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).

Manbeast! Myth or Monster? (1978)

Director: Nicholas Webster

Writer: Nicholas Webster

Composer: William Goldstein

Starring: Peter C. Byrne, Don Hood, Judy Langford

More info: IMDb

Plot: A documentary that explores the existence of Bigfoot, the Yeti and other legendary humanoid-type creatures.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

Brought to you from the man behind SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS (1964) comes yet another documentary from the 70s about the legend of Bigfoot/Yeti and the men and women who spend way too much time looking for something that doesn't exist.  OK, so we haven't found any solid evidence so it doesn't exist until someone finds one and that's not going to happen.  Now that doesn't mean that it's not fun to think about.  It would be super cooler than hell if one of them sumbitches turned up.  Growing up in the 70s I'd see these type of documentaries on TV and then in '77 IN SEARCH OF... , the great TV series hosted by Leonard Nimoy, hit the airwaves.  I ate that shit up.  Years later I came to learn that there's a lot of bunk out there and I started using my brain to question what was real and what wasn't.  I still enjoy watching those 70s documentaries on mysteries and supernatural stuff if for nostalgia than anything else.  In some ways this film is well made with lots of forest footage.  Of course they recreate what they think the creatures look like and how they behave along with recreating accounts by those who claim to have either seen or heard these things. The problem is, and this is by no fault of the filmmakers, that some of its effectiveness is lost when you've seen a few of these and you've seen more entertaining ones at that.  This one isn't as exploitationy or outrageous like some so it's more grounded.  If that's how you like your Bigfoot docs then check this one out.  And how about the curves on Bigfoot's squeeze?

Creature from Black Lake (1976)

Director: Joy N. Houck Jr.

Writer: Jim McCullough Jr.

Composer: Jaime Mendoza-Nava

Starring: Jack Elam, Dub Taylor, Dennis Fimple, John David Carson, Bill Thurman, Jim McCullough Jr., Roy Tatum, Cathryn Hartt, Becky Smiser, Michelle Willingham, Evelyn Hindricks, Roger Pancake, Karen Brooks, Chase Tatum, Bob Kyle, Joy N. Houck Jr., I.M. 'Buddy' Brumley Jr.

More info: IMDb

Plot: Two men exploring the Louisiana swamps encounter a Bigfoot-type creature.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

This isn't a bad picture.  It could use a lot more Bigfoot action (there's not much in it but what there is is pretty good) but the story's alright as is just about everything else.  The print I watched was a dirty anamorphic widscreen one which was awesome (I watched in projected on my 11' wide screen).  I would love to see this at a drive-in which is where it was meant to be played.  It's always fun watching Elam and Taylor.  I love those guys.  The two leads are likeable which helps.  Overall the acting's not that bad and the story is paced well enough I guess.  The ending is anti climactic but when you consider everything else and the great Louisiana shooting locations, it's a neat little flick to knock out on a Saturday night.  Or you could chalk it up to my being a sucker for movies set in swamps and the woods.

Bigfoot's Reflection (2007)

Director: Evan Beloff

Writers: Evan Beloff, Darryll D.B. Walsh

Composer: Toby W. Richardson

Starring:  Who knows, they didn't bother to list them in the film's credits.

More info: IMDb

Tagline:  Does the creature we seek live within us too?

Plot:  This film follows dedicated researches on their quest to find Bigfoot.

My rating:  5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

I don't know why I bother with Bigfoot documentaries.  Maybe I'm secretly hoping for a good laugh.  At least the ones made in the 70s are entertaining.  I don't believe in Bigfoot.  It would be cooler 'n' hell if one was found but lets' face it, there has been no proven evidence of the existence of any such creature.  This brief film (48 minutes) is just a few stories by a small handful of folks who are active Bigfoot hunters/researchers/believers.  Their stories are similar and they aren't all that entertaining.  There is some discussion of the famous Patterson film made in the 60s and it's remarkable how many different ways folks can come up with to say that it's authentic like "if it's a man in a suit, you'd have to glue each hair to the body in order to see such muscle definition" (you can't see muscles, sorry).  That's just one example and I'm paraphrasing.   The people interviewed are earnest and they seem to be convinced without a shadow of a doubt that they've experienced, first hand, the creatures.  Are they delusional or are they making this up for the attention?  Beats me.  The music was soothing and the mountainous locations were pretty.  I'd totally be willing to go a-huntin' for some Bigfeets in the gorgeous mountains if someone would throw me some plane tickets and some camping gear.  I'll believe in whatever you want for a couple of weeks hiking and camping in the beautiful wilderness.  Anyone want to go?  This'll be fun.

