Willow Creek (2013)

Director: Bobcat Goldthwait

Writer: Bobcat Goldthwait

Starring: Alexie Gilmore, Bryce Johnson, Laura Montagna, Bucky Sinister, Peter Jason, Timmy Red, Steven Streufert, Shaun L. White Guy Sr., Nita Rowley, Tom Yamarone

More info: IMDb

Tagline: EXISTING SOON

Plot: A couple go into the woods of the Pacific Northwest to find the location of the famous 1967 Patterson Bigfoot sighting.  Will they find what they're looking for or will it find them?

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

I REALLY like Bobcat Goldthwait's directorial work.  A lot.  This one finds him delving into found footage territory.  It's OK but that might not be entirely the fault of any one person or even the film.  Found footage has been done to death.  Let's get to the good.  It looks good, the locations are gorgeous.  That's a huge plus.  The film opens with the Bigfoot hunters Jim and Kelly (he's a believer and she is not) driving on a twisted road very much like the opening in THE SHINING (1980) to the point that I thought it could be the same spot.  The characters are likable, especially Kelly.  Jim's obsession can get a little annoying but I get it.  When you're passionate about something it shines through, especially when no one else shares it.  It's not clear why he's still an ass about her not believing and you get the idea that he's just finding out.  That would be something you'd think they would've discussed at length prior to this little adventure.

They meet some fun and some unsavory characters along the way until they're ultimately alone in the woods in their tent.  That's when the real fun starts.  From here, it's all noises outside the tent.  There's an 18 minute long single take of the two of them listening and getting scared.  It goes on longer than you'd expect and it's impressive.  One of the things I found frightening about THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999) were the noises at night, that which you couldn't see and your mind had to fill in the blanks.  That's much more powerful sometimes than seeing the boogeyman.  It was the same thing for this film.  And what happens afterward is very good and nicely handled.  This was reportedly shot in five days.  I wonder what the budget was.  It couldn't have been much considering the small crew needed, few actors, short shooting schedule, no score, etc.  It's a good movie but if you're burned out on found footage then you should probably keep on moving.  I'm a sucker for horror movies set in the woods so I've got a built in higher tolerance for this sort of thing.  Now I want to go to Willow Creek and pitch a tent with my best gal.

The Dark Sky DVD features the film in anamorphic widescreen.  The extras are a commentary with Goldthwait and the two leads, a deleted scene (fun but short - 5 min), a pointless Bryce Johnson's making of featurette (utterly pointless.  It's 12 minutes of a crew member trying on Bigfoot feet to walk around the creek bed) and the trailer (anamorphic widescreen).