31 Days of Halloween, Day 21- The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972)

Directed By: Charles B. Pierce

Top 8 Cast: Vern Stierman, Willie E. Smith, Smokey Crabtree, Buddy Crabtree, Loraine Lamb, Chuck Pierce Jr., Bunny Dees, Denise Newsom

Plot: What being stalks the wooded river delta of Fouke, Arkansas after sundown? Is it a lonely creature made monstrous only by the near calvacade of bullets we see fit to spit its way? Or does its sheer strangeness mean us malevolent harm? Jim reminisces about his youth on Sulphur River, about the eerie sightings that occurred thereabouts and continue to this day, the landscape that buffeted him into manhood, and the people that called it home. Tie up your cats and lock up your dogs, it’s The Legend of Boggy Creek!

Poetic Response: The film is a berry creemee on a hot October night. Smokey Crabtree tells us of the badger he caught. “It was near about sunset,” he says. “The creature was standing right there.” Tangerine suns in lavender skies. Everything oozing and sloshing about, mystical portals openin’, let’s say, to other worlds (though maybe there’s enough magic and mystery in this one alone). The voices of bird and beast. The terrible realm of the ‘Quatch.

Background, Thoughts, Scribbles:

Friends know I’m a bit of ‘Foot head. Raised in the foothills of the Sierras, out about Pacific Northwest-ways, I never saw the creature though Brain_in_a_jar and I once took concrete camping in the hopes of casting footprints and my buddy Van Geem’s got a tale of getting “zapped”* doing spotted owl research. Still, Sasquatch remains my spirit monster**.

It was with delight that I finally got around to the grand-daddy of all Bigfoot films. If the Patterson-Gimli tapes awakened America’s cryptic fever, then Boggy Creek proved the idea had legs. Long ones. And big-feet too.*** If it weren’t for this picture there’d be no Harry and the Hendersons, no Sasquatch Sunset, no Willow Creek, Letters From the Big Man, Shriek of the Mutilated, Cry Wilderness, or The Carrier.****

Story goes that ad-man, Charles B. Pierce, inspired by the sensational sitings touted in the papers of his native Texarkana, borrowed some cash and went indie. When he couldn’t sell the picture to any distributors he renovated an old movie theatre and began promoting and showing the movie himself, soon there were five-block-long lines to get in to screenings. Such was the power of his film and P.T. Barnum like ability for showmanship. And such is the eternal draw that these ethereal hairy hominids have on our imaginations. Soon enough the picture sold to Howco International Pictures and went on to have second, third, fourth and fifth lives as a mainstay on the Drive-in circuit, television, and eventually home media.

I watched the remaster and I was sure glad I did! Fuzz and shadow remained intact but the color was so sharp as to be nearly psychedelic. The film is so lush! Framed, lensed, articulated, and edited so artfully! We get a real sense of place and time. Pierce largely keeps the cryptid in shadows or in distant copses of trees which is good because the more we se of the monster (fairly standard gorilla suit, this) the less terrifying and wondrous it becomes.

It’s rated G and it really had me rethinking what “general” audience means. I think, despite how scary this could be for young viewers (and it gets pretty intense) that it’s a fine use for the term especially if we consider “general” to mean “for everyone”. My spouse, Laura, may disagree that this film is “for everyone”, you gotta like fairly repetitious creature stalks, real hearty folk-pop tune twangs (the Chuck Bryant songs are so. good.), and a lot of saturation in the soup of rural, Southern, late 60’s life. But there’s monsters! Heartfelt theme songs for both the Bigfoot and Joseph Crabtree! Menace! Wonder! Dreamy lensing! General audience, indeed.

Ten for Ten, would recommend.

Second Opinions:

"We just wanted to make a movie that tapped into the primal fear generated by the fact-or-fiction format, like [The] Legend of Boggy Creek.” - Daniel Myrick, co-director of The Blair Witch Project

“A campy little fun-loving cult classic thriller.” - Frank Wilkins, ReelTalk Movie Reviews

“Not for me, I guess… but I must say, wow, such a beautiful film. So contemplative, so nostalgic (even though I wasn’t born in the 70s), so beautiful.” Emsteddi on Letterboxed

“I'm from Farmersville TX I've never see one of these creatures. I live on 11 acres on the back of my property is a creek. I go down there on my Honda ATV I like to go down there after dark but all I see is coyotes, raccoons, opossums, foxes skunks and white tail deer every once in a while I hear a cougar call out. I never take a gun with me. I just love to hear the wildlife. I really don't know what I would do if I saw one probably run off and leave my 4 wheeler. When I 12 my brother took me to see this movie I was kinda like oh heck no. I love this movie. These people are crazy turning their dogs loose on that Bigfoot. And you never let the cat out at night. I care more for my animals to do that.” - Youtube comment by @judythomas9705

"I really enjoyed this movie because of it's homespun quality not in spite of it.” - tiger_71602’s IMDB review

Score:

Autumn Vibes: 3/5

Scares & Chills: 3/5

Cultural & Cinematic Importance: 5/5

Monster Action: 3/5

* This is a term Bigfoot heads use to refer to the unique ability these cryptids have for disorienting your equilibrium and mental faculties. In my buddy’s case it was leading him off a mountain(!) and away from the creatures when his GPS was telling him where the true direction lay.

** My wife’s an elf, Brain’s a ghost, Bobby Ed’s a Dracula and D’s a goblin. I keep good counsel. I don’t know what Axman’s spirit monster is. Ax, if you’re reading, drop a line in the comments about yr spirit monster dawg.

***I know, I know.

**** And what kind of world would that be?