Cry Wilderness
Cry Wilderness is a 1987 family adventure film directed by Jay Schlossberg-Cohen.
Cry Wilderness | |
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Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Jay Schlossberg-Cohen |
Produced by | Jay Schlossberg-Cohen |
Written by | Jay Schlossberg-Cohen Philip Yordan |
Starring | Eric Foster Maurice Grandmaison John Tallman |
Music by | Fritz Heede |
Cinematography | Joseph D. Urbanczyk |
Production company | Visto International Inc. |
Distributed by | Visto International Inc. |
Release date |
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Running time | 93 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Plot
Bigfoot (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]
Production
Cry 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 Mono Lake in Mono County, California and Devils Postpile National Monument in Madera County, California.[4]
Reception
The 1988 edition of The Motion Picture Guide gave the film zero stars, describing it as "an inane and poorly made feature", criticizing its acting [5] while Eric Harwood for Variety called it one of the worst movies ever made.[6]
Home media
The film was re-released on DVD in 2014 by Vinegar Syndrome alongside the 1970s documentary film In Search of Bigfoot.[7][8]
Mystery Science Theater 3000
In 2017, the film was the subject of parody by Mystery Science Theater 3000, as the second episode of Season 11.[9][10]
See also
- List of American films of 1987
- List of films considered the worst
- Coca-Cola-featured prominently in the film
References
Citations
- American Genre Film Archive
- TV Guide
- McGilligan 1991, pp. 330–370.
- "Economic Development, Tourism and Film Commission". Mono County. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
- Nash 1988, p. 56.
- Harwood, Eric (March 21, 1987). "Cry Wilderness". Variety. Vol. 326. Penske Media. p. 20.
- 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.
- IN SEARCH OF BIGFOOT + CRY WILDERNESS (VINEGAR SYNDROME PROMO TRAILER) by Vinegar Syndrome on YouTube
- Jim Vorel (April 14, 2017). "MST3K Review: Cry Wilderness Shows the New MST3K in Bloom". Paste. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
- MST3K: Cry Wilderness - Why We Love It (HD) by MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 (official channel) on YouTube
Bibliography
- McGilligan, Patrick (1991). Backstory 2 : interviews with screenwriters of the 1940s and 1950s. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-07169-7.
- Nash, Jay Robert; Ross, Stanley Ralph (1988). The Motion Picture Guide: 1988 Annual. Cinebooks. ISBN 0-933997-16-7.