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Horror Movie Review: Willow Creek

Published

10 years ago

June 9, 2014

Willow Creek Review

No matter how sick and tired you are of any given type of film, that lack of interest typically doesn’t apply when such a film is made by one of your favorite filmmakers. And that’s why I was incredibly excited to hear that comedian Bobcat Goldthwait (World’s Greatest Dad, God Bless America) was working on a found footage film, despite the fact that I strongly feel it’s time for the beaten-to-death sub-genre to crawl back into the woods it came from.

Released into limited theaters and onto VOD outlets, Willow Creek is inspired by the real-life story of Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin, who in 1967 filmed the most iconic and well-known piece of Bigfoot footage the world has ever seen.

In the film, young couple Jim and Kelly travel to the same creek in California where the video was shot, with Jim convinced that he’s going to find what Patterson and Gimlin documented. Kelly, on the other hand, is just along for the ride, supporting her boyfriend but not believing that there’s anything unusual out there in the woods.

Where most found footage films – and most horror films, period – falter is in their lack of interesting characters, which typically make for a boring lead-up to the horror that you just know is right around the corner. In the case of Willow Creek, however, the characters are the strongest suit of the film, with Jim and Kelly both written and played as being highly likable, with an entirely believable dynamic. Perhaps most important of all, it makes complete sense why the two characters never let the camera go, and so the found footage aspect never feels like it’s a crow-barred gimmick.

Before the young lovers make their way into the woods, and encounter anything out of the ordinary, they spend a good portion of the film’s run-time simply documenting the various Bigfoot-heavy tourist attractions they come across, including a Bigfoot-themed motel, a Bigfoot-themed burger joint and, well, anything else Bigfoot-themed you can think of. They chat with the locals and the Bigfoot enthusiasts/experts, consume said Bigfoot burgers – which look delicious, even though I’m a vegetarian – and poke fun at the various artistic depictions of the mythical beast in the area. Though not much is going on, the first half of the film is nevertheless quite entertaining, with Goldthwait’s humorous touch very much felt.

Unfortunately, just as I had feared, even an incredibly talented and original filmmaker like Goldthwait isn’t able to prevent the latter portions of the film from heading into Found Footage 101 territory, as Jim and Kelly find themselves the unwitting stars of Blair Witch Project knock-off #524. In many ways, Willow Creek almost feels beneath Goldthwait, a filmmaker who’s far better than copying the work of others. The comedian’s Bigfoot flick comes off like his most impersonal film to date, a patchwork of other entries in the sub-genre that is frustratingly generic and feels all too familiar.

That said, though Willow Creek is ultimately a generic found footage film, it’s nevertheless a fairly well done generic found footage film, in comparison to most. The highlight of the second half, and the most original aspect of the entire movie, is a nearly 20-minute long scene that was impressively shot in one single take, which is worth the price of admission alone. When night falls, Jim and Kelly find themselves zipped up in their tent with someone, or something, prowling around outside, and the whole ordeal is documented in real-time, making for a highly effective scene with palpable tension.

The whole film is an exercise in the ‘less is more’ approach to filmmaking and the extended tent scene is an absolutely perfect example of why movies are oftentimes a whole lot scarier when things are largely left to our imagination. Goldthwait’s use of unsettling sounds to unnerve us is quite frankly masterful, and the scene will no doubt go down as one of the most memorable of 2014’s horror offerings. Yea, Bobcat is as good at scaring us as he is making us laugh… who knew?!

But again, Goldthwait ultimately plays the film way too safe, and that’s its downfall. It’s not that the movie is bad, and it’s certainly not that the funnyman isn’t capable of delivering thrills and chills. It’s simply a matter of Willow Creek being far too inside the box, as it comes off more like Goldthwait’s first director-for-hire film, rather than one of the deeply personal projects we’ve seen from him in the past. That’s not the case, given he also wrote the film, but it certainly feels that way.

While it’s admittedly a pretty well-executed found footage Bigfoot flick, Willow Creek is at the end of the day a conventional film from a highly unconventional filmmaker, and it’s for that reason that I can’t honestly label it as anything but a disappointment. If you’re not tired of the sub-genre, there’s enjoyment to be found here. But if you’re of the mind that enough is enough and it’s time for a change, you won’t find what you’re looking for in Willow Creek.

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‘Talk To Me’ Directors Danny & Michael Philippou Reteam With A24 for ‘Bring Her Back’

Published

49 seconds ago

April 30, 2024

Timothy Rawles

A24 didn’t waste any time snatching up the Philippou brothers (Michael and Danny) for their next feature titled Bring Her Back. The duo have been on a short list of young directors to watch for since the success of their horror film Talk to Me.

