Title: Willow Creek
Director: Bobcat
Goldthwait
Released: 2013
Starring: Alexie
Gilmore, Bryce Johnson, Laura Montagna, Bucky Sinister, Peter Jason,
Timmy Red
Plot: Jim (Johnson)
is a Bigfoot believer keen to capture footage of the mythological
creature and now dragging his non-beliver girlfriend Kelly along for
the ride they head for the town of Willow Creek.
Review: Despite
being best known as a director more for his warped comedy movies in
tone with his unique comedy style, this film marked a rare venture
into horror for Bobcat Goldthwait as here he turns his focus to
crafting a found footage horror which in turn might be one of the
best offerings from the genre since “The Blair Witch Project”
Starting off
light-hearted as our film making couple roll into “Willow Creek”
which is not only seen as the Bigfoot capital of the world but also
home to the Bigfoot festival, though judging by the amount of
cash-in’s on the myth are scattered throughout the town from wood
carvings to stores named after the creature it would seem that its a
festival that runs all year round. Still as we soon discover the
locals all have their stories to tell or even a song to offer on the
Patterson-Gimlin footage that I’m sure we are all familiar with
showing the Sasquatch striding along the sandbar and to Jim serves to
fuel his belief in the creature while his girlfriend continues to
defiantly deny that it could be real.
This gentle start to
the film might be a little off-putting to some viewers, its worth
sticking with as Goldthwait seemingly establishing the background
colour is infact just luring us into a false sense of security which
is slowly peeled away when the couple head off into the woods to
shoot their own footage and choose to ignore the stern warning by the
man they meet at the entrance to the woods to head back to town.
Once we get into the
woods the real horror vibes start to come quick and fast as the
couple soon find themselves quickly out of their depth with the
tension being cranked up to an all time high during the 18 minute
scene of the couple in the tent while something lurks outside the
canvas walls and which was shot in one take and works perfectly to
put the audience completely on edge as all we can hear are strange
whooping noises, wood being knocked together and the occasional rock
hitting the side of the tent that leave you expecting something to
burst through at any moment.
It's simple concept for sure but
one which works well here, largely thanks to Goldthwait avoiding all
the usual pitfalls of the found footage genre, such as shaky
camerawork while characters remark about things we would be able to
see if someone wasn’t shaking the darn camera! Instead the
camerawork is crisp throughout which really takes us on the journey
with the couple especially as they enter into the woods which seem to
envelop them much like the audience.
Okay minor spoiler
time but I feel its worth noting that this is a bigfoot movie were
you don’t get to see a bigfoot, which might be something of a
blessing considering some of the monstrosities this frequently
overlooked subgenre has produced over the years. This might be seen
as a disappointment but here somehow it works with the noises we hear
and general taunting conjuring more horrific imagery than perhaps the
budget would have allowed.
Considering
Goldthwait’s background in comedy its surprising to see him being
equally effective as a horror director and as with Kevin Smith’s
“Red State” it leaves me wanting to see work more in the genre if
only to see what else he would bring especially in these times were
the horror genre is crying out for new ideas and fresh takes which
this certainly provided, even though this might not be so apparent to
those going in expecting something more visual and less subtle than
we ultimately get here.