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Cry Wilderness is a 1987 family adventure film directed by Jay Schlossberg-Cohen.
| Cry Wilderness | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Jay Schlossberg-Cohen |
| Written by | Jay Schlossberg-Cohen Philip Yordan |
| Produced by | Jay Schlossberg-Cohen |
| Starring | Eric Foster Maurice Grandmaison John Tallman |
| Cinematography | Joseph D. Urbanczyk |
| Music by | Fritz Heede |
Production company | Visto International Inc. |
| Distributed by | Visto International Inc. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 93 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Premise
editBigfoot (running away from those trying to kill him) befriends a young Californian boy named Paul whose park ranger father is tracking an escaped tiger.[1][2]
Cast
edit- Eric Foster as Paul Cooper
- Maurice Grandmaison as Will Cooper
- Griffin Casey as Morgan
- John Tallman as Jim
- Faith Clift as Dr. Helen Foster
Production
editCry Wilderness was written by Philip Yordan with an estimated 100 writing credits in film since the 1940s, including 1945's Dillinger, the 1955 film noir classic The Big Combo, the 1962 film adaptation of The Day of the Triffids, and the 1964 Anthony Mann epic The Fall of the Roman Empire. In 1986, Yordan was hired by production company Visto International to make a Bigfoot movie, with the company having previously made a Sasquatch movie in 1978 that made a $4 million profit on a $150,000 budget. Writing the script became difficult for Yordan as he was told to cut out horror scenes and be restricted from adding any violence, profanity, or sex. These restrictions resulted in the script writer telling the distributor he would be writing a movie about nothing, to which the distributor acknowledged that is what they wanted.[3]
Location shooting occurred at Balboa Park in San Diego, Mono Lake in Mono County, California and Devils Postpile National Monument in Madera County, California.[4] The museum scene in the film was shot in the Children's Museum of Utah.[5]
Reception
editThe 1988 edition of The Motion Picture Guide gave the film zero stars, describing it as "an inane and poorly made feature", criticizing its acting [6] while Eric Harwood for Variety called it one of the worst movies ever made.[7] Dave DeNaui for The Bellingham Herald panned the film for its acting, story and dialogue, declaring the film to be "the worst film in five decades".[8]
Home media
editThe film was re-released on DVD in 2014 by Vinegar Syndrome alongside the 1970s documentary film In Search of Bigfoot.[9]
Mystery Science Theater 3000
editIn 2017, the film was the subject of parody by Mystery Science Theater 3000, as the second episode of Season Eleven.[10] Emily St. James for Vox considered the movie to be "so preposterous" it didn't need to be riffed.[11] Paste's Jim Vorel, on the other hand, ranked it as the second best episode of season eleven, behind Wizards of the Lost Kingdom.[12]
See also
edit- Harry and the Hendersons
- List of films considered the worst
- Coca-Cola - featured prominently in the film
References
editCitations
edit- ^ American Genre Film Archive
- ^ TV Guide
- ^ McGilligan 1991, pp. 330–370.
- ^ "Economic Development, Tourism and Film Commission". Mono County. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
- ^ "A Baby and the Beast". The Salt Lake Tribune. April 22, 1987. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Nash & Ross 1988, p. 56.
- ^ Harwood, Eric (March 21, 1987). "Cry Wilderness". Variety. Vol. 326. Penske Media. p. 20.
- ^ DeNaui, Dave (March 4, 1987). "Worst film in five decades comes to Bellingham movie screens". The Bellingham Herald. p. 3C – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Rob Hunter (August 12, 2014). "'Locke,' 'Breathe In' and 'Cry Wilderness' Are Among the Best New Blu-ray/DVD Releases of the Week". FilmSchoolRejects.com. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
- ^ Jim Vorel (April 14, 2017). "MST3K Review: Cry Wilderness Shows the New MST3K in Bloom". Paste. Archived from the original on April 17, 2017. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
- ^ Emily St. James (April 14, 2017). "Mystery Science Theater 3000 is the same as always in its new season. That's a good thing". Vox. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
- ^ Jim Vorel (May 24, 2017). "Ranking all 14 New MST3K Episodes on Netflix". Paste. Retrieved October 1, 2022.