Shriek of the Mutilated (1974)

Director: Michael Findlay

Writers: Ed Adlum, Ed Kelleher

Composer: ???

Starring: Alan Brock, Jennifer Stock, Tawm Ellis, Michael Harris, Darcy Brown, Jack Neubeck, Tom Grail, Luci Brandt, Ivan Agar, Marina Stefan, Harriet McFaul, Dwight Marfield, Jimmy Silva, Warren D'Oyly-Rhind, Robert Adels, ed Adlum, Michael Findlay, Ed Kelleher

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Piece By Piece, By Piece, the Bodies Vanish in ... "Shriek of the Mutilated"

Plot: A group of college students are led by their professor into the mountains in search of the Yeti. The students start to be killed off one by one.

My rating: 4/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

Cheesy dialogue and bad acting often go hand in hand but they're not always a winning combination.  While this picture features all of the top lookers from 1974...

Even they can't save a picture that's got the odd pacing problem and bland shooting. It doesn't help that the only print I could find was a slightly dark VHS fullscreen copy.  This would play a lot better in widescreen and shown outside in the woods but how the hell are you going to get that to happen.  There's no nudity and the gore is minimal but it does have a unique way of cleaning up after a murder...

The music sounds like it came from a stock library but it does feature the song Popcorn by Hot Butter.  Doesn't sound familiar?  Try this...

The ending has a neat little twist but everything that came before is so bland that I couldn't much care any less except that I knew it almost over.  What would help?  Nudity, lots of blood and kills and some great suspense in the woods action.  Don't have the kids stay in a house in the woods, get them in tents and even farther from civilization.  That's a better recipe for a good horror.  But, hey, I haven't even made a movie so I'm just jealous of everyone who has.  I keep saying I'm going to rectify that someday but someday never comes.  Hmmmm.

The Capture of Bigfoot (1979)

Director: Bill Rebane

Writers: Ingrid Neumayer, Bill Rebane, John F. Goff

Composer: ???

Starring: Janus Raudkivi, Randolph Rebane, Stafford Morgan, Katherine Hopkins, Richard Kennedy, Otis Young, John F. Goff,  George 'Buck' Flower, John Eimermann, Randoph (not that one) Scott

More info: IMDb

Tagline: A story so amazing it can only be true!

Plot: A small town has made an industry out of Bigfoot sightings and ancillary merchandising. All this may come to an end very soon though. A local businessman hopes to trap Bigfoot once and for all, so that he can get all the publicity gravy.

My rating: 4/10

Will I watch it again? No.

I was a kid of the 70s and that meant being glued to the TV every time there was anything sci-fi or crazy like it was at the height of the Bigfoot craze which this film was riding the waves of.  As an adult I like to watch the 70s Bigfoot pictures for the goof factor.  That and I'm a sucker for horror movies set in the wilderness.  This flick barely has any Bigfoot action and most of it is crammed into the last 7 minutes.  The acting as OK at best and sometimes it's pretty bad but I can appreciate that when you've got a low budget movie where you're relying on inexperienced actors or locals. The music is late 70s synthesizer which is a mixed bag but you do get a groovy club scene...

Yeah!  Disco the shit out of this.  I'd go 5 out of 10 on this one if it weren't so dull in spots.  You get just enough Bigfoot action (mere seconds every 20 minutes or so) to remind you of what you're watching. I don't know what you could do to fix this flick except tightening it up more and throw in a better score.  There are a lot of scenes with no music and that can mean death to any film.  I might feel a little better about this if maybe the print I saw wasn't a fullscreen VHS copy.  Instead of this I'd rather watch ANY 70s documentary on the subject.  Those are hilarious.  This film isn't even so bad it's good.

