Dir. Stacy Brown Jr. (2022)
The Outkast Paranormal Research Team goes after the Skunk Ape, the Bigfoot-like creature rumored to roam the Florida swamps.
CAUTION: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Documentary filmmaking and creepy reenactments mix together with excellent horror elements in the incredibly well-done docuseries The Skunk Ape Experiments. This is just the first episode (out of three) in what will hopefully be a series, laid out almost like a comic book, and boy is this one crazy as hell. I gotta be honest, after watching so many mockumentaries and found footage films, I spent a good bit of this one’s runtime trying to figure out if this was an actual documentary or a horror movie. The whole thing plays like Duck Dynasty’s cryptid-focused kinfolk, with zero humor and much more frequent monsters. Interspersed with the documentary filmmaking are genuinely scary reenactments of people’s self-proclaimed experiences with the Skunk Ape, Bigfoot’s foul-smelling Florida-Man cousin. The Outkast Paranormal Researchers use hallucinogens, sacrifices, and Aleister Crowley’s chants to try to summon the monster, which is rumored to be a lost relative or tribemember of local Native American tribes. While it is difficult to call their experiments “scientific,” this does all play a bit like a Discovery Channel series with a little bit more magick. It’s interesting to say the least, and definitely worth a look if you can find it. You never really feel, when watching Discovery Channel shows, like they’re ever going to actually find anything. This one is so well-made and believable that you really wonder if they’re going to capture some footage of the mysterious cryptid. I’m not a big believer in the paranormal, but for some reason I’ve always believed in Bigfoot. These guys do too, and their search for the creature is both respectful of the legends and compelling television that is a must-see for documentary and horror fans as well as true believers in the unknown.
