By Stephanie Scaife
You may be familiar with Bobcat Goldthwait through the likes of his pitch black comedies World’s Greatest Dad (2009) and God Bless America (2011), or as Zed in the Police Academy movies, so it may come as a surprise to find out that his newest picture as a writer and director is a found footage horror film. Now, let me just say straight up that you shouldn’t be put off by this fact and I’m saying this as someone who is vehemently anti-found footage. I struggle with even the most popular offerings this genre has provided and could easily live without The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity, Cloverfield et al. So I was pretty surprised that I didn’t hate Willow Creek. In fact, it was actually pretty good.
Jim (Bryce Johnson), a Bigfoot enthusiast, and his sceptical girlfriend Kelly (Alexie Gilmore) are making a film of their attempt to retrace the steps of Patterson and Gimlin, who famously shot footage of Bigfoot in 1967 in Northern California. One of the common issues with found footage films is that the characters are often under-developed and it can be a struggle to have any empathy or understanding as to their motivations, but with Willow Creek we’re given a very likeable couple and the actors have great chemistry on screen. Their banter is part scripted, part improvised but entirely believable. The set-up is also given the care and attention that it deserves as they arrive in the titular town of Willow Creek and explore the various oddities the town has to offer (Bigfoot Museum, Bigfoot Information Centre, Bigfoot Museum, Bigfoot Burgers… you get the picture) whilst meeting its unusual inhabitants, most of whom are real people roped into being interviewed on camera and led to believe that Jim and Kelly are really amateur documentary filmmakers, not actors in a horror film. This adds a real authenticity and the fact that Goldthwait fully ingratiated himself with the Bigfoot community really shows in the humour and enthusiasm for the topic. This includes a segment featuring Tom Yamarone (known locally as the “Bigfoot Bob Dylan”) singing his song Roger & Bob (Rode Out That Day) along with a host of other colourful locals.
After a light-hearted and amusing first half, Jim and Kelly embark on the trail into the Trinity National Forest to get to the exact location of the Patterson-Gimlin film. This is when we get our first hint that all is not well for this pair, when they bump into an inhospitable redneck that warns them to turn around and head back the way they came. Failing to heed his words of advice they trek deep into the woods and pitch up camp for the night. This was where I thought the film was going to start to fall foul of the genre tropes and there would be a whole bunch of shaky-cam and screaming, but instead what we get is a very tense, single-shot scene of the couple in a tent that lasts for a staggering 19 minutes. You can tell that the actors haven’t entirely been filled in on the events that are about to unfold and their fear is often genuine, creating a palpable sense of unease.
Willow Creek isn’t perfect, and yes, the last ten minutes or so do delve slightly into the world of motion sickness and hysterics but Goldthwait pulls it off by making a film that is in equal parts funny and creepy. For once the continuity is solid and you’re never left wondering how the film ended up so well edited or why on earth someone is still filming (the most irksome aspect of the genre in my opinion). What you see on camera feels real and never unnatural or inexplicable. I won’t spoil what happens, but I would highly recommend checking out Willow Creek if you get the chance and I certainly hope it gets picked up and released. It’s a surprise that nobody has seriously tackled the Bigfoot mythology in a straight up horror film before; perhaps it seems on the surface to be too silly a concept, but Goldthwait was clearly the man for the job and I applaud him for it.