WILLOW CREEK (2013) movie review

Willow Creek (2013) d. Bobcat Goldthwait (USA)

I’ll admit from the outset, it might seem odd to the casual observer that, after my lambasting of the Drew Barrymore-produced Happy Camp a few months back, I should be any less brutal in my treatment of yet another Sasquatch-themed found-footage flick that borrows heavily from The Blair Witch Project’s template. The fact that one succeeds wildly while the other only succeeded in testing my patience vividly illustrates that mere story or narrative approach are far less important than how those elements are utilized. It also helps that Goldthwait has proven himself over the years to be a resourceful and savvy filmmaker, knowing how and when to push his viewers’ emotional buttons; within the single-camera confines, this is an essential skill set and the writer/director perfectly orchestrates the onscreen action to full effect.

If all hamburger buns came with toes, life would be infinitely better.

THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999) movie review

Blair Witch Project, The (1999) d. Myrick, Daniel/Sanchez, Eduardo (USA)

(I also invite everyone to check out our heated 2011 round table discussion over on Kitley's Krypt as part of the Cinematic Crossroads program.)

All you low-budget horror filmmakers out there take note: You can make an astonishingly original and frightening film for barely any money at all; it simply requires a fresh approach and more imagination than Karo syrup. Witness this groundbreaking and box office shattering sensation from first timers Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez, which takes the premise of a trio of student documentarians wandering around a forested area of Maryland and manifests a shining example of minimalist “theatre of the mind.”