I'm a big fan of bigfoot movies. I'm a big fan of found footage films. I've always thought Bobcat Goldthwait is an interesting filmmaker. So when I heard he was making Willow Creek - a found footage bigfoot horror movie! - I was really stoked. I've always enjoyed when established filmmakers dip their toes in the found-footage horror world (i.e. the extremely overlooked The Bay from Barry Levinson), and I assumed Goldthwait had a good reason to get into the game.
And generally speaking, he did. Willow Creek suffers from some of the typical issues with found footage films (namely treading water a bit in the first half of the film), but ultimately is successful as a horror film. (As a bigfoot film? hmmm... maybe not so much.)
Jim and Kelly are a young couple going out to Willow Creek to search for bigfoot - it apparently is near the site of the famous Patterson-Gimlin film (the holy grail of bigfoot enthusiasts from 1967). Jim is a believer whereas Kelly is a skeptic, so you get both sides of the "is bigfoot real" argument. Jim thinks the trip will make for a great documentary, and Kelly is along for the moral support. They hang out in town, interviewing locals and have fun/mock the town's reliance on bigfoot - he is the main reason people come to town, I guess. After a (mostly) hassle-free time in town, they head out into the woods. As you might expect, things don't go particularly well.
There was a lot to like about Willow Creek. The leads (Alexie Gilmore and Bryce Johnson) do a great job seeming real and natural - a key in these found footage deals. The script (also by Goldthwait) wisely gives us time to care about them and doles out little bits of information here and there - they are at a crossroads in their relationship... will they be staying together for the long haul? Or is it time to call it and move on? It adds a little more heft to the story - instead of just being kids heading out to the mountains to get drunk or whatever, you've got a couple that you can relate to and root for.
It also stays pretty true to it's found-footage roots. "We're making a documentary" is more or less the standard excuse for found footage films these days, but why fix what isn't broken? That central conceit is stuck to the whole time - there are no cheats/other camera angles (that I saw), and every time the camera was used it made sense (i.e. using it for lights in the dark/whatever).
But I think the impetus for the creation of the whole film is a section in the middle where Jim and Kelly are "attacked" for the first time. After there's been some mysterious-but-not-too crazy stuff going on, they are awakened in the middle of the night by noises outside of the tent. They turn the camera on and just let it run inside of the tent, facing the two of them, as the nosies slowly escalate. This takes place as one unbroken shot, and probably lasts 12-15 minutes. It's not some technical marvel or anything, but it is an interesting experiment in audience immersion in a film. Honestly, not a heck of a lot happens here, but you really get sucked in to every little movement/noise. It's a textbook example of how tension is created by waiting for something to happen, and not just the thing itself happening. The whole segment works like gangbusters, and makes the somewhat slow build to that point worth it.
In any horror movie, you inherently place yourself in the character's shoes. There are some definite moments of "I wouldn't have done that" - for example, if I'm ever camping and warned twice by two different creepy guys (once aggressively so) to go away, I'm going to go away. And if I leave my campsite and come back to find it destroyed, that's my queue to get the heck out of there. No question.
Also, if you are the type that likes concrete answers/endings, this one probably isn't for you. Just a warning - I know people who would definitely be frustrated by the ending here.
Overall, this was a solid flick. It's not as outright intense as some other found footage flicks I've seen, but it brings some good new stuff to the table (character-driven drama you actually care about, and the solid scare scene inside the tent).
I would recommend this film.
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