Bunyan: The Legend as Monster

Sometimes it’s fun to re-imagine legendary heroes as bad guys and monsters. I recently did it myself, in a sci-fi horror story about the Assyrian hero Gilgamesh. Sometimes even superheroes become embittered and darken up their act. Superman did it in Superman III and Superman: Doomsday (sort of), and Spiderman in Spiderman 3.

Bunyan (US-2010; dir. Gary Jones) is a dark, contemporary take on the legend of lumberjack Paul Bunyan, who, among other things, was said to have dug the Grand Canyon as he lumbered along, dragging his axe behind him. He had a gigantic blue ox named Babe as a companion, and Bunyan excavated the Great Lakes because he needed a watering-hole large enough to satisfy the monstrous beast. He also created Mount Hood when he piled rocks on his campfire to put it out.

Here he is taking a breather in Akeley, Minnesota:

Bunyan the film sees things a bit differently.

Synopsis:

Kids at a first time offender’s boot camp in Minnesota discover that the legend of Paul Bunyan is real, but much more horrifying than they could have imagined. They incur the wrath of the 15-foot monstrous giant, who was banished from town 100 years ago and thought dead.

I wonder if he’ll have a blue ox?

Director Gary Jones has had experience wrangling ghosts and big monsters, having directed Boogeyman 3 (for Ghost House), as well as Mosquito, Spiders and Crocodile 2. Robert Kurtzman’s Creature Corps is handling the bulk of the FX work, with some additional stuff by Acme Effects, James Ojala, and Michael Kallio. The giant Bunyan will be, in the words of the director, “a real person in makeup, composited into scenes, not a CGI monster”.

Either way, it should be big!

Cast:

The movie stars genre vet Joe Estevez (as Meeks, above) and Tom Downey (as Sgt. Hoke, below).

Co-stars Tim Lovelace (Tanner), Amber Connor, Kristina Kopf and Cliff Williams face the monster lumberjack:

Here, Jesse Kove (as Zack) is in the foreground, with Kristina Kopf, Amber Connor and Cliff Williams keeping their distance.

Amber Connor as CB:

Jill Evyn as Trish:

Cliff Williams (Marty) and Victoria Ramos (Rosa):

Kristina Kopf as Ms K:

• Sources: Press release; Producer Jeff Miller; Official website.
• Written by Robert Hood  |  Sourced by Avery Guerra