Willow Creek (2013)
A Found Footage Love Letter to The Bigfoot Capital of the World
The town of Willow Creek is probably the most iconic town in Bigfoot history. Sasquatch enthusiasts from around the world travel to this small northern California town to catch a glimpse of the creature who calls the area home, at least according to legend and the most studied film footage of all time; the famous Patterson-Gimlin film.
In 2013, a found footage horror movie was shot on location in this historic town and its surrounding forest. The film Willow Creek is a surprisingly effective horror movie and a genuine love letter to Willow Creek and those who believe. It may not be successful on every level, but when it works, it really, really works.
The story is simple; a couple takes a trip to the famous site of the Patterson-Gimlin film. They spend time in Willow Creek before heading deep in the rugged forest. But the trip quickly turns sour when the pair get attacked by a mysterious creature one night in their tent. As a viewer, you know what’s coming. It’s inevitable. But that doesn’t hinder the movie’s ability to keep the audiences on their toes, especially during the third act.
Willow Creek was written and directed by actor and comedian Bobcat Goldwait. The two main stars, Bryce Johnson and Alexia Gilmore, excellently capture the wide range of emotions connected with Bigfoot hunting. Bryce is currently one of the team members of the hit Travel Channel show, Expedition Bigfoot, which follows a group of four Bigfoot investigators as they use different means and methods to find evidence of Bigfoot in a concentrated area. For Bryce, his passion and enthusiasm for the film’s topic is evident in his performance. The found footage style of the movie relies on the convention that Bryce’s character, Jim, is making a documentary about Willow Creek, Bigfoot believers, and his own personal investigation of the elusive creature. The first half of the film features real residents of Willow Creek offering up authentic interviews to Bryce’s character. In an interview with IndieWire, director Bobcat Goldwait explains that “People were on a need-to-know basis,” and that he “didn’t explain that to the local you see in the first half of the movie because I just wanted them to be natural, so they just did some interviews with the actors, and I let the actors drive it.” This of course adds to the authenticity within the story, but I would question the ethics behind not being fully transparent with the people interviewed for the project. The film does approach the subject matter with respect and filmed the movie in the actual locations showcased within the story.
The film manages to tackle the tension between believers and non-believers as Jim’s girlfriend Kelley performs the delicate balancing act of supporting her boyfriend but never fully committing to the concept that Bigfoot could possibly be real. The strain on their relationship is the driving force of tension during most of the film and actually offers some fascinating conversations about the fundamentals of believing and not believing in Bigfoot. On top of that, the first half of the film serves as a travel documentary promoting tourism to this small town in the middle of nowhere. Being an actual tourist destination for Bigfoot enthusiasts, the movie visits the hot spots visitors should go to if they found themselves in Willow Creek.
As the film progresses, the tone shifts to a deeply terrifying scenario. Being lost in the woods is bad enough, but being stalked by something is downright horrifying. One of the most successful sequences in the film is a one shot of the couple terrified in their tent, helpless and crying over the monstrous creature that is seemingly taunting them right outside their tent. The actors deliver visceral performances during this particular scene that rival some of the best ever found footage films. Although it takes the film an extremely long time to get scary, when it does, it is extremely effective and incredibly executed. Having a nineteen-minute-long take automatically commands respect in my book.
Rating: 8 out of 10.
