The Untold (film)

The Untold is a 2002 adventure horror film independently produced in Canada written and directed by Jonas Quastel. The film is known under several different titles depending on the date and location of its release, with it being known as Sasquatch for English versions such as the Canadian DVD release (with the French Canadian title being known as Inexplicable) and airings on the SyFy Channel along with being known as Sasquatch: la créature de la forêt in France.[3] It was first released in France in May 2002. It was released on March 11, 2003 in Canada and the United States.[1][2]

The Untold
DVD cover bearing the title used when it ran on the SyFy Channel, Sasquatch
Directed byJonas Quastel
Produced byRob Clark
Craig Denton
Written byJonas Questel
Chris Lanning
StarringLance Henriksen
Andrea Roth
Erica Parker
Russel Ferrier
Phil Granger
Music byLarry Seymour
Tal Bergman
CinematographyShawn Lawless
Edited byGabriel Wrye
Grace Yuen
Distributed byColumbia TriStar
Release date
  • March 11, 2003 (2003-03-11)
(DVD release)[1][2]
Running time
86 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Tara Knowles (a researcher for Bio-Comp) and a small crew are flying over the Canadian wilderness when their plane malfunctions. They survive the crash but encounter a monster that seemingly kills them all. Weeks pass and with official rescue missions called off, Tara’s father, Harlan Knowles, puts together his own crew: his computer engineer Plazz, insurance rep. Marla Lawson, famous survivalist Winston Burg, forensic investigator Nikki Adams, and local mountain man Clayton Tyne. After arriving in the suspected crash zone, they hear loud roars in the forest. On their first night, Marla is attacked in her tent by what Clayton determines was a grizzly bear. The next day, they come across the grizzly and discover it was already mortally wounded, its neck broken with a nearby boulder.

As the sun sets, it starts raining heavily. The group takes refuge in a cave, where Plazz finds cave art. When Nikki tests the “paint”, she discovers that it is blood of some kind and only a few months old. Harlan finds a shell near the cave’s entrance that Tara wore as a necklace and the next day they search the area but don’t find anything else, moving on. After another full day of searching with no results, they set up camp near a natural hot spring. Marla talks with Harlan at the spring away from the others, revealing she knows about the project Tara had been working on and that without the prototype Tara had with her, his company is practically bankrupt. She blackmails him into keeping it quiet from B&B in return for 30 million in Bio-Comp stock. Around the fire, Clayton confronts Burg about the claims he’s made in his survivalist books, having noticed his many flaws as they have been tracking the plane’s last known movements and Burg threatens him.

The following day, the group locates the crash site but finds it empty, save for a piece of the fuselage. Clayton finds evidence of something large being dragged through the forest. They follow the tracks and eventually uncover the wreckage of the plane, hidden under some thick foliage. The only evidence of the crew is a severed arm, still holding on to a pistol. Burg finds “Huxley” nearby, the prototype machine Tara had with her. The machine is able to instantly analyze the genetic history and makeup of any organic material on Earth. Plazz powers on Huxley and finds it was used on some blood shortly after the crash. The machine determined the blood analyzed was from something previously undiscovered and scientific proof of a Sasquatch. That night, Burg gets excessively drunk and he starts randomly shooting into the forest after he hears a noise, narrowly missing others sitting around the fire. He apparently hits a creature in the woods though, which lets out a huge roar although doesn't attack. Harlan fires Burg and makes Clayton their head guide which infuriates Burg. He attacks Clayton but is heavily inebriated and gives up; the others leaving him alone at the campfire. Burg cries out as the Sasquatch grabs him. Harlan reviews tapes found in the fuselage and it is revealed the blood was taken from the outside of the plane, meaning a Sasquatch was likely killed upon the plane's crash landing, angering its mate/relatives and causing it to kill Tara's crew in revenge. Clayton investigates Burg's cry and searches the nearby forest, finding a massive "burrow" in the underbrush with Burg's body stuffed inside and several other decomposing bodies, including Tara's.

