THE LEGEND OF SIX FINGERS

A regional TV news reporter tells us of a search that's been instigated to find missing student filmmakers Neil (Andrew Elias) and Andrew (director Sam Qualiana). They were last seen in the rural Royalton area of New York: a place where others have also gone astray of late.

We then travel back to a few days earlier, where we meet nerdish Neil addressing Andrew's handheld camera as they prepare to embark on a mission to film interviews with Royalton locals. Their concern is a spate of domestic animal killings that have plagued the suburb in recent weeks.

They speak to downbeat housewife Melissa (Debbie Rochon) who tells of how her family dog was savaged by an unseen creature. Probably a coyote, one would think? And backwoods local Bryce (Daniel Arrasjid) offers a tour of the pens from which his chickens were torn.

All of which is a little boring for wise guy Andrew. As he explains to one of his drinking buddies who comes along for the ride one afternoon, he's agreed to be a part of the project because he and Neil have been pals since kindergarten.

Neil, meanwhile, is excitable about virtually every minute of detail filmed. His bookish awkwardness is unwavering, but his commitment is such that distractions such as beer and scantily clad lady friends don't pull Andrew away from his cameraman duties.

Then the pair meet an aging gardener who suggests something more sinister is responsible for the animal slaughters. His claims of a man-sized beast a la Bigfoot let loose in the area are initially met with subtle scorn, until his wife Ester (Lynn Lowry) invites the student filmmakers into her kitchen and elaborates.

Suddenly the boys have a new angle for their wannabe documentary: the legend of Six Fingers, a fabled Native American monster originally known as "Ya-yahk osnuhsa?" said to roam the nearby woods and so called because of the three clawed digits it possesses on each hand.

Neil and the ever-sceptical Andrew vow to stick around and determine whether this beast truly exists.

... And I thought this was going to be about Claire Tonkinson, a girl I went to school with. I seem to recall there was a legend about her that involved "six fingers"...

Alas, no.

Does the world need another "found footage" horror film? Not one bit. But the promise of a creature "not unlike Bigfoot" (per the DVD back cover blurb) raised my spirits going into this.

Director Qualiana wisely lets his story build, focusing on the main characters during the first half while slowly mounting a sense of mystery. He keeps the monster unseen, ambiguous, all the while. The only drawback of this is that some may find the film to be plodding as a consequence, with only the final 30 minutes or so of this 75-minute venture offering anything approaching the thrills normally promised from such fare.

Per the disc's audio commentary track, SIX FINGERS was made for $6,000.00. I suspect most of the budget went towards the hiring of Lowry and Rochon. Despite that, the HD digital cameras offer bright and sharp images, allowing a clarity seldom seen in this micro-budgeted sub-genre. The biggest betrayal of the minimal resources at hand is the man-in-a-monster-suit creature. Although for what it is, it's a curiously endearing effort - in a (James C Wasson's) NIGHT OF THE DEMON kind of way.

Performances are actually pretty good. Elias didn't convince me initially, until I realised he really did remind me of someone I work with - both physically and characteristically. Also, he comes across as just as nervous and awkward on the commentary track. So, he perhaps wasn't as broad as I first dismissed his performance as being. Rochon and Lowry are veterans of the genre and lend the film gravitas without breaking into a sweat. If anything, both are underused.

Qualiana's screenplay tries to bolster things along in the quieter passages with one-liners. This is the film's weakest link: often, the dialogue runs the risk of undermining the otherwise fine acting.

Then there's the "found footage" approach itself. It's a tired convention in 2014, and SIX FINGERS does little to add anything new to a template established by (and endlessly raped since) THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT some 17 years earlier. Whenever the film does break from the first-person documentary style, it's more by accident than design.

Still, there is fun to be had once the monster finally arrives and there's enough naive charm about this film to qualify it as being worth a watch.

Bloody Earth Films present THE LEGEND OF SIX FINGERS uncut on a region-free DVD.

The film looks very good most of the time. We get a vividly colourful, bright and pin-sharp 16x9 presentation. Occasionally day scenes look a little blown out while minor digital noise was evident during a couple of darker moments.

English 2.0 audio is similarly clean and satisfactory.

The disc opens to a static main menu page. There is no scene selection menu but you can zip through the film using your remote control handset if you wish, by way of 16 chapters.

Extras are launched by an entertaining commentary track from Qualiana, Elias and producer Greg Lamberson. Elias is just as geeky on this track as he is in the film, often recounting how nervous he got around other actors. The trio point out nods to their previous film SNOW SHARK as the film plays out, and have plenty of anecdotes about budget, rehearsals, working with "stars", location and much more.

A snappily edited 16-minute Behind The Scenes featurette proffers an enjoyable mix of on-location footage and clips from the finished product. There's a true sense of camaraderie on the shoot which leaves a warm feeling in the stomach.

5 minutes of outtakes are of the usual variety. If you like this kind of thing, fair enough.

Next we get an early short film from Qualiana entitled THE HUNTING. It's very cheaply produced but has an agreeable grindhouse-style presentation about it. This is less polished but gorier than SIX FINGERS, and nods towards the likes of DELIVERANCE. It comes with an introduction from Qualiana who reveals it was shot in 1 day - which isn't surprising. I enjoyed it though.

Finally, we get a preview for SIX FINGERS along with trailers for a clutch of other films available from Bloody Earth Films: COME AND GET ME, GROUND ZERO, INTERPLANETARY and ZOMBIE EXS.

THE LEGEND OF SIX FINGERS is undemanding fun, entertaining despite being cheaply produced and derivative of better films. It could've done with more originality and a greater body count, but it's still enjoyable. It's represented well on Bloody Earth Films' DVD.

Review by Stuart Willis