The found footage format has been done to death, resurrected and bludgeoned some more. It doesn’t matter if you’re sick of the genre, the films are generally cheap to produce and more often than not net a tidy profit. But that doesn’t mean you have to like what’s released.
Willow Creek pits two hapless campers on the search of the legendary Bigfoot. Jim (Bryce Johnson) is obsessed with the legend, and talks his girlfriend Kelly (Alexie Gilmore) into exploring the location of the most famous sighting, the titular Willow Creek. Follow Jim and Kelly as they talk to locals, bicker and get lost in the woods and reproduce ever other cliche associated with the genre. Will they find the fabled beast? Will they survive to tell the tale? Chances are you’ll fail to care after half an hour.
The film is incredibly unoriginal, even for found footage. It takes all the best parts from The Blair Witch Project while failing to retain any of the tension, scares or excitement. Director Bobcat Goldthwait takes “less is more” to the extreme. There are a few moments that tease something might actually happen, but most of the time it’s Jim and Kelly wandering about the forest talking about something we never feel we encounter. Goldwaithe spends too much time showing all is well, that when things do take the inevitable turn for the worse they’re condensed into a rushed climax with no emotional payoff.
At 77 minutes it’s at least 60 minutes too long. What could have been an interesting short film is dragged out and padded with filler to ensure a feature film classification. It’s boring, dull and does nothing to captivate. A predictable yet infuriating ending rounds off a disappointing effort.
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