HUNT FOR THE SKINWALKER (2018)

5/19/19 - Hunt for the Skinwalker (2018) - 3+/4-/10

Despite such interesting paranormal possibilities, with a subject I am very fascinated by and have read much about, I am disappointingly forced to keep hunting. The filmmaker does so little with the topic and the materials, leaving me unfulfilled and somewhat bored while watching. I wasn’t expecting a succinct explanation or exposing revelation, but I had hoped for intrigue or excitement. Sadly, like the evidence at the ranch, we are left with a mysterious ‘what could be”, full of vacant tapes and tragic ambivalence.

Documentaries can live or die by many factors, but they tend to be a tighter ship than dramatic fiction. They aren’t easier to make, but with the right tools available, they feel more difficult to bungle. HFTS managed it thought. I could not stand the editing here. Generic constant cuts between immobile cameras, just for some fake dynamism. I also couldn’t stand the incessant use of dropping video, keeping audio and writing the bland dialogue over the black frame. Perhaps the worst sin on display here is the time wasting. Restating the same information without bringing anything of value, like the poor student BSing to pad a paper length. So unnecessary and draining, while providing an easy way for me to stop caring.

Sure Corbell has access to a possible treasure trove of footage, interviews and information , but he usually just rolled Knapp footage from the 90s. No sprucing it up or having a dialogue with the 30 year old videos; it mostly felt like a found footage regurgitation. Also, many of the accounts documented were the same stories covered in the book. Sure, some compelling tales, but give us much more. Isn’t that what we are watching for?

Robbie Williams is in it? Wtf? Huh?

“Gonna be a game changer” “Change the game.” Blah blah blah. This was said again and again in the documentary and yet, I don’t feel like anything is different. Stop hyping it up so much and it might be less disappointing when it amounts to zilch. It didn’t connect the dots it thought about, it didn’t blow the lid off of anything, and it certainly didn’t alter any contest. Despite how engaging Corbell is as a personality, with his access, his energy and natural charisma, none of that came through in the film. A fruitless hunt of mythical proportions.