Film Festivals

Movie Reviews: “Panthera Britannia” and “Elusive” (Fortean Film Festival)

Panthera Britannia One of the most intriguing, enduring, and perhaps possible cryptozoological mysteries is the idea that alien big cats may be roaming the British countryside. Sightings and photos — naturally, the latter are often unclear or lack size perspective — are plentiful, and witnesses usually have little to profit from by reporting what they have seen. Writer/director Matt Everett’s documentary Panthera Britannia is a slick, impressively crafted look into the history of cryptid felidae, exploring sightings from the reign of King Henry VIII to the present day. The skull of the Beast of Bodmin Moor, captured by British soldiers in the 1790s and imprisoned in a jail until it died, provides physical evidence of the possibility of ABCs, and the Dangerous Wild Animal Act of the 1970s saw owners letting their exotic pets loose in the wild. Professionals ranging from animal behaviorists to genetic anthropologists to other wildlife experts are interviewed, and several different, intelligent viewpoints for and against