In the midst of the COVD-19 pandemic, intrepid bigfoot explorer, Seth Breedlove, who, along with his “Small Town Monsters” cryptid research crew, has shot and filmed a new documentary named On the Trail of Bigfoot: The Journey, due to be released on streaming platforms June 4th, 2021 – or click here to pre-order the DVD/Blu-ray. In true bigfoot documentary fashion, and as a continuation of their 2019 miniseries On the Trail of Bigfoot (click here for review), On the Trail of Bigfoot: The Journey, gives disturbing anecdotes from witnesses, history from experts on the legend, and commentary from bigfoot enthusiasts.

Filmed around the rugged but serene landscape of the Adirondacks of the northeast U.S., On the Trail of Bigfoot: The Journey is a documentary that goes deep into the wilderness to pick up the trail of this elusive but infamous creature over the course of five tiring days, ending the final 2 days of the expedition at the highest peak in a rarely explored area. Led by documentarian Seth Breedlove, the expedition party also includes his friends – Adam Duggan, Mark Matzke, and Andy Matzke – however, the camera is equally turned towards the guest experts.

Commentators, including fellow filmmaker Alexsander Pelekoff, author/researcher Bruce Hallenback, enthusiast Emily Fleur, and Bill Brann (Beast of Whitehall) offer bigfoot stories as well as background context of the stories’ time periods to color and give life to a creature believed to exist somewhere deep in America’s desolate wilds. The film briefly touches on Native American origins of the legend, as well as nicknames that have been attributed to what we now know as “bigfoot”. On the Trail of Bigfoot: The Journey does distinguish itself from other sasquatch-focused documentaries by exploring the northeast of the U.S. rather than the Pacific Northwest area that is typically thought to be the home of bigfoot.

Despite the exploration sequences of the documentary not turning up any sightings, there was one particularly harrowing night where the film crew hatches a plan to purposefully elicit a response from a bigfoot, so the film does have blips of anticipation for something to possibly happen. In my opinion, overall, the presentation of On the Trail of Bigfoot: The Journey is borderline cheesy compared to their past projects, with action music occasionally playing in the background to increase the feeling of adventure, whereas this documentary could have done without it since the searches were not turning up any findings.

“Old slipperyskett”, “wendigo”, “wild man” — no matter the nickname, all roads lead to bigfoot. Throughout all of human history, there have always been monsters, but arguably, bigfoot has been at the forefront of fearful minds of the U.S.; documentaries like On the Trail of Bigfoot: The Journey are important for this reason, as they offer further information and context for this cultural creature. On the Trail of Bigfoot: The Journey feels a little cheesy at times with music and questionable commentator choices, however, I feel I did learn just a little bit more about bigfoot, and thanks to beautiful drone shots and Breedlove’s passionate voiceovers describing the Adirondacks, On the Trail of Bigfoot: The Journey feels nearly as much a nature documentary as it is a bigfoot documentary.

6.5 out of 10