The Bigfoot Film Controversy [Paperback]

Roger Patterson (Author), Christopher L. Murphy (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0888395817 | ISBN-13: 978-0888395818 | Publication Date: April 2005

In October 1967, Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin filmed a Bigfoot creature at Bluff Creek, California. The full story of the filming, its aftermath and authoritative conclusions on the creature filmed are provided in this updated edition of Patterson's original 1966 book 'Do Abominable Snowmen of America Really Exist?'.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Roger Patterson and Christopher Murphy

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Hancock House Pub Ltd (April 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0888395817
• ISBN-13: 978-0888395818
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,376,736 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Patterson revisited, September 8, 2005

By 

R. Howell "boriskhan" (Medford, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bigfoot Film Controversy (Paperback)

Here we have Chris Murphy stepping in to the bigfoot limelight again. This book is divided into two parts. The first 2/3 of the book is a reprint of Roger Patterson's "Do Abominable Snowmen of America Really Exist?". The deceased Patterson's book is a collection of newspaper and magazine stories with his thoughts interjected in them. The clippings tend to get redundant, often copying each other and there are multiple articles from Ivan Sanderson used therein. Patterson was also able to show off his own art skills with a multitude of his own interpretive drawings based on witness testimony along with hand drawn maps of areas, all are well done.

The last 1/3 of the book can be broken in half also. The first being a reprint of a number of 'authorities' giving their views on whether the P-G Bigfoot film is real or a hoax (coincidentally all in favor). The second part of this section is Murphy's rebuttal to Greg Long's book "The Making of Bigfoot" claiming Bob Heironimus was 'the man in the suit'. Murphy gives brief counter-arguments to many of Long's 'evidence of hoaxing', many of which have been discussed in reviews of Long's book on Amazon.com. Interesting that Long refused permission for Murphy to reprint an 'evidence picture' of Bob Heironimus doing the bigfoot walk and also Phillip Morris (claims to have sold Patterson one of his movie gorilla suits) refused to let Murphy print any pictures of one of his gorilla suits which Morris claims he can identify in the P-G footage.

All in all, this is a good book because you get Patterson's book which was first printed before he even shot the P-G bigfoot film. The affirming letters from 'experts' are collected into one stockpile and Murphy's counter-arguments are well done albeit brief in content.

The only problem I have with this book and Murphy's other book "Meet the Sasquatch" is that in 1999, Chris Murphy and Cliff Crook were doing the same 'debunking' of the film claiming to have found a "bell shaped object" resembling a zipper dangling from the waist in blown-up stills from the film (google it, you'll see). Murphy seems to be firm in his resolve on the bigfoot issue now but a meer six years ago he was disclaiming it? Is this a matter of just easily cashing in on a popular subject matter or is he truly a believer? Tough for me to decide but you be the judge for yourself.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For anyone looking to investigate the legend, June 26, 2005

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bigfoot Film Controversy (Paperback)

The Bigfoot Film Controversy presents the complete text of Roger Patterson's landmark book "Do Abominable Snowmen of America Really Exist?" along with a paragraph of historical corrections, and a supplementary update on the famous Patterson/Gimlin Bigfoot film. Black-and-white as well as some color photographs enhance the text, and a general index allows for quick and easy reference. Patterson's original book describes native american legends as well as details of various individual sightings and even a horrifying Bigfoot story attributed to Theodore Roosevelt. The supplement discussing Patterson's film includes enlarged color images and testimonies from a biomechanics expert, a forensic examiner, and anthropologist, discussion of questions raised (including issues concerning the anatomy of the creature the whether or not the film featured an actor in a costume) and more. An excellent resource for anyone looking to investigate the legend of Bigfoot, whether one is a skeptic, a believer, or simply an inquistive-minded individual at heart.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy it for Patterson, skip Murphy, June 10, 2009

By 

Bobandy "Mr. Lahey's Pool Boy" (Sunnyvale Trailer Park) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bigfoot Film Controversy (Paperback)

This book is really just a republished version of Roger Patterson's hard-to-find original "Do Abominable Snowmen of North America Really Exist?" As such, it's incredibly valuable as a window into how Patterson viewed Bigfoot. Patterson was a talented artist and had the excellent idea to illustrate several famous legendary encounters with supposed Bigfeet. Ironically, his propensity for artistic recreations offers insight into how he went about hoaxing his famous film the year after this book was published (and selling very poorly).

Never the less, the Patterson portion of this book is classic. He viewed Bigfoot as an "aboriginal giant" and as being much more human than later authors would believe. In this way, his views were more reflective of the Native American's ideas of the beings. Later authors tried to make Bigfoot a bipedal ape, but here is a chance to see how the original interpretation of Bigfoot as a primordial man led to Patterson's film depicting a very human as opposed to ape-like being. Excellent stuff for those interested in this aspect of the Bigfoot legend.

As for Murphy's portion...well...Chris Murphy has no training of any relevence at all, being as he worked for a phone company and was a stamp collector. In essence, he latched onto Bigfoot in the '90s as a way to make a quick buck by "helping" Rene Dahinden sell replicas of his casts. Later he tried to make a name for himself by "proving" Patterson's film was a guy in a suit. Now he's done a 180 and has become a Bigfoot promoter, attending conferences, publishing quickly slapped-together scrapbooks, and in general trying to grab as much attention and cash as he can while it lasts. His observations on the film are essentially useless and serve only to highlight how a guy with no expertise at all can use smoke, mirrors, and few anatomical terms to try to pull one over on anyone who'd pay him a moment's notice.

Buy the book for Patterson, and skip the Murphy.