Willow Creek

Willow Creek (2014)

Runtime: 79 minutes

Directed by: Bobcat Goldthwait

Starring: Alexie Gilmore, Bryce Johnson

From: Jerkschool Productions

This is a movie I watched last night via Xbox Video. It was about time I saw this. I'll explain it in my Letterboxd review, which is below; note that I gave this 3 out of 5 stars.

This is a film I have known about and been interested in for a good number of months, back when I first heard director Bobcat Goldthwait's next film was not going to be a pitch black comedy like World's Greatest Dad or God Bless America and instead was a found footage movie about Bigfoot that would have legit interviews with several people from the area of Northern California where in 1967 the Patterson-Gimlin footage was filmed; we've all seen it even if not by name: it's the clip where a Bigfoot or (much more likely) a dude in a fancy Bigfoot suit was captured walking in the middle of the woods. That sounded like a wacky left turn for Bobcat so I was interested; that did cool when I heard rather mixed reviews and it wasn't until last night that I finally gave it a viewing.

The movie chronicles a young couple who go to the area of Willow Creek, California to do a documentary on Bigfoot and the Patterson-Gimlin movie; the dude is a believer while his girlfriend is much more of a skeptic. After some interviews are filmed (the locals they got... colorful human beings, to say the least) they go to the area where the footage was shot in '67, and of course things go wrong. The movie takes its time to get to the scary stuff, which is fine by me.

Considering the caliber of director who decided to enter the now much-derided sub-genre of “found footage horror”, it is understandable why expectations were high; well, aside from a pretty sweet 15 to 20 minute sequence inside a tent that's one static shot with no obvious cuts, the wheel wasn't re-invented here. It's mainly a standard entry in the genre, albeit one that's well-done and with some skill. The two leads (Bryce Johnson and Alexie Gilmore) are likable and they have nice chemistry, which definitely helps.

This does not reinvent the horror genre and give it a kick in the ass it really needs; however, if you enjoyed The Blair Witch Project (an obvious influence on this; among other things, a lot of the horror and how it's presented, it's up to you to use your imagination and fill in the blanks) then you should check this out. There's also an ending that I'll describe as "unexpected" and I'll leave it at that.

I'll return tomorrow night.