Willow Creek (2013)

(4 out of 5)

Willow Creek (2013)
directed by:  Bobcat Goldthwait
starring:  Alexie Gilmore, Bryce Johnson, Laura Montagna, Bucky Sinister, Peter Jason
tagline:  Believe the Legend...Fear the Truth
format:  NTSC:  Region 1 Personal Collection

     Wow what a terrifying flick.  Definite initial response to this one.  If you do not like pov/sov found footage films please don't take this opportunity to tell everyone and just move on to the next movie.  I personally find the majority of these flicks very real and more real than any straight-forward shot film.  I had no idea this film even existed until a friend posted up his positive thoughts on social media.  So I immediately went out and bought it since I love both bigfoot films and found footage.  I was not disappointed. 

     The story follows Jim (Bryce Johnson) on his quest to find bigfoot with his girlfriend Kelly (Alexie Gilmore).  They travel to a remote California territory where a previous expedition in 1967 came in contact with a bigfoot called Willow Creek.  The townspeople are not amused by Jim and Kelly and their documentary filmmaking and it soon becomes apparent they are not welcome.  The word, "Leaf" is written on their car window of course misspelled meaning, "leave" but this only taunts Jim to further continue with his project.  Jim is a full believer of the bigfoot legend and Kelly is not.  Kelly is doing this whole thing for her boyfriend and the two go back and forth on this subject as the movie progresses.  All the dialogue had a very natural feel to it and for me at least never got boring or redundant.  They meet with a few not so angry townsfolk and discover the directions to make it to the exact

camping location of the previous expedition.  Upon arrival they are again met with contention from one of the locals as a man tries aggressively to dissuade them from driving further down the road, even throwing rocks.  Lucky for Jim he knows a second route and soon enough he and Kelly are deep in the woods on the trail to the campsite.  I will not spoil the film which much more description but this one really had a lot of the tension factor and I loved it.  The eerie sounds at night, the pov shooting, the tremendous acting of
both main actors most especially Alexie Gilmore who really came through with the sense of terror.  I rewound and watched the end I was really freaked out with the last couple minutes.   Kudos to Bobcat Goldthwait!  I had no idea such a film existed and it hit this horror fan right where it counts.