In a world full of low-budget Bigfoot movies, Sasquatch Hunters stands pretty tall among its peers. Some may complain about the special effects (a combination of CGI and costumes), but I thought they were pretty good. More importantly, the acting is excellent and the script is quite good -- and surprisingly serious.

OK, the main character's background is mentioned but never explored, but there's very little cheesy dialogue and the characters continually react in believable ways to the frightening situations they find themselves in. Also, unlike most Bigfoot movies, the story doesn't cram the whole Bigfoot thing down your throat. Heck, three-fourths of the way through, the characters are still trying to figure out just what they're up against. I only remember hearing the word Bigfoot once, and the film's original title was Primeval rather than Sasquatch Hunters. Of course, the latter title really poses the question as to just who is hunting whom here.

Apparently, it takes five rangers to escort three scientists deep into the woods in search of unusual bones or fossils. The discovery of an unidentifiable, gorilla-like bone matching a decades-old sample in museum archives sends paleontologist Helen Gilbert (Amy Shelton-White), anthropologist Ethan Edwards (Gary Sturm) and a student photographer on a quest to find more evidence of the mysterious creature. Former ranger Roger Gordon (Matt Lattimore) joins his old boss and three young rangers on the mission.

After a couple of days hiking, the group arrives at the investigation area, where they find a burial mound stocked with unusual big bones -- possibly an undiscovered relative of Gigantopithecus, according to the anthropologist. Unfortunately, something in the woods also discovers the party of humans -- something big, dark, hairy, loud and seriously pissed off. The excitement of the scientific discovery soon turns to fear as these intelligent creatures begin to make their displeasure crystal clear.

The film is almost completely free of campiness, which is why the story plays so well. I genuinely liked the characters and did not want to see any of them harmed. There's some harmless flirting early on, but there's no nudity or sexual overtones to distract from the story. There's not much in the way of gore, either -- although a poacher does meet his end in a rather enjoyable way at the very beginning. Most of the real action takes place at night. The lighting is well done, allowing you to actually see what is going on while still preserving a strong "we're being hunted and picked off one by one by Bigfoot in the middle of the woods at night" feel throughout.

I also liked the fact that no one really comes out and says "it's Bigfoot." The whole subject matter is treated here with a level of seriousness you won't find in most films of this genre. This really is one of the best low-budget Bigfoot movies I've seen.