The South Australian twins surprised many people with their debut feature. They were mostly known for being YouTube pranksters and extreme stuntmen.

It was announced today that Bring Her Back will star Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water, Willy Wonka) and begin filming this summer. No word yet on what this film is about.

Talk To Me Official Trailer

Although its title sounds like it could be connected to the Talk to Me universe this project doesn’t appear to be related to that film.

However, in 2023 the brothers revealed a Talk to Me prequel was already made which they say is a screen life concept.

“We actually shot an entire Duckett prequel already. It’s told entirely through the perspective of mobile phones and social media, so maybe down the line we can release that,” Danny Philippou told The Hollywood Reporter last year. “But also while writing the first film, you can’t help but write scenes for a second film. So there’s so many scenes. The mythology was so thick, and if A24 gave us the opportunity, we wouldn’t be able to resist. I feel like we’d jump at it.”

In addition, the Philippous are working on a proper sequel to Talk To Me something they say they have already written sequences for. They are also attached to a Street Fighter film.

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‘Happy Death Day 3’ Only Needs Greenlight From Studio

Published

19 hours ago

April 29, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Jessica Rothe who is currently starring in the ultra-violent Boy Kills World talked to ScreenGeek at WonderCon and gave them an exclusive update about her franchise Happy Death Day.

The horror time-looper is a popular series that did pretty well at the box office especially the first one which introduced us to the bratty Tree Gelbman (Rothe) who is being stalked by a masked killer. Christopher Landon directed the original and its sequel Happy Death Day 2U.

^{Happy Death Day 2U}

According to Rothe, a third is being proposed, but two major studios need to sign off on the project. Here is what Rothe had to say:

“Well, I can say Chris Landon has the whole thing figured out. We just need to wait for Blumhouse and Universal to get their ducks in a row. But my fingers are so crossed. I think Tree [Gelbman] deserves her third and final chapter to bring that incredible character and franchise to a close or a new beginning.”

The movies delve into sci-fi territory with their repeated wormhole mechanics. The second leans heavily into this by utilizing an experimental quantum reactor as a plot device. Whether this apparatus will play into the third film isn’t clear. We will have to wait for the studio’s thumbs up or thumbs down to find out.

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Movies

Will ‘Scream VII’ Focus on The Prescott Family, Kids?

Published

22 hours ago

April 29, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Since the beginning of the Scream franchise, it seems there have been NDAs handed out to the cast to not reveal any plot details or casting choices. But clever internet sleuths can pretty much find anything these days thanks to the World Wide Web and report what they find as conjecture instead of fact. It’s not the best journalistic practice, but it gets buzz going and if Scream has done anything well over the past 20-plus years it’s creating buzz.

In the latest speculation of what Scream VII will be about, horror movie blogger and deduction king Critical Overlord posted in early April that casting agents for the horror movie are looking to hire actors for children’s roles. This has led to some believing Ghostface will target Sidney’s family bringing the franchise back to its roots where our final girl is once again vulnerable and afraid.

'SCREAM VII' will reportedly include Sidney Prescott's family as leads.

"They are looking to cast Sid's two kids. It seems like the movie will focus on Sid's family as all 4 (her, her husband and 2 kids) are listed as leads."

(Via: @DanielRPK) #ScreamVII pic.twitter.com/TPdkE1WbOa
— CriticalOverlord (@CriticalOverlo3) April 6, 2024

It is common knowledge now that Neve Campbell is returning to the Scream franchise after being low-balled by Spyglass for her part in Scream VI which led to her resignation. It’s also well-known that Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega won’t be back any time soon to play their respective roles as sisters Sam and Tara Carpenter. Execs scrambling to find their bearings got broadsided when director Cristopher Landon said he would also not be going forward with Scream VII as originally planned.

Enter Scream creator Kevin Williamson who is now directing the latest installment. But the Carpenter’s arc has been seemingly scrapped so which direction will he take his beloved films? Critical Overlord seems to think it will be a familial thriller.

This also piggy-backs news that Patrick Dempsey might return to the series as Sidney’s husband which was hinted at in Scream V. Additionally, Courteney Cox is also considering reprising her role as the badass journalist-turned-author Gale Weathers.

As the film starts filming in Canada sometime this year, it will be interesting to see how well they can keep the plot under wraps. Hopefully, those who don’t want any spoilers can avoid them through production. As for us, we liked an idea that would bring the franchise into the mega-meta universe.

This will be the third Scream sequel not directed by Wes Craven.