OUR TRIP TO BERRIBROOK (2022)

Streaming on Tubi!
Directed and written by Frank Maljevac.
Check out the trailer here!!

A trio of American Youtubers go for a hike through the Australian Alps in search of a Bigfoot-like cryptid called the Beast of Berribrook. They brought their cameras, some supplies and their wits and hope to be able to survive the experience. But when they go missing, only the footage they took was found.

Well, OUR TRIP TO BERRIBROOK starts out with promise. The three Youtubers have witty senses of humor. They’re young and likable. And actually seem like they are acting naturally in front of the camera. Their decisions are somewhat not dumb. They just end up getting lost in the woods and have normal reactions to this, except for the fact that they continue to record.

One of the things that begins rather entertainingly, but gets old fast are the edits made to the footage including sound bytes and rudimentary animation. Though this footage was supposedly found, somehow, they were able to edit it with dance horns (do the horn sound) and other weird sounds. Think about that for a minute. These guys definitely were not able to add any of these embellishments to the video because they quickly go from being on a planned trip to one filled with despair and fear. Now, either the group edited in the funny sounds later in the day for some stupid reason OR some morbid editor found the footage, where it is obvious these three people perished, and on a lark, edited in wonky sounds. Neither of these reasons make sense and in found footage, the number one job is to make the video feel as real as possible. The more hands on the footage, the less authentic it feels and if you don’t have authenticity in your found footage film, you don’t have a good found footage film.

Now, on top of that, OUR TRIP TO BERRIBROOK commits the worst crime one can think of in a found footage monster flick. It never shows the monster. The only thing it shows are drops of foamy drool that plop down on each victim before the camera is dropped at a jaunty angle. This scene is repeated not once, not twice, but three times throughout OUR TRIP TO BERRIBROOK. Once would have been effective enough, but if the credits roll and all you have is drool, I don’t know about you, but I was disappointed. There are a few scenes of movement in the background, but for the most part, no Sasquatch or Bigfoot or whatever they want to call the elusive and hairy creature wandering around in Australia.

I’m sadly going to have to give OUR TRIP TO BERRIBROOK Four simple toes. And that’s being nice.

Though the cast was likable at first, the obnoxious editing and failure to go to the trouble to even trying to make a monster costume, killed any good graces this had for me. If you don’t even have the budget to deliver a Bigfoot in your movie, Don’t Make a Bigfoot Movie.