Search for the Beast

Search for the Beast is a 1997 American horror film directed by R.G. Arledge and starring Rick Montana as Dr. David Stone, a scientist searching for a giant man-beast said to inhabit the Okaloosa wilderness. The film is considered by many to be to one of the worst films ever made. Years before Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino decided to create an homage to 1970s drive in movies (Grindhouse), Rick Montana and David F. Friedman created Search for the Beast. It was their attempt to create a 1970s drive in movie in the late-1990s. David F. Friedman was a famous exploitation film maker who gave us drive in classics like Blood Feast, 2000 Maniacs, and Color Me Blood Red. As an homage to exploitation movies in general and specifically drive in movies it was dead on. No one has ever seen it as intended by these two in the Director's cut. Each distributor who sold it degraded the sound and image and edited to their liking to make it appear more 16mm like and more drive in movie like (lower quality). The Director's cut is pristine digital video with sharp, clear sound. If you judge the picture by the standards of today's movies filled with digital special effects and production budgets in the millions it is obvious that it is low budget and does not compare with them. If you judge it as an exploitation picture, faithful to its roots in every way, it is a stunning success. Implied sex scenes and bad acting are requirements for exploitation movies. That and the subject matter - a bigfoot like creature - are what makes it exploitation.