The Legend of Boggy Creek

Rating:
Summary: widescreen or not fantastic
Review: Showing my age, I saw this when it first came out, again as a co-feature at a drive-in, and then on its re-release in 1976/1977. A great little cheapie B-movie, that use to scare me a bit too.

I see where one person gave this one star, seemingly because it isn't in widescreen: I'm a widescreen fanatic too, but just having it on DVD is good enough for me. Widescreen would be great, particularly since I plan to get a widescreen TV, but...

I've been to Fouke a couple of times, including just a couple of weeks ago. The folks out there are rather proud of their legend.

Rating:
Summary: A tribute to an American Legend
Review: The Legend of Boggy Creek is not a documentary, nor is it a grotesque horror flick or mundane drama. It's a love song dedicated to that venerable American icon, the Sasquatch, and it's a safe and enjoyable scary movie for youngsters. This tale brings us back to a time when we were able believe in such intriguing and terrifying creatures as Bigfoot. The narrator invites us to take that nostalgic journey as he recalls and recreates the "real life" events that occurred during his childhood in Fouke, Arkansas and connects them to more contemporary (1970s) sightings. Quaint farm folk provide eyewitness accounts of the wild man's antics in interviews conducted by the filmmaker. This documentary style lends a sort of dodgy legitimacy to the legend as well as the vague feeling that you are watching a 16mm wildlife film in an elementary biology class. This approach soon gives way to several other narrative modes such as over-dramatization and bumpkin balladry. The overall direction is just as unpredictable and uneven; going from poorly filmed and confusingly edited dialog sequences to poetic, atmospheric shots of the hauntingly beautiful environment. The acting, music and other aspects of the film are of the extremely low budget variety. If you can manage to look past the film's many faults, you can come out with some memorable moments though. At the very least, it can be quite funny when watched with a critical eye. However, with a more forgiving view one can appreciate this film's heartfelt homage to the fascinating and frightening mysteries of the Legend of Boggy Creek.

This DVD is a no frills sort of affair, but it beats trying to watch a chewed up old VHS recording of the same print. It's probably a two star film that gets a couple of extra stars out of me for purely nostalgic reasons, but since it works as both a thriller for the young viewers and an unintentionally funny cheese flick for others, it deserves about three and a half stars.

BTW - The movie being quite accurately described by reviewer T. Gates is a film titled "Return to Boggy Creek" which has no relation whatsoever to this film, "The Legend of Boggy Creek".

Rating:
Summary: The best version on DVD.
Review: This dvd from Hens Tooth is much better than the one from UAV. The picture is much better. Pay the extra for the Hens Tooth, it's worth it.

Rating:
Summary: Fouke Monster Folklore
Review: This is one of the strangest documentaries ever filmed. Vern Stierman was a boy when he first heard the cry of the Fouke Monster. Now he is back in town and telling the story of the elusive creature.

Fouke, Missouri is located in the Southwest corner of the state. It has been the home of monster sightings for decades. The monster has been dubbed the Fouke Monster.

This move is part dramatization and part documentary. Many of the townspeople are played by themselves although Vern is not. The movie chronicles Vern's early encounter (aural only) with the creature and the way locals slowly began to believe that there really was something keeping to the water.

At one point there is some supposition as to what the creature is. It walks upright like a man. It is not a Sasquatch as it only has three toes instead of five. It is not a gorilla as it is orange. It might be an orangutan but doesn't act like one or have the right toes. No final theory is reached other than that enough people have seen it that it must be real.

The film looks like a low budget production and many of the night shots are quite dark. The shots of the creature are usually shadowy or an occasional arm through a window. But the atmosphere is seriously creepy. Modern horror film makers could learn a lot about atmosphere from this one.

This is a wonderful film but it is not a Discovery Channel or Tim Burns documentary. This is more down to Earth. Look for Return to Boggy Creek.

Rating:
Summary: Fouke Monster Folklore
Review: This is one of the strangest documentaries ever filmed. Vern Stierman was a boy when he first heard the cry of the Fouke Monster. Now he is back in town and telling the story of the elusive creature.

