving slowly, it then entered into the light. About five minutes later, both apeman and UFO disappeared.

Another dramatic incident occurred a few days later on October 25, 1973. A group of farmers in Fayette County, Pennsylvania caught sight of a dome-shaped UFO that was brightly lit and about 100 feet in diameter. As the locals drove toward it, they saw a pair of gargantuan creatures covered with thick, matted hair, luminescent green eyes and long arms that dangled below their knees.

A farmer's son fired a gun shot at the creatures, one of which raised its right hand in the air. At that very moment, the UFO disappeared. Then, the two Bigfoots escaped into the woods and were never seen again.

Dairy farmer William Bosak of Frederic, Wisconsin was returning from a co-op meeting about 10:30 p.m. on December 9, 1974, when he nearly slammed into a globular UFO on the road in front of him, its bottom half enshrouded in fog.

Inside the visible transparent dome was a six-foot-tall ape-like creature with reddish-brown fur covering its body (except for the face) and distinctive pointed ears. It appeared to be operating a control panel. As Bosak passed by, the object suddenly arose and disappeared.

In August,1976, after a series of UFO sightings around Rutland, British Columbia, Canada, several men and their children saw a hairy ape-like entity, six to seven feet tall roaming about a mountainside. They also found a clump of hair that was sent to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for identification. Laboratory analysis confirmed it was primate hair, but, significantly, it could not be matched to any known species on earth!

Perhaps the Bigfoot creatures are UFO pilots, landing on earth for exploratory purposes. Or, conceivably, higher level ETs are leaving behind some specimens as "guinea pigs" to test our environment for long-term survival. Or, possibly,these Bigfoots are criminal entities being deposited on Earth as a form of cosmic deportation! SRC: HuffingtonPost.com

FOOTNOTE FOR CONSPIRACY THEORIST:

Did you know? The US Army created a video game with a hidden Bigfoot piloting a....wait for it...UFO! Its true, that's a screen shot on the left. Read our post about hidden Bigfoot Easter Eggs in video games.