The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972)

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

As Good As It Gets

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

After a rather ominous opening sequence, THE LEGEND OF BOGGY CREEK begins. A giant, bipedal creature is roaming the countryside around the tiny town of Fouke, Arkansas, screaming its bloodcurdling scream. We know this because the narrator tells us so. One must feel sorry for the so-called "Fouke monster". I mean, here he / she / it is, minding its own business, and here come the hillbillies! Hell, it's probably part of an entire Sasquatch society, forced to co-exist w/ the Hee-Haw brigade! This movie points out the horror of this dire situation, especially during the infamous "draft on the baby" incident! Don't these backward humans have anywhere else to live? Must their dwellings encroach ever further into yeti land? What of the promises made to them during the Bigfoot Conventions of 1806? Hmmm? Explain that away, Uncle Sam!... P.S.- The banjo-rich theme song must be heard! It keeps popping in and out, piercing our skulls like a slaughterhouse bolt-gun!...

Good Sasquatch movies are about as elusive as the legendary creature itself; drive-in classic The Legend of Boggy Creek is not one of them.Told in a documentary style, complete with sober voice-over, the film consists of a series of lame re-enactments of encounters with the monster and dull interviews with the locals of Fouke, Arkansas, who are menaced by the beast. The atmospheric rural locations go some way to creating an aura of creepiness, but this is undone by pedestrian direction, weak performances, and a creature that looks like a man in a moth-eaten gorilla suit (probably because that is exactly what it is).The inclusion of not one, but two cheesy songs—one about the creature, the other about a kid called Travis Crabtree—also go to make The Legend of Boggy Creek a far from effective shocker.For those not deterred by my scathing remarks, expect to be less than thrilled by the discovery of oversized footprints in a field, not in the least bit scared by the monster's hairy arm reaching through a window, completely unconcerned for the safety of a coop of chickens, not horrified at all at the thought of smashed flowerpots, and more than a tad amused at the sight of a petrified man hurtling through a balsa wood door.

Granted I was only about 12 when I saw this (the year it was released), yet it is the only movie that has ever really given me goose-bumps.Everything since then has made me, well, laugh - at their attempts to frighten me (inadvertently annoying those around me). Something about the possibility of something being out there. I know it ain't true, but due to this original classic, for a split second I wonder...I spend a fair amount of time camped out in the middle-of-nowhere, too. In an odd & interesting way this all helped me to get over unreasonable fears; made me get up and go our into the dark, alone, and appreciate it for what it is; different.

My post is not so much a review of the story itself but more about my reaction and the effect the film had on me. Although widely believed to be strictly a drive-in movie "The Legend of Boggy Creek" actually opened in first-run indoor theaters in several markets across the county as well as the drive-ins.I was fortunate enough to see the film in 1973 in a first-run indoor theater on a 60-foot wide screen. I'm not ashamed to admit at 23 years of age how much it frightened me then and still does. This is one of two films that actually gave me goose bumps and made my skin crawl more than once during the showing ("It's Alive" was the other one) and I've seen just about every horror film of the past 50 years. Arriving home after the movie I was even afraid to open the car door! I cautiously eyed the nearby bushes for fear the creature was lurking there. Such a ridiculous way to act for a 23-year-old but that's the effect it had on me. The people in the film that play themselves all did a pretty good job considering they are not actors. Their presence along with the look and style of the film that Pierce achieves makes it much more real than a polished Hollywood production with professional actors could ever have been. The music by Jamie Mendoza-Nava is no doubt one of the most eerie and spookiest scores ever created for a horror film. But why so many laughs and jokes about the Travis Crabtree song? Admittedly it does shift the mood of the story at that point but I like the song. I think it suits the scene very well as Travis slowly paddles his canoe towards the hilltop island and sets up his campground. I find it also allows a little relaxation from the anxiety and tension of the film. I'll say this much: Travis is one brave fellow! You wouldn't find me venturing anywhere near that place especially camping and spending the night?! No way--I'm outta here!!It's easy to see how the poor quality DVD's currently on the market leads one to assume that the film was shot in 16mm on grainy inferior stock and blown up to 35mm but that's just not true. In an interview with Charles B. Pierce he states that it was shot on 35mm film in Techniscope and Technicolor using an older camera he had acquired. Of course some footage was purposely shot hand-held to achieve the documentary look and feel. According to Pierce no distributor in Hollywood was interested in the film so he reopened an old theater in Texarkana, cleaned it up and began running his film. Before long there were lines of people that stretched about 4 blocks long! Seeing "The Legend of Boggy Creek" on a 60-foot wide screen is not the same as video. The opening shots of the swamps and bottom lands were both ominous and panoramic on the big screen. And the scene of the little boy running across the open field with the sun setting in the distance creates an eerily effective mood. Unfortunately the sun is barely even visible on the full screen DVD I have.Evidently a decent 35mm wide-screen print was not available or could not be located when the film was first put on video. More than likely the one or two video sources were probably taken from a 16mm print. And from there sprang the inferior 2nd and 3rd generation copies put out by various distributors giving Boggy Creek an unfair and false reputation as a cheap and shoddy production. The film doesn't deserve this. One day hopefully someone will secure a 35mm wide-screen print and give the film a proper DVD release.