SUMMONING THE SPIRIT

Stars: Krystal Millie Valdes, Ernesto Reyes, Jesse Tayeh, Isabelle Muthiah, Sean Sisson, Robin Magdhalen, Jasmine Sinclair, Lacy Todd, Jimmy Garcia, Bruce Jennings, Alan Burrell, Benta Fitzmorris and Lauren Lopez.
Writers: Zach Carter, Jon Garcia
Director: Jon Garcia

Reviewed at Miami Film Festival, March 6 2023.

Rating: ★ ★ ★

The legend of Bigfoot represents two base fears we have as humans - the threat posed by the alpha creatures with whom we share the planet, and what is left of the natural (or supernatural) world that we are yet to comprehend. And movies that feature The Great American Ape (or any of his/her global equivalents) usually reflect that; horror/thrillers about being stalked and/or attacked while trespassing on their terrain.

Jon Garcia’s Summoning the Spirit does not entirely jettison the elements that have largely defined ‘Sasq-ploitation Cinema’. His feature opens on two a-hole attention-seekers who have their dream of fighting their deliberately-lit forest fire brought to a big, hairy-fisted full-stop; by the end-credit roll, there has been skull-crunching and dismemberment aplenty. But with co-writer Zach Carter, Garcia also explores The Creature as one spiritually tied to not only its woodland surrounds but also a specifically human trait - empathy.

Carla (Krystal Milli Valdes) and Dean (Ernesto Reyes) have made the tree-change and relocated to a quiet country cabin. There, he plans to write and she plans to raise their expectant child. Tragedy strikes and grief lowers Carla’s defences; soon, she finds herself drawn into the world of a local cult-like group of barefoot chanters and hairwavers who claim a bond with the local cryptid - a hairy humanoid called Schwaniti, or ‘stick native’, who spends its waking hours wandering the woods in what appears to be a contemplative state, until its inner ‘drooling monster’ is called upon.

Garcia and Carter play with the group dynamics of the cult to varying degrees of insight. Dean butts heads with charismatic leader Arlo (Jesse Tayeh), while Carla is wooed by the hippy-dippy charms of the optimistic Celeste (a particularly strong Isabelle Muthiah). But the group’s relationship with the Bush Beast remains ‘mystical’ at best, vaguely ill-defined at worst, unlike Joe Dante’s 1981 werewolf classic The Howling, which found satire and scares in aligning new-age group-think with old-school horror tropes.

The narrative finds its surest footing in slow-boiling the bond between Carla, shattered after the loss of her unborn child, and the Sasquatch. The third act plays out with a satisfyingly ambiguous take on the maternal bond that unites woman and beast. The final frames put into perspective the corporeal ties that bind us all as animals, over the conjured fairytales of the cult’s organised and, ultimately, false faith. 

Summoning the Spirit does what it needs to as a creature feature to satiate monster-movie fans, yet also finds an emotional resonance likely to take many viewers here for genre thrills by surprise.