The Legend of Boggy Creek

This classic 1970's drive-in film is a must for all Bigfoot and cryptozoology fans! If you don't like 1970's films, low low budget films then stay clear from this. Go watch Harry Potter instead. The creepy swamp scenery at the start of the picture, lack of a budget, non-existant acting, and glimpses of a man in an ape suit makes this late night gem a real joy to watch!! Good for viewing in the dark. Much better than Sasquatch: The Untold. UGH!

One of my brothers took a girl he really liked to see "The Legend of Boggy Creek" on their first date in 1972. She never went out with him again. Word to the wise.

This is basically a pseudo-documentary with incredibly cheesy music ("Hey there, Travis Crabtree," a local lad is serenaded as he travels to the home of a slackjawed yokel whose name escapes me, but not the fact that he shot off his own foot). As for the "Creature Theme," my brother and I took great delight in parodizing the lyrics:

This is where the creature goes / when he needs to blow his nose

etc. etc. etc. and other preteen humor (?).

But for your basic seventies celebration of Middle American white trash culture, it just doesn't get any better than this. Young girls in curlers, alone in the trailer with a big hairy creature stalking around outside! Cats meeting horrible fates just from espying said creature! Corn-pone accents galore! NOW how much would you pay?

As a youngster growing up in Arkansas this was very much a real experience for me, while we lived about three hours from the area where this is supposed to have happened it was a very exciting time. I can still remember reading the newspaper and watching the local news each night to hear the latest on the "Fouke Creek Monster" as it was called. It was particulary exciting when they reported on the incident where the monster reached through the window. I really enjoyed this movie because of it's homespun quality not in spite of it.

I will go ahead and say I realize that the songs featured in this movie are absolute cheese. This really takes away from an otherwise realistic documentary like film.

It's really moody and atmospheric, you really come to believe that the things you are seeing in the film are real.

There are also some very funny moments like toothless old men talking about the creature. The songs I mentioned before are a real hoot. But overall, this isn't a film I watch for a few giggles. It's quite an interesting film. I've never seen the sequels, but hope to some day.

It's not for all tastes, but for the fan of 70's horror nostalgia, it can't be missed.

"The Legend of Boggy Creek" deserves a higher rating on the IMDb. Despite a couple of laughable folk songs, the movie is an intriguing docudrama that is at times genuinely creepy. The filmmakers use admirable restraint and never give the audience a clear look at the creature. There are also moments of effective camera work and sound editing that create a close, atmospheric environment where the creature could be lurking behind every tree or bush. This film is what "The Mothman Prophecies" should have been.

Both amusingly dated and chilling, "The Legend of Boggy Creek" is a fun movie that is best enjoyed on a dark autumn night. It's a great scary story and an American folktale that's entertaining to watch safely at home, but may become much more plausible should you find yourself alone in the woods around sundown