Willow Creek

I recently sat down to watch this movie, based on the fact that I love Bigfoot things.  Now I don't believe there is a Bigfoot or anything, but I find the idea fascinating.  Whenever I see a Bigfoot movie, I am interested in seeing it without any real knowledge of the film beforehand.

In the vein of The Legend of Boggy Creek, Bobcat Goldthwait has decided to write a horror comedy film.  This seems like the right idea to me, at least it did before I watched it.  You see The Legend of Boggy Creek is brilliant in a way that few horror films ever have been.  It is a sort of staged documentary about a Bigfoot creature with chilling interviews set up beforehand.  Much of that film plays out like a weird nature documentary though and it is great for those who are paying close attention and don't mind their movies to be a bit slow.

Willow Creek however is a found footage film, with all the problems that come with it.  The two main characters are Jim and Kelly (not Jim Kelly the martial artist) who go to Bluff Creek to do a little documentary for Jim's birthday.  Jim is a Bigfoot enthusiast while his girlfriend is a non-believer.  The first part of the movie takes place in the town near this area where there is Bigfoot stuff all over the place, including themed restaurants, and book stores.  There are a handful of interviews with the townsfolk and honestly this is the best part of the movie.    There is a character who is the Bob Dylan of Bigfoot Folk Music that they interview who is great for example.  This is building a bit of tension around Bigfoot the mythos, and Jim and Kelly's relationship.  I think this part is handled well.

Then they go camping.  Most of the movie at this point takes place on one night where they have an encounter.  At this point I kind of dislike the main characters and I hope that they not only find Bigfoot, but get killed by him.  The problem with the ending is that it suffers from the curse of The Blair Witch Project.  Nothing really pays off in the end.  I am not going to tell you what happens, but needless to say, they check off every found footage trope in the book.  Too bad, this could have worked out too but kind of ends up being forgettable in the end.

This is nowhere near the worst Bigfoot movie that exists, but sadly I don't recommend it.  The movie is just kind of boring.  That isn't because I hate slow movies by the way.  I love Deep Red for example, and I just mentioned I like The Legend of Boggy Creek as well.  I also love Night of the Living Dead, which is mostly just people yelling at each other, boarding up windows, and watching TV.  I love that movie though.  This sort of thing can be done well, I think that with only a little work, this movie could also have been great though.  If it sounds at all like you will like this movie, go ahead and watch it.  You may like it more than I do, and it isn't way long.  My opinion is just an opinion, so make your own judgement by reading between the lines on this one.  I could easily see this one being in someone's specific taste.