Fouke, Missouri is located in the Southwest corner of the state. It has been the home of monster sightings for decades. The monster has been dubbed the Fouke Monster.

This move is part dramatization and part documentary. Many of the townspeople are played by themselves although Vern is not. The movie chronicles Vern's early encounter (aural only) with the creature and the way locals slowly began to believe that there really was something keeping to the water.

At one point there is some supposition as to what the creature is. It walks upright like a man. It is not a Sasquatch as it only has three toes instead of five. It is not a gorilla as it is orange. It might be an orangutan but doesn't act like one or have the right toes. No final theory is reached other than that enough people have seen it that it must be real.

The film looks like a low budget production and many of the night shots are quite dark. The shots of the creature are usually shadowy or an occasional arm through a window. But the atmosphere is seriously creepy. Modern horror film makers could learn a lot about atmosphere from this one.

This is a wonderful film but it is not a Discovery Channel or Tim Burns documentary. This is more down to Earth. Look for Return to Boggy Creek.

Rating:
Summary: A classic example of the beauties in independent film making
Review: This movie is a classic example of the beauties in independent film making. Before there was "Blair Witch", there was "The Legend of Boggy Creek." Through voice over narration and subliminal framing of setting and a monster never quite seen, Smith builds a great suspense in the movie. Even though this was shot in 1972, it is still quite remarkable how such a simple idea made such a fine movie. Of course, if you ARE NOT a film buff or interested in the intricate art of movie making, you may find this film hokey and hard to watch. But for the artisit, this movie is a gem.

Rating:
Summary: A shame I can't give it zero stars
Review: This movie might've had some impact on the viewer it was originally played in the early '70s -- to kids, perhaps. To me, a man of 31, it was utter rubbish. In fact, it put me right to sleep ... literally. Extremely slow paced, boring, and purposeless. More shots of trees, the water, and other nature shots than of anything to do with the creature. And the creature itself is a boring rendition of "Swamp Thing" -- which, incidentally, is a much better film. Someone mentioned that "Boggy" was campy. I disagree. Swamp Thing is campy, "Creepshow" is campy; Boggy is a bad use of celluloid not worth watching, let alone buying. Save your money for something else, perhaps "Swamp Thing."

Rating:
Summary: A curious docudrama of a curious 70's phenomena
Review: This one is classic must-see if you're a 70's horror genre fan. I actually now just saw it for the first time. This is odd for me since I lived through the 70's and was shocked to have never heard of this one until recently.

My biggest criticism is the cheezy "ode to the monster" song. Even the webmaster lady at the Arkansas webpage section devoted to the Boggy Creek creature thought so too.Some would accurately describe this movies as more than a bit dated, and they'd be correct. The scene transitions are brutally abbrupt at times often cutting off the music in mid measure.

Nevertheless, I found this peculiar and unique movie worth an entire sitting.

To sum it up: Strange, thought provoking and even a bit nostalgic and bitter sweet at times. "Legend of Boggy Creek" left me feeling strangely thoughtful and reflective for days afterward, and for the first time in my life I briefly considered a future trip to Arkansas.

Rating:
Summary: the legend of boggy the Great
Review: thought the docu/movie was great as a child and now that im in my late thirtys. i still think its great even with the cheesy song and
the towns people named CRABTREE. Still one of the BEST

Rating:
Summary: The weirdest movie in the history of filmaking.
Review: You cannot put your finger on this film. While your viewing this you may ask "Is this a piece of garbage? Or is it brilliant?" The weird camera angles, the creepy people, and the way it cuts from documentary to dramatization is astounding. There are some pretty intense scenes in this most significant entry into "Cinema Du Sasquatch" There is a great scene where these girls and a baby are in a run down cabin deep in the woods, the one girl walks outside to get a pail of water from the well and notices some movement from beyond the timber. This particular shot is so impressive it is similar to "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" style of filmaking. The scene follows with with a dynamic episode where the "big ol' hairy monster" is scaring the poor girls half to death. But then that scene is followed by another of the monster walking through the swamp with a nice folk song being sung about him. Its almost like