Hoax

Five college students are killed and one, Alex Barnes, goes missing during a brutal attack in the wilderness. The assailant is unknown, and police speculate a bear, but the incident earns the name Mountaineering Massacre. The mystery surrounding the attack haunts the survivors and becomes the catalyst for later plans.

Struggling film producer Rick Paxton visits his former employer Roger Brannan to propose turning the Massacre into a Bigfoot based show. Brannan agrees only if Paxton can provide solid proof first. The deal hinges on finding credible evidence of a real creature in the woods.

Paxton gathers a diverse team to search the woods for evidence, including Danny, Justin, Brigette, Dr. Ellen, Jonesy, Ike, Peter, John Singer, and Cooper, Alex Barnes's father. They move from planning to action with the goal of capturing something definitive. The mood is hopeful but tense as they prepare to enter the forest.

The team sets up a trail camera with bait and adds pheromones to attract animals to the area. They expect anything filmed to be decisive proof of Bigfoot. The atmosphere tightens as the forest seems to hold its breath.

Peter volunteers to check the camera but is killed by an unseen creature. The group discovers a cave with intestines hanging from the ceiling and sees a hairy shape on the camera feed, hinting at a ferocious predator. The encounter escalates the danger the team faces.

Growing irritated by the lack of progress, Paxton secretly adds pheromones to Brigette's coat. She is attacked by the creature and breaks her ankle in the process. The decision to inject more risk into the experiment divides the team and heightens the peril.

Jonesy and Ike are ambushed at the helicopter pad. Ike is torn open, and Jonesy is bludgeoned to death, confirming the creature is real and vicious. The loss jolts the team and shows that no one is safe.

Back at camp, the crew discovers a large footprint that could belong to Bigfoot, along with a bloody paw print left on Brigette during the attack. The physical signs corroborate what the team fears. The forest feels more dangerous than ever.

Danny heads to the landing site to recover the SAT Phone, only to find it destroyed and Jonesy dead. He glimpses the creature, panics, and crashes his ATV on the way back to camp. The rescue plan collapses as the team loses another link to the outside world.

Danny is injured and treated by Ellen, while Singer asserts they will leave the next day if they can survive the night. Fear and fatigue grip the camp as the night stretches on without clear escape. The group realizes they may have to abandon the expedition to stay alive.

That same night, Cooper, Singer and Justin are lured away from the camp while tracking the creature. Singer is killed, and Cooper and Justin rush back to warn the others about the danger they now face. The group is quickly scattered and peril increases.

With ammo exhausted, Paxton panics and shoots Brigette when she confronts him, and he wounds Cooper when the latter intervenes. He then flees into the woods, leaving the others to confront whatever remains of the terror. The human threat compounds the supernatural menace.

Ellen and Cooper search for safety and stumble upon a cabin where Charlotte and her two sons hold them prisoner. Luc drags Justin into a shed and clubs him to death. Gage dances with a long-dead corpse that Cooper recognizes as his missing daughter Alex, exposing the cannibal family behind the masks.

Ellen manages to break free by scalding Charlotte and knocking her unconscious with a frying pan. She then uses the pan to kill Gage and escapes in a car, running down Luc and triggering a 911 call. Charlotte attacks the car through the window as Ellen fights to escape.

In the woods, Paxton finally comes face to face with the genuine Bigfoot after exhausting his ammunition. The encounter is brutal and unresolved, hinting that the true terror of the forest may far outlast human schemes. The fate of Paxton and the others remains open to the haunting possibility of survival or doom.