THE LEGEND OF BOGGY CREEK (1972)

DIRECTED by Charles B. Pierce

SCREENPLAY by Earl E. Smith

STARRING - Vern Steirman as The Narrator, Chuck Pierce jnr as Young Jim, William Stump as Adult Jim...and the people of Fouke, Arkansas as themselves.

PLOT - Somewhere in the swampy wilderness, near the small town of Fouke, Arkansas, there stalks a strange being. Half man, half ape, this is the true story of the tiny settlement's people and thier various encounters with this bizarre creature that became known as the Fouke Monster...the Beast Of Boggy Creek...

PERFORMANCES - This is a true story and as a direct result of this it's very hard to judge the performances themselves, as to a large degree 90 percent of the cast aren't actors at all, rather they're the people of Fouke - the actual people who witnessed the "monster" playing themselves in dramatised reconstructions of their various encounters.

Unsurprisingly this means that most of the "performances" are absolutely terrible (as these people have never received any formal acting training) but for this film it really doesn't matter. The amateurish non-acting adds a sheen of realism and grittiness to the film - an extra element of authenticity.

This being a small backwoods American town we perhaps unsurprisingly get to meet some strange and eccentric characters along the way.

The town of Fouke seems to be almost exclusively inhabited by people with the surname Crabtree (I'm guessing the gene pool is a little shallow round those parts) - the various menfolk of the Crabtree clan all appear to be in late middle age wearing baseball caps and checked shirts - they also all seem to have faces that resemble John Wayne's saddle. The Crabtrees are all armed to the teeth with shotguns and will use them without a second thought - arguably the Sasquatch's "rampage" is caused by one of the Crabtrees shooting at it, prior to this encounter it seemed content just to run away from people.

The only member of the clan who seems slightly more peaceful is the youngest member, the teenaged Travis Crabtree who seems more intent on going fishing all day long and hanging out with the local hermit who lives on an island in the middle of Boggy Creek. Travis even gets his own theme song in the film - a country/folk song called "Hey Travis Crabtree" which gets played for an incredibly long time (or at least it feels like it) when we first meet him. Incidentally Travis Crabtree is also credited as being one of the camera operators on the end credits, further adding to this films "home-brewed" feel.

A quick word about Travis's hermit friend here as he's a truly memorable character - For starters he walks with a limp which the Narrator informs us is because "he shot himself in the foot during a boating accident..." WHAT ???? HOW THE HELL DO YOU MANAGE TO BLOW PART OF YOUR OWN FOOT OFF WITH A SHOTGUN WHILST CRASHING A BOAT ???? It makes no sense, presumably the reason for this is going to be long lost to the passage of time (and it's probably better that way). The hermit is also one of the only people in the film to not believe in the friendly neighbourhood Sasquatch - " I've lived out here for twenty years and ain't never seen or heard nothin'" he informs us. The hermit is by far one of the best things about this film.

Apart from the locals playing themselves, we also get a few "proper" actors...well, I say "actors" but they're only of the standard lower end B-movie quality, so they might as well be complete amateurs - there's very little in it in terms of "performance quality" between them and the local rednecks they cast.

There's a pair of "out of towner" married couples who share a cabin near the swamp, who get menaced by the creature towards the end of the film - they apparently had to get actors in for this bit because the real life families involved where so traumatised by thier earlier encounter that they had no wish to go anywhere near Boggy Creek again

Then we get the voiceover from Vern Steirman who narrates the entire film. To be fair to him, although his delivery is melodramatic he does manage to convey the creepiness of the story very effectively. Listening to his narration is like sitting round a campfire at night listening to someone tell a tall tale of terror. It's note perfect for setting up that all important spine tingling atmosphere and definitely elevates the film to another level.

VIOLENCE - The Sasquatch doesn't really hurt any humans, he just smashes a few doors and windows and generally unnerves people.

The one death he is (arguably) responsible for is the death of a kitten which is literally frightened to death when it sees the creature, however this is beyond the Sasquatch's control (he can't help looking scary), it still manages to be the most upsetting moment in the entire film if (like me) you're a cat lover.

SFX - The Sasquatch is clearly a bloke in a monkey suit BUT director Charles B. Pierce has the good sense at least to make sure we never see the creature clearly - he's only ever glimpsed as a shadowy shape in the distance or under very low lighting conditions at nighttime. This actually adds to the film's creepiness as what you imagine can sometimes be far more horrifying than what a filmmaker (especially one working on a low budget) can achieve onscreen. Less is more sometimes.

RATING - Don't let the amateur acting put you off, as this is a pretty decent little movie. 

It's got a cosy "campfire horror story" feel to it, mixed with a gritty quasi-documentary style. It's also absolutely beautifly shot - there's some lovely looking panoramic shots of the wilderness and swamp lands that really help to evoke the loneliness and isolation of the story's setting.

All in all a decent watch - it's quite slow paced in parts but as this type of film is more about creating an unsettling atmosphere than delivering high octane thrills then even that isn't a deal breaker.

4 shambling man-apes out of 5.

ART -