Fifteen years ago, two teenage girls were murdered at Merrymaker Campgrounds. The case was filed an animal attack, the camp was condemned and the killer never found – but something horrific still waits in those woods.

“Merrymaker Campgrounds” just has the ring of a murder camp… doesn’t it? The name alone has me picturing flirtatious and foolish camp counselors, and maniacs in hockey masks. It seems Merrymaker Camp lives up to the imagery it conjures up – a double murder occurred here 15 years ago, rumored to involve a creature in the woods. The rumors have only continued to grow since, fueled partly by a bestselling novel by Roland Baumgarner (Christian Oliver). Fifteen years can change a lot, and as Baumgarner navigates the realities of being a has-been writer, Merrymaker Camp is getting ready to reopen once again.

Baumgarner appears to be the typical former #1 bestselling author – a perfect house, a wonderful little family of wife Christine (Erin Daniels), daughter Isabelle, and another baby on the way, and just enough frustration and writer’s block to force him into terrible decisions. You see, he’s a professor at the local university, and unfortunately is the type to accept risque photos as “extra credit”. It’s clear Baumgarner is heading down a dark path with student Kara (Jasmine Dustin), who also happens to have nannied for the Baumgarners. Messy, but not nearly as messy as what Baumgarner gets into when he receives a letter from the Merrymaker Camp’s recently deceased owner. As her dying wish, she requests Baumgarner makes an appearance at the grand reopening of the campgrounds, and in spite of Christine’s urgings, he decides to go, alone, to the middle of nowhere, and for some reason also arriving in the middle of the night (get the picture?).

Of course, things are not all they seem at Merrymaker Camp. Older sister Anita (Larisa Oleynik) has taken over business since her mother’s passing. She’s tough, no-nonsense, and wants to wipe clean the slate after years of rumors and stories surrounding the campground. Younger sister Poppy (Christine Donlon) does her best to keep up but seems to be a city girl trapped in a country girl’s life. Shortly after our introduction to the Bishops, they come across an injured woman, Lupita (Whitney Davis). Through her broken English and delusional rambling, they’re able to piece together her story of a “monstro” on the campground. They try their best to brush it off, but unfortunately for them, she caught it all on camera. How much truth is there to the Merrymaker murder story? Is there really such thing as “Bigfoot”? Baumgarner gets himself in a world of trouble when he agrees to stay to find the answer.

This movie starts out as one would expect a “big hairy monster in the woods” movie to start. Lots of running and screaming, lots of blood, and plenty of hysterics. Animal Among Us takes its time getting to any kind of hook or answer, and I for one really appreciated the twist and turns along the way. It would be easy to compare this film to any handful of horror/monster movies, but there is something fresh here, in spite of its myriad flaws.

Animal Among Us struggles with what I’d call a “nearly final draft” of a script. It’s close, but needs one more pass with an editor. Hokey lines and awkward exposition run rampant, and unfortunately for the viewer some of them land so clunkily they actually distract from the intricate story and visuals at play. Overt and over the top sexual themes beat us mercilessly over the head, as each consecutive “attractive” woman is introduced to Baumgarner while sucking on a lollipop. Heavy-handed mask metaphors drive home the idea that the “animal” could be inside any of us. The concepts themselves are intriguing and weave an intricate web, but the way they’re presented leaves something to be desired – unfortunate, because of the story arc and hook brought something new to the big monster movie storyline.

Visually, this film suffers from documentary-style “shaky camera” shooting, which takes away from some of the simple but effective sight gags. That being said, the shooting style changes several times through the course of the film, with seemingly no real rhyme or reason. This gives the viewer a sense of unease which is fitting to the story being told, and serves the occasionally sparse script well. The overall moodiness and mystery of the filming style is an asset, and provides visual intrigue even when the script falls a bit short.

The standout performances in this film for me were that of Daniels and Oleynik. Both actors provided some much-needed subtlety, and held the script and ensemble together. Unfortunately, Animal Among Us suffers from an extreme case of the male gaze, and given that both of these characters are strong women, they are trapped by the standards of being “strong women”: tough, less feminine, less soft. It’s unfortunate, too, to see the opposite in the cases of Donlon and Dustin, both overly made-up, scantily clad, and overtly sexualized in everything from dialogue to wardrobe to camera angles. This leaves the men of this script with little to do but look tough and ogle, which makes for an uninteresting and predictable dynamic. Once we get the gender politics out of the way, we also have to contend with the undercurrent of racism rippling through the dealings with the “Lupita” character, from the way other characters talk down to her to the way she herself speaks. It’s unfortunate to see a modern movie handling these issues so poorly, and for this viewer definitely distracted from the film.

Animal Among Us has all of the potential to be something great, but for this viewer and cryptid-seeker, it falls just short of success. The story (by Jonathan Murphy) is strong, unique, and worth tuning in for, as long as the viewers don’t go into this film expecting a masterpiece. If you’re a big monster movie lover like me, grab your popcorn and strap in for a romp with Bigfoot.