As they bury the bodies in shallow graves, the Sasquatch watches them. Marla steals Huxley but a Sasquatch attacks and kills her. The others find her brutalized body and Harlan takes Huxley as they all try to make their escape. Clayton and the others realize the creature's intelligence and try to convince Harlan to leave the machine behind, saying the Sasquatch knows it proves its existence, something it does not want. Harlan splits from the others, unwilling to leave Huxley and the creature starts tracking him. The Sasquatch attacks him, knocking him unconscious. When he comes to, he's laying next to the grave of the Sasquatch's mate, killed by the plane. He and the Sasquatch have a final confrontation and Harlan shoots Huxley and the Sasquatch leaves. The film ends with a title card explaining Clayton, Nikki, and Harlan all denied Plazz’s claims of a Sasquatch encounter upon returning to society, who was deemed psychologically unwell.

Cast
  • Lance Henriksen as Harlan Knowles - President & CEO of Bio-Comp Technologies; searching for his missing daughter a some lost research equipment
  • Andrea Roth as Marla Lawson - of Browning & Burrows Underwriters, NY; funding the search believing it would be cheaper to find the lost equipment than paying the insurance coverage
  • Russel Ferrier as Clayton Tyne - "Mountain man", the search's guide and tracker
  • Philip Granger as Winston Burg - Author of In the Company of Lions and other survivalist books
  • Jeremy Radick as Plazz - Bio-Comp computer engineer
  • Mary Mancini as Nikki Adams - Forensic investigator and crash analyst
  • Taras Kostyuk as Sasquatch
  • Erica Parker as Tara Knowles - Harlan's daughter, goes missing along with the rest of her crew in the Canadian wilderness

Release

The film was released in theaters and on DVD on March 11, 2003. [1] Lionsgate later released the film on DVD[2] on June 4, 2014.[4]

Reception

Critical reception for the film has been mostly negative. Patrick Naugle from DVD Verdict gave the film a negative review calling the film "a paper-thin idea stretched into a feature length film".[5] Scott Weinberg from eFilmCritic.com awarded the film 1 star out of 4 criticizing the film's lack of logic and the absence of the title monster through most of the film.[6] Digital Retribution.com panned the film stating, "Granted, some of the stuff looks cool, but because so much fails, the film just comes off as DESPERATELY trying to be stylized". The site also criticized the director's lack of point and originality.[7] Nearly a decade after the film was released on DVD, it was critiqued in a review by MTV.com in a segment called "Eric's Bad Movies", implying the opinion of the review. Most of the review is an analysis of the film's plot and the actors' performances are criticized in a tongue-in-cheek manner that argues the film is both uninspired and "tediously generic". [8]

References
  1. "Sasquatch AllMovie Page". All Movie. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  2. Sasquatch (DVD) (Motion Picture). Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment. 2003. ISBN 9781404930988. OCLC 51815967. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  3. SASQUATCH; aka, THE UNTOLD. 2003
  4. "Amazon.com: Sasquatch: Lance Henriksen, Andrea Roth, Russell Ferrier, Jeremy Radick, Mary Mancini, Erica Parker, Phil Granger, Shaun Lawless, Jonas Quastel, Craig Denton, Rob Clark, Chris Lanning: Movies & TV". Amazon.com. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  5. Naugle, Paterick. "DVD Verdict Review - Sasquatch". DVD Verdict.com. Patrick Naugle. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  6. Weinberg, Scott. "Movie Review - Sasquatch - eFilmCritic". eFilmCritic.com. Scott Weinberg. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  7. "Sasquatch: The Untold DVD Review | Digital Retribution". Digital Retribution.com. Digital Retribution.com. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  8. Snider, Eric (May 28, 2013). "Eric'S Bad Movies: 'Sasquatch' (2002)". MTV.com. Viacom International Inc. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
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