I'd recorded this film from television so many times in the last couple of years, but I had to keep deleting it to make room on my YouView box for other things, but I was relieved when I finally got to watching it, being from the year I was born. Basically, George Henderson (John Lithgow) and his family, wife Nancy (Melinda Dillon), teenage daughter Sarah (Margaret Langrick) and young son Ernie (Joshua Rudoy), are driving home to Seattle following a camping trip in the nearby Cascade mountains. During the journey through the woods, their station wagon hits a large creature, a Sasquatch, better known as Bigfoot (Predator's Kevin Peter Hall). Believing it to be dead and the key to fame and fortune, the family straps the creature to the roof of their car. Jacques Lafleur (David Suchet), a lone hunter tracking the creature, finds the Hendersons' damaged license plate. That night, George goes to the garage to examine the Bigfoot and discovers it is alive and has escaped. He finds the creature in the kitchen, having knocked over the fridge while looking for food. The family are initially frightened, but realise the creature is intelligent and friendly. They find that it is vegetarian, and gets bad tempered seeing stuffed and mounted animals, which there are many of in the house. The family bonds with the creature, they name it "Harry". George decides to return him to the wilderness. George tries to lure him into the car with food, but Harry becomes upset and runs off. The Hendersons are saddened but try to resume their normal lives. But people in the town have sighted "Bigfoot", they are terrified, and the commotion causes a media furore. George tries to find Harry and visits the "North American Museum of Anthropology" to speak with Dr. Wallace Wrightwood (Don Ameche), apparently an expert on Bigfoot. Giving his phone number to the museum clerk, George resumes his search, while LaFleur finds the Henderson household. George's father, George Sr. (M. Emmet Walsh), owns the local gun store and asks his son, an artist, to draw a poster of a vicious Bigfoot to drum up gun sales. George initially follows his father's wishes, but he throws the sketch away, replacing it with a proper depiction of the peaceful Harry. His father alters the drawing himself to make him look threatening, resulting in George quitting his job. George hears about a Bigfoot sighting into the city and goes looking for Harry, who is evading hunters and the police while trying to find safety. George finds Harry hiding in a dump truck, he drives it away before LaFleur can catch them, and he is arrested. George brings Harry home and he is reunited with the Henderson family. George invites Dr. Wrightwood to dinner, revealed to have been the museum clerk, he tells how looking for Bigfoot has destroyed his life. He then meets Harry and is overjoyed to see that Bigfoot is real. Bailed out of jail, LaFleur travels to the Henderson house to kill Harry. But Harry and the Hendersons have escaped with Dr. Wrightwood, LaFleur chases after them. Back in the mountains, George tries to force Harry to leave, he eventually departs confused and upset. But the family realises that LaFleur can track Harry's footprints in the snow. They attempt to trick LaFleur using casts of Bigfoot's feet to leave false footprints to misdirect LaFleur. But LaFleur tracks Harry and tries to shoot him with a rifle. Harry subdues LaFleur and George intervenes, but Harry stops George from assaulting the hunter. LaFleur sees Harry's kindness and gives up his hunt, realising that Harry is more than a simple beast. As the family says goodbye, George thanks Harry and the two hug. George tells him to take care of himself, to which Harry replies, "Okay", revealing his ability to learn language. As Harry leaves, three other hiding Bigfoots and one adolescent suddenly emerge. The Hendersons, Dr. Wrightwood and LaFleur watch in amazement as they all disappear into the wilderness. Also starring Lainie Kazan as Irene Moffitt, William Ontiveros as Sergeant Mancini, and David Richardt as Dirty Harry Officer. Lithgow as the frustrated family man is fine, Suchet is less convincing as the French villain, it is indeed seven-foot-tall Hall that carries the film as the loveable large Missing Link with many endearing facial expressions. It is pretty much a copycat of the ET format, overly sentimental and trying its best to make you laugh, the makeup is splendid, and it is simple fun enough story, a short-lived television sitcom followed a couple of years later, a reasonable comedy. It won the Oscar for Best Makeup for Rick Baker (An American Werewolf in London, The Nutty Professor, The Grinch). Okay!
Review of Harry and the Hendersons
