By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)
Release Date:
November 10th
Uncork’d Entertainment
Halloween isn’t over yet. Some turn that casual interest in the unknown into a lifetime career. Darcy Weir, an independent documentary filmmaker, is the supernatural explorer who prefers to chase after cryptids than the spooky. Though he grew up in a relatively normal environment, his parents always encouraged him to pursue his interests. Part of it included acting, taking part in local theatre and also working on television. He says Walter Murch is an immense influence, and it shows in the self-made DIY documentaries he made. They have a very story-driven approach. Instead of working in Hollywood, he’s producing his own ventures.
Sasquatch and the Wildman is certainly informational. Two years went into the making of this documentary, and the fact it goes to other parts of the world not as well known to explore the myths, taboos and sightings is terrific. We still have the Pacific Northwest connection, but there’s more to it than simply visiting Cougar, Washington who turned interest with this beast into a tourist type thing. Less is said about this cryptids influence in local culture and it reveals more about its purpose on this planet.
Weir would love to visit every place this creature has been spotted, but working through the red tape is difficult. Not everyone is aware of this talent. Unlike what television offers with creating that name brand recognition, he’s at least known within the community. Some followers of occult programming may recall Beyond the Spectrum, a six-part investigative series (available on demand), and Weir’s advice is to see these episodes first before the rest: “Being Taken,” “The Humanoids,” and “Maussan’s UFO Files.”
“I actually try to incorporate science and facts into all of my documentaries–things that are testable and repeatable. Besides the fact that hundreds of thousands of people globally have told tales of seeing something that can’t be explained as a traditional known human aircraft or simply an ape looking man wearing a fur suit in the woods, I think science–instead of pseudoscience–has a better term for these things. Those names are Cryptids and Unidentified Flying Objects were recently redefined by the United States Defence department UAPs,” said Weir.
“I started pursuing these real life stories because sometimes fact is stranger than fiction and more entertaining too. Sometimes monsters and magic come alive, or what we would perceive those things to be at first glance on the silver screen in a fictional tale. I find the real stories that come from the fringes of our cultures around the world more intriguing than a story about somebody who drives a car really fast. If that makes sense to you, let’s be friends.”
More questions had to be asked, though:
For people who are really serious in this subject, what resources would you say are best?
Anthropologist Dr. Jeffery Meldrum wrote Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science
What made you focus on the Russian and Chinese version of the Sasquatch?
I thought putting some focus on China and Russia would be of service to the theory of Sasquatch having relatives in that part of the world. Russians call their Sasquatch a Yeti, which we all know is famously from the Himalayas too, but the Russian Yeti would resemble a massive 8-10 foot tall Sasquatch like creature, and the Himalayan one would be reported to be much shorter than that. Furthermore, the Russians have the Almas or Almasty which would resemble more of a stalky possibly still existing Neanderthal type being that would sometimes be seen traipsing around the wilderness of Russian mountain forests.
Was there any red tape you had to deal with?
Well, wrangling some folks to be interviewed for my documentaries is always a challenge. First they have to get used to this guy they don’t know at all–or trust for that matter–and then they have to get over being camera shy and convincingly present their story. My red tape was more so going back and forth with the folks I interviewed to get their approval of the story I was trying to present.
Did you have any unexplained/scary moments during shooting?
Not really no. Back in 2015 I was shooting my first Sasquatch related documentary and I went out into a dense forested area looking for Sasquatch with some researchers from Canada. I had a close call with my leg and some mosquitoes, but never saw a Sasquatch myself. But, because of the lengthy history from that part of the world from people who have had encounters, I believe they exist.
What’s your opinion in why this solitary giant prefers to remain? You’d think by now with all the various fancy tech people can use or rent out (i.e. use Satellite tracking), that we can get closer…
Well, “seek and ye shall find.” Maybe not with a satellite though haha. You’d have to account for all kinds of foliage cover and massive zoom distortion in satellite images of our forest floor. But drones have been used on expeditions, wildlife trail cams too and I was at a conference filming this documentary in 2019. What I saw video recorded on night vision, heat sensitive and flir cameras could be described as Sasquatches. Yes, plural. And no solitary giant is not the right way to approach this theory. The very name Bigfoot or Sasquatch sounds solitary but it’s a name to describe a tribe of a species of cryptids said to exist in the wild.
Dr. Meldrum hypothesizes that for any healthy black bear population of 500, the same wildlife niche could support a possible 8 of these beings in the wilderness. Anyways, all forms of camera technology, even bird nest cams have caught what looks like upright apes moving through the forest. You just have to look for it mate!
What would you do if you ran into one?
Run the opposite direction and scream so someone knew where I was. Something like that.
What do you have planned next?
I’m not really interested in the ghost phenomena. Chock that up to seeing something you didn’t quite understand and letting your fears believe in some corporeal out of body entity haunting an abandoned building as less possible to exist.
I stick to cryptids and the question of are we alone in the universe. There’ll be three new films in 2021, coming January and March.
Any parting words?
Wear a mask, wash your hands, avoid large crowds, be good to your mind, your body and the ones you love.
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