Here, an amateur Bigfoot enthusiast cons his girlfriend into a weekend expedition into the California wilderness, hoping to retrace the trail that Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin took back in 1967, which netted them the most infamous 30-seconds of footage since the Zapruder film.
From there, our cryptid rom-com quickly loses the rom and the com, squashed flat by whatever else is out there, lurking in the woods around our protagonists, Jim and Kelly, leaving the audience to decide who is really stalking what or if what is stalking who.
He's an earnest believer, but kind of an idiot (Johnson). She's adorable, but also very skeptical and a bit of a buzzkill (Gilmore). And with a camcorder rolling the whole way, this couple grind through some or their relationship issues while making their way through the usual Sasquatch tourist traps of Willow Creek first.
Then, as things escalate, they ignore several warnings to stay away from Bluff Creek, where the Patterson film was shot; some sincere (-- due to their lack of experience in the woods), others rather sinister (-- in a "Go back and have some pie at the F@ck-Off Cafe").
Ignoring both, the couple next head out into the Six Rivers National Forest, where a night of terror awaits as Jim and Kelly huddle inside their tent as some thing circles ever closer out there in the impenetrable darkness, with only a thin sheath of canvas in between them.
Is it the locals screwing with them? Is it a bear? Or is it the ever elusive cryptid? I won't spoil it, but the final resolution of Willow Creek was AH-mazing. And kind of hilarious.
Always the provocateur, Goldthwait has been very hit and miss with me. His flicks are very subversive and darkly twisted, and I have found folks either buy into what he's selling or reject them completely.
Personally, I dug the hell out of Shakes the Clown (1991), his directorial debut, and feel World's Greatest Dad (2009) is one of the greatest black comedies ever made. God Bless America (2011), however, was a big ol' portentous pile of crap. So much so, I was a little hesitant on this one.
However, the siren call of Sasquatch Cinema cannot be ignored (-- trust me, I've seen worse). And while it would've been easy for Goldthwait to shred this fringe subculture, instead, there seems to be some earnest respect for it.
Fair warning: there are a couple of make or break sequences in Willow Creek, where, one, you get on board with this couple and find them either endearing or annoying -- kudos to Alexie Gilmore and Bryce Johnson for making them a believable combination of both to my eye.
And two, when you realize the filmmaker has been holding the same static shot for nearly twenty minutes while the characters (and the audience) just sit, frozen, and listen to what's going on outside the tent in the darkness, speculating on what it could be.
Now, whether you find that creepy or tedious, or brazen or idiotic, will go a long, long way on your personal assessment of this film. For me it worked, making Willow Creek a morbidly good time and highly recommended for my fellow Bigfoot enthusiasts out there. Everyone else, enter these woods at your own risk.
Originally posted on January 18, 2015, at Micro-Brewed Reviews.
Willow Creek (2013) Jerkschool Productions :: Dark Sky Films / P: Aimee Pierson, Bryce Johnson / AP: Jason Stewart / D: Bobcat Goldthwait / W: Bobcat Goldthwait / C: Evan Phelan / E: Jason Stewart / M: Matt Kollar / S: Alexie Gilmore, Bryce Johnson, Laura MontagnaPeter Jason Willow Creek (2013) Jerkschool Productions :: Dark Sky Films / P: Aimee Pierson, Bryce Johnson / AP: Jason Stewart / D: Bobcat Goldthwait / W: Bobcat Goldthwait / C: Evan Phelan / E: Jason Stewart / M: Matt Kollar / S: Alexie Gilmore, Bryce Johnson, Laura Montagna, Peter Jason
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