Not Your Typical Bigfoot Movie (2008)

Director: Jay Delaney

Composers: Ben Colburn, Justin Riley

Staring: Dallas Gilbert, Wayne Burton, C. Thomas Biscardi

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Do you believe in the American Dream?

Plot: Through the experiences of two amateur Bigfoot researchers in Appalachian Ohio, we see how the power of a dream can bring two men together and provide a source of hope and meaning that transcend the harsh realities of life in a dying steel town.

My rating:  6.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

You might know that I don't subscribe to the belief that there is such a thing as Bigfoot, yet I enjoy watching movies and documentaries about the subject.  I love the passion that the active hunters and researchers have and I have no doubt that a lot of them actually believe the things they say and experience.  Such are the two men, Wayne and Dallas, in this picture.  They're old friends who enter the forests looking for hard evidence.  They've seen them, as many as 15 in one day.  They also have over 150 photographs, most of which have the creatures in the distance behind trees and bushes, leaving the viewer's imagination to fill in the blanks.  This film is a series of interviews and excursions which, at one point, include a podcaster and researcher.  One member of a group excursion says that these creatures are very spiritual, that they can communicate with each other through telekinesis and that the next logical step in their evolution after telekinesis was the ability to levitate just a little off the ground which explains why we don't see many of their footprints.  This documentary doesn't bring us any closer to seeing a real one (bwahahahahaha) but it's yet another snapshot into the minds and lives of those who are confident that we someday will know the truth.  Most of us know it already but others refuse to believe it...but they sure make it entertaining for those who do.  The Oscilloscope DVD has an anamorphic widescreen image with extras including a commentary track with the director, Dallas, Wayne and cinematographer Shane Allen Davis, 9 deleted scenes (about 9 minutes total), a 3-minute primer from Dallas on Bigfoot hunting in 8 easy steps, the 13-minute short film from 2001 that was the initial kernal that led to this film and a photo gallery with about 40 pictures taken by Dallas showing you his best photographic evidence. 

The Beauties and the Beast (1974)

Director: Ray Nadeau

Starring: Jacqueline Giroux, Uschi Digard, Marius Mazmanian, Bob Makay, Patrick Scott, David Wheeler, Susan Wescott

More info: IMDb

Tagline: A pleasure weekend turned blood curdling nightmare!

Plot: After a brief description of the legends of Bigfoot by the narrator, this film goes on to show what the hairy monster might really be doing with his time in the woods: watching women get naked and have sex. After spying on a couple of college girls sleeping together in a remote forest cabin, Bigfoot then stumbles across a couple having sex in the woods. After he chases off the man to have a little fun of his own with the woman, the film then leaves Bigfoot to follow the exploits of the two college girls as they encounter a troupe of skinny-dipping hippies and then held captive by some bad dudes with guns.

My rating: 5/10

Will I watch it again? Nah.


Nuts. I thought this was going to be a serious exploration into the legend of Bigfoot. Not really but it sounded like it could be a silly sexploitation picture that focused on him at least. No dice. Bigfeets is barely in it. Instead it's more about a bunch of free-wheelin' guys and gals that like to skinny dip and get in touch with nature...and each other. That is until a couple of bad guys with guns show up and demand they give back what they stole. Once that happens it's all about escaping these two guys before they rape and kill them.


There's not much going on (surprise) but it is entertaining. I've always had me some love for some Uschi Digard (bottom pic). Not sure why, though. Hmmmmm. She really is fun to watch, and I don't mean that in a piggish way, although she is very reasonable to look at naked. Don't watch this expecting a straight up low budget horror movie and you'll be just fine. And you Bigfoot purists will be disappointed unless you subscribe to the theory that Bigfoot is a voyeur and only wants to watch women frolic in the woods naked, then you'll be elated to see what might be your only evidence that the Peeping Tom Bigfoot exists.