**Spoilers**
Its Jims (Bryce Johnson) birthday, and as a devout Bigfoot (or Sasquatch) follower and believer, Jim takes a trip to Willow Creek with his reluctant girlfriend, Kelly (Alexie Gilmore). In Willow Creek, Jim has plans to film his own footage of Bigfoot to follow in the footsteps of the famous Patterson-Gimlin film. In 1967, Roger Patterson and Robert Bob Gimlin captured footage of Bigfoot in Willow Creek, and Jim is determined to capture the creature on film to justify the risky expedition.
During the trip to Willow Creek, Kelly mocks Jims beliefs in Bigfoot, and together, the couple receives a stern warning from an angry local about the dangers of searching for Bigfoot.
Eventually, Jim and Kelly revisit the site of the Patterson-Gimlin film. One night, a series of strange noises and the footsteps of an unknown stalker disturb a peaceful slumber in Jim and Kellys tent. Are Jim and Kelly the victims of a cruel prank from a group of disgruntled locals? Or, are Jim and Kelly running out of time and options before the real Bigfoot attacks?
Youll need a lot of patience for Willow Creek. The terrifying and spooky stuff doesnt kick until the forty-seven minute mark, when Jim and Kelly are all alone in the tent at night. Before the nighttime tent scene, Willow Creek is loaded with Jims one on one interviews and sightseeing trips with Jim and Kelly, as they explore and visit different Bigfoot attractions (paintings, eating Bigfoot burgers, the Bigfoot Motel, etc.).
Do you believe in Jims mission to capture footage of the real Bigfoot? Well, if you dont theres a good chance youll have a hard time sitting through Willow Creek. And thats my big problem with found-footage films most of the time: youll run into a conundrum with your suspension of disbelief mindset. On one hand, you know youre watching a movie, and its not real. But on the flip side of that, you have to sit back and convince yourself youre watching a REAL home movie, documentary, or lost tape, where the primary protagonists experience a series of bizarre, supernatural, or unexplainable occurrences.
With Willow Creek, you have to believe in Jims journey to find the real Bigfoot, his motivations, and his unwavering determination to uncover the truth. The problem is, the documentary portion of Willow Creek drags on and on, and nothing happens until the tent scene at night. Well, theres the one scene of tension, where Jim and Kelly run into the angry local, who warns them about following Patterson and Gimlins film, but thats about it. After a while, the rinse and repeat formula for interviewing locals and sightseeing feels boring and tedious. Willow Creek clocks in at one hour and twenty minutes for an overall runtime, and the scary stuff kicks in at the forty-seven minute mark. Think about that for a second.
I emphasized patience earlier, and youll need a lot of patience for the nighttime tent scene towards the end. At night, a series of strange noises and footsteps disturb Jim and Kelly. Jim believes its Bigfoot, but Kelly thinks a group of locals are playing a prank on the dumb tourists. But Kelly changes her mind after a loud and abnormal moaning sound. The intruder presses one of their limbs against the tent, but the unknown figure runs away again after Kellys screams. Jim and Kelly survive the night, and in the morning, Jim and Kelly agree to finally leave Willow Creek after all the close calls.
What happens after the tent scene? In the morning, Jim and Kelly realize theyre lost after three hours of wandering around, and passing a familiar tree. Jim picks up a scraggly strand of Bigfoots hair with a piece of flesh attached to it, and Jim records Bigfoots footprints. But he doesnt have time to bask in the glory for discovering Bigfoot evidence, because Bigfoots roar surprises Kelly, but the couple runs away before Bigfoot has a chance to attack.
At night, a frightened Jim and Kelly are trying to hide from Bigfoot, when they spot a local missing woman (youll see a picture of her on a flyer at the restaurant in the early stages of the movie). Shes standing alone half naked, shes in a petrified daze, and she starts moaning out of nowhere.
Jim and Kelly are stuck in a state of shock, and Bigfoot attacks before Jim and Kelly have a chance to react. Bigfoot mangles Jim, and the camera falls to the ground (you can hear Kellys screams in the background). From the cameras POV, Bigfoot drags the camera, or the camera and Jim together (its hard to tell) on the ground, and Kelly continues to scream off-camera. To end the movie, Kellys screams are presumably silenced by Bigfoot, and youll hear a chorus of moans before the credits start rolling.
The tent scene? Its a mixed bag for a number of reasons. Ill tell you this right now, if youre expecting a shocking payoff, as the tent scene unfolds, youll be disappointed. You will NOT see Bigfoot (more on that later). Instead, youll just hear the moans, a kooky whoop! sound, and the sounds of knocking wood.
With that said, the tent scene hooked me in from start to finish. Is the real Bigfoot moments away from an attack? Or is Kelly right about a bunch of locals playing a prank? Yeah, you can say the tent scene drags after the first five minutes, and I imagine some will be disappointed by the lack of a close up view for Bigfoot, but overall the tent scene works, because the nail-biting teasing keeps you guessing until the next scene, and I had to know what would happen next every step of the way.
If we're talking about the finale, the audience doesnt know if Jim is dead or not. You can clearly hear the sounds of Bigfoot attacking Jim, but you never see a shot of his corpse. And were unsure of Kellys fate. Again, you can hear the sounds of Kellys agony in the background, but you wont see Kellys attack/struggle happening on-screen. And the chorus of moans in the dark to the end movie? Creepy stuff.
Director/writer Bobact Goldthwait takes his frist shot at a horror film with Willow Creek, and I appreciate the restrained less is more approach to blood and gore here. In fact, if you take out the one scene, where Jim finds a strand of Bigfoots hair with a bloody piece of flesh attached to it, you wont see any blood and gore in Willow Creek. Goldthwait gives you a chance to think and use your imagination, because youre thinking about what couldve happened during the close calls with Bigfoot. Or youre thinking about the gruesome aftermath, because the attacks are pretty bad, if Goldthwait refuses to show them on camera, right?
As far as Bigfoot goes, you will not see the creature (well, the answer is a reluctant yes, if you count the paintings and the statue) in this film. Not once. Youll see footprints, youll hear the roars, and youll see a shot of bushes moving with a hidden Bigfoot, but thats it. Again, I dont have a problem with Goldthwaits less is more approach for Bigfoot, because he did a good job maintaining Bigfoots mystique. When you actually see Bigfoot, thats it. You immediately kill your chances for genuine scares and surprises, because theres no going back, when you finally pull the curtain open.
Willow Creek is not a groundbreaking film for the found-footage genre, and you need a lot of patience to sit through this one. Also, the problems in Jim and Kellys relationship (long story short, Jim proposes to Kelly. She rejects him, but they agree to move in together) are overshadowed by Bigfoot, but Goldthwait delivers the goods with a tense finale and an eerie cliffhanger, and the tent scene towards the end is genuinely spooky. Although, Ill warn you now, youll have to sit through a lot of lets talk about Bigfoot interviews, but the finale delivers a good amount of edge of your seat thrills, if you have what it takes to endure the documentary side of Willow Creek.
Rating: 6/10
