HOAX / CERT: TV-MA (USA) / DIRECTOR: MATT ALLEN / SCREENPLAY: MATT ALLEN, SCOTT PARK / STARRING: BRIAN THOMPSON, ADRIENNE BARBEAU, BEN BROWDER / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
Somewhere in an alternate reality, Farscape’s Ben Browder is heading up a major sci-fi movie franchise as a grizzled old space veteran, knocking out aliens and swaggering his way through the galaxy. Alas, in this timeline, he seems destined to the odd walk-on part and the starring role in bargain basement features.
Hoax is one such clunker. Ben Browder plays Rick Paxton, a washed-up TV producer who has a reputation for screwing up and making disastrous mistakes. His last chance at keeping his job (and restoring his reputation) is to go on a sasquatch hunt at the site of a notorious tourist blackspot, a place where a bunch of teenagers have previously gone missing. It’s the sort of movie where the viewer has a pretty good idea of what’s happened to the teens, as the opening scene features young adults, booze, pre-marital sex and gruesome murder. Alas, this is about as interesting as it gets.
We get a blink and you’ll miss it cameo from venerable scream queen Adrienne Barbeau, and then the plot swiftly moves to Browder leading a band of jolly clichés into the woods to look for bigfoot. We have a nerd, a vet, a starlet, a disposable film crew and, of course, a hard as nails hunter/bodyguard type played by B-movie tough guy Brian Thompson. A run of bad luck and general incompetence leads the party to becoming stranded in the woods with what appears to be a murderous monster.
This should be a fun and simple movie. A bit of whining from the cast, a spot of murder, some shots of the beautiful film location, some more light murder and then a hilarious twist. Instead, it’s painful to watch a team of good actors struggle through dull dialogue and boring drama. To much time is wasted establishing a slim backstory rather than building on the characters. Hoax simply doesn’t know if it’s a dumb monster/slasher movie or a drama. Which means it fails to be either.
Every plot twist is so obvious that they can probably be seen from space. The biggest trick that Hoax plays on the viewer is that there are no new ideas here. An ‘is it or isn’t it’ monster movie should be a slam dunk, even as a low-budget gore flick, but here we just have lots of idiots shouting in the forest with the occasional bit of blood.
Hoax promises to be a clever monster movie that keeps the viewer guessing. Alas, the real hoax is on us.
