Director
Bobcat Goldthwait
Cast
Alexie Gilmore - Kelly
Bryce Johnson - Jim
Bucky Sinister - Angry man on the road
Peter Jason - Ranger Troy Andrews
Timmy Red - Singer
Bobcat Goldthwait made a horror movie! If you don't know who Bobcat is, just watch the Police Academy movies.
I was listening to either Joe Rogan's Podcast, or Adam Green's Scary Sleepover Podcast, and I heard that Goldthwait was both a believer in Bigfoot, and made a horror movie based on the famous Patterson-Gimlin footage of an alleged Bigfoot taken in Bluff Creek, California in 1967.
Willow Creek is a "found footage" film like The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield.
I'm not much into those types of movies as I find them annoying. They tend to build up to nothing, and the unsteady camera work is distracting. I didn't care much for The Blair Witch Project as I found it underwhelming and precisely what I just described.
The found footage type of movie is a unique style however, but I think it has worn out its welcome. But that's just my personal opinion. If done right, it does add to the dread of a horror movie.
Jim (Bryce Johnson) takes his girlfriend, Kelly (Alexie Gilmore) to Willow Creek, California, to record a documentary about alleged Bigfoot sightings in the area in the last several years since the famous Patterson-Gimlin recording.
Jim is interested in capturing years worth of stories and sightings, the lore and the legends, of Bigfoot.
He interviews a retired park ranger who shares a sad story about how a Bigfoot literally ripped his dog in half. It paints a picture that if there is a Bigfoot out in the California woods Jim and Kelly are about to pass through, it has a deadly violent streak.
After gathering footage of stories and local sights centered around the Bigfoot lore, as well as personal dialogue between the two for the sake of backstory and exposition, Jim and Kelly drive deep into the woods to camp out off the beaten path. Jim also wants to visit the exact same spot where the 1967 footage was recorded.
On their way driving through the woods looking for the spot, they come across a big guy played by Bucky Sinister (best name ever!) The guy practically yells at Jim, threatens him to go back to town, and get out of the area. It's an unsettling scene that sets the stage for what's too come. It's played out in that the audience doesn't know if this angry guy just doesn't like tourists poking around the forest, or if he's crazy, or if he knows something about those woods and tries to scare off the couple for the sake of their own safety.
Regardless, they ignore the guy's threats, and find an obscure spot to set up camp.
Odd happenings pick up right away. After they set up, the couple decides to take a swim in the river nearby.
Upon their return, they find their belongings thrown about, and their tent collapsed. Was it a bear? Was it locals trying to scare them? Was it a Bigfoot? We don't know.
Regardless, they set up their tent again and are determined to spend the night right there.
Sometime in the early morning hours, Jim wakes Kelly up as he hears someone or something
His camera is locked on their faces for eighteen straight minutes as this scene plays out, and it really pulled me in. It was the scariest part of the movie. I think it was more impressive, considering how intense those eighteen minutes are, than anything in The Blair Witch Project or the Paranormal Activity movies - those are also found footage films.
Deep grunting noises, and crunching, along with distant howls that sound more human than they do coyote or wolf, grow closer to the tent. Pretty soon, something hits the tent several times, and eventually pushes against it. It's really a chilling, frightening scene as Jim and Kelly are helpless and frozen in fear inside their small tent.
The movie was satisfyingly scary, but the ending was less than so. It was not an ending I expected, nor would I call it a bad ending. It just wasn't the payoff I would have liked. It also left me a bit confused.
For a debut horror movie from Bobcat Goldthwait, Willow Creek was pretty decent. I'd say Goldthwait has a knack to make some decent horror/thriller movies. If he does more, I'll definitely watch them.
I thought his premise would be cliche, but I think it was fantastic, especially the role the Patterson-Gimlin footage had in the movie.
And his use of the unseen works rather well, although I always want to see the monster in movies like this. Even a glimpse would suffice. Then again, bigfoot is one elusive mammoth of a beast, so I suppose it makes sense he's just as elusive in the film.
I definitely recommend this movie during a late Friday night creature feature. It definitely outdoes many other found footage movies thanks mostly to those eighteen minutes I mentioned above. It's fun, scary, and entertaining despite it being another found footage movie.
Here's a fun fact. According to IMDB, Goldthwait did all the guttural noises for Bigfoot himself. And it took only five days to shoot the movie!
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| Bobcat Goldthwait in a movie that's not Willow Creek but would be great if it was! |
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