|
★★★½☆
22 August 2013
This article is a review of WILLOW CREEK. |
“Give me your ‘missing photo’ face,” Jim (Bryce Johnson) to Kelly (Alexie Gilmore)
Writer-director Bobcat Goldthwait is an underrated cinematic force to be reckoned with. SLEEPING DOGS – WORLD’S GREATEST DAD – GOD BLESS AMERICA range from the merely very good to the excellent. Here he turns to horror, specifically the found footage subgenre. Going all BLAIR WITCH, a couple, Jim and Kelly, head to the titular Willow Creek on holiday to see if they can find Bigfoot. As jovial as the director eases us in, this is no BIGFOOT/HARRY AND THE HENDERSONS. Opening on a night shot of grass, we are lulled into the subgenre’s staples, but the lazy clichés avoided (contrast most of THE DYATLOV PASS INCIDENT). Goldthwait schools us on how to make an apparently low budget horror with minimal cast.
Writer-director Bobcat Goldthwait is an underrated cinematic force to be reckoned with. SLEEPING DOGS – WORLD’S GREATEST DAD – GOD BLESS AMERICA range from the merely very good to the excellent. Here he turns to horror, specifically the found footage subgenre. Going all BLAIR WITCH, a couple, Jim and Kelly, head to the titular Willow Creek on holiday to see if they can find Bigfoot. As jovial as the director eases us in, this is no BIGFOOT/HARRY AND THE HENDERSONS. Opening on a night shot of grass, we are lulled into the subgenre’s staples, but the lazy clichés avoided (contrast most of THE DYATLOV PASS INCIDENT). Goldthwait schools us on how to make an apparently low budget horror with minimal cast.
|
|
Kelly indulges her boyfriend’s Sasquatch fascination-since-childhood by joining him on his birthday to Bigfoot country. At only 78 minutes, 37 of which are used for build up and character establishment. The two have a Mulder and Scully X-FILES-style belief/scepticism paradigm. Kelly is affectionate, though is quick at delivering the droll observation. Jim is all enthusiasm. They have decided to make a documentary, following in the footsteps of an expedition from 1967. The area is geared towards tourists – they stay at the Bigfoot Motel, eat a Bigfoot burger shaped like a foot (where the restaurant also hilariously sells ammunition – Goldthwait can’t seem to avoid having sly digs), and go to a Bigfoot art gallery. All the while there is funny commentary from Kelly. Jim is a geeky fanboy who on the subject has had a sense of humour bypass. Amid the banter and arguments, the dynamic duo encounters various local residents and proprietors (utilised effectively to set up the fear). The director is so good with his cast, picking out those that can convincingly act, as well, one is sure, nudging them to deliver naturalistic performances. Take note other horror filmmakers, this is how you lay the foundations. Far too often the exposition is woodenly delivered with a faux jitteriness.
|
|
The forest is made out to be extremely uninviting via a triple threat:
- The wildlife – mountain lions, snakes, bears,
- “Pets and people go missing all the time,” resident. Local inhabitants who do not welcome interlopers, and
- The possible existence of a 900lb Bigfoot.
Kelly’s reticence to go camping rears up, but Jim quashes it. They enter the woodland, and Goldthwait ratchets up the tension by taking time. The leads are his acting alumni, and WILLOW CREEK has the sensibility of Joss Whedon’s MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING: A consummate home movie that can take on the big boys. Bravo.
|
|
