Willow Creek

From celebrated director Bobcat Goldthwait comes this edge of your seat horror that will make you think twice before going into the woods.

If one were to believe the blurbs on the cover of the DVD, they might think this was an amazing film. Some of the quotes are a bit hard to believe. How this happens can only be explained two ways: incredible cherry-picking (which all advertising does) and people's inability to separate their love for Goldthwait and his film.

Is the picture without merit? Not at all. There are some decent, though short, interviews with real people who want to talk about Bigfoot. The film also serves as something of a promotional tool for the town of Willow Creek (sales of Bigfoot Burgers will likely be going up). And there are a few suspenseful moments that could be legitimately scary. Oh, and some humor, too.

But the complaint people seem to have, again and again, is that this is just "Blair Witch Project" with the witch replaced by Bigfoot. Maybe that is a simplification, but it is a more than valid complaint. The plot, the use of found footage, the way the audience never really sees anything... if Goldthwait was not inspired by "Blair Witch", it is a remarkable coincidence.

There are worse ways to spend 80 minutes. But any horror fan that is looking for something fresh to rejuvenate the genre will probably not find it here.

I'll be honest. This film definitely went for full Blair Witch and just barely did not make it. On the upside though, it did get very close. Willow Creek is one of those movies that although it doesn't quite scare you, it leaves you unnerved. The film is very amateur but this serves to benefit the film. The buildup is fantastic but in my opinion, the payoff was a tad lackluster, but perhaps that is just because i wanted to know more.

Willow Creek is by no means a masterpiece of horror but it is a very effective shaky cam film with good suspense and eerie atmosphere.

Warning though, some parts of this film do drag on... a lot. The beginning of the film lasts forever, and one scene in particular drums up the suspense well but ultimately runs too long in the middle of this very short movie.

If you read about this film and immediately though you might be interested, watch it. I did not go in expecting too much, but I was pleased with what I saw.

Willow Creek is another Blair Witch Project rehash, but don't let that deter you. It's a different approach to minimalist found-footage horror, and it winds up being a truly frightening experience if you can make it past the first half. Not that the first half is poor - it's just a long setup to introduce you to these characters: Jim, the believer, and Kelly, the skeptic, on their hunt for the one and only Bigfoot. It's satirical in a way, watching Jim interview these townsfolk about Bigfoot sightings and you as a viewer knowing how ridiculous it all is, but that is what makes Willow Creek work so well. You're led to believe it's going to be a dumb satire on the Blair Witch Project for the first half of the film, which makes it all the more terrifying when things take a turn for the worse.

Rather than having jump scares and disturbing imagery, the scares in Willow Creek come almost entirely from sound. There's even a point where the main character shuts off the camera light so you can't see anything. All you can do is listen to the open wilderness: wood knocking from a distance, leaves crunching, ominous howls, getting closer and closer. It taps into everyone's innate fear of the unknown in the simplest and most effective way.

As far as minimalist horror goes, Willow Creek is right up there with Blair Witch, possibly even surpassing it. The only complaint I have aside from the overlong build up (which ends up paying off anyway) is the atrocious rock song that plays during the end credits. It takes the dreadful atmosphere you were experiencing moments before and slams your eardrums with this horrendous upbeat music. It can be a relief for some people, reminding us that it's only a movie, but I found it grating. However, this doesn't take away from the fact that Willow Creek is another reminder that found-footage can work with the right team in front and behind the camera. A perfect midnight horror movie.

I admit that I like found footage films, or, rather, I find that story telling device compelling. Assuming it's done well. To do it well, your film relies heavily on acting first, then editing, then sound They all work well here.

Too often, these sorts of films have actors who don't know what to say, or how to say it, as they are expected to improvise and aren't confident how to be "natural". In this film, the actors are brilliantly natural and their chemistry is superb. They are a very believable as a couple and as people.

The goal itself is interesting, as I have rarely watched a Bigfoot movie, so I found that part of the film at interesting spin. But really, the slow burn here is what really makes me like this movie.

As with other films in which the protagonist is a wannabe filmmaker, there are lots of establishing shots with the local townsfolk to talk up the legend, and to get a sense of what is to come. It's all done pretty realistically, and, again, the actors dialogue/exchanges with each other are especially convincing.

Again, this film is very much about the slow burn of tension. This is very much exemplified in a scene near the end that lasts nearly twenty minutes for one continuous shot. And it's not boring. At all. The actors are brilliant in the scene, as is the sound. It's a highly effective scene and you really begin to get into the same dread of what's next as the characters due to the immersive nature of the scene.

Overall, I really liked it. I think the director did a great job in choice/direction of actors, and the overall story was not over the top. It's a great example of how found-footage should be done.

Though, the film doesn't actually try to tell you it's found footage, it's just that the only point of view is the camera(s) used by the characters. But I'll assume someone found the footage in that fictional universe at some point.

If you're looking for a good Bigfoot movie this is the only one that comes to mind.

Now, I call it good, not great. It has it's fair share of flaws, but being from the same guy who directed God Bless America and World's Greatest Dad I expected a certain level of quality often not shown to horror movies, and almost never to the found footage genre.

This movie handles it's scares with tact and maturity, and even has a very tense scene in a tent. I won't delve into detail as I do think this movie is worth watching. It's certainly nothing new, but it takes the good well established staples of horror, arranges them in a pleasant package, and doesn't have anything that really made it a bad movie...

...until the end. Sadly, without revealing too much, the movie has a rather disappointing, confusing, and unsatisfying ending. It doesn't ruin the movie as a whole, but since it's the last thing you see, a bad ending skews the rest of it in a negative light.

This movie was made solidly enough to the point where I can definitely recommend it. Willow Creek isn't the best movie in world, or even the best horror movie, but with all the recent schlock like Devil's Due and Paranormal Activity 5 it stands leagues ahead. I want a sequel to this, one that hopefully solves the problems this one had.

TLDR Version: Good, not great. Worth a watch despite it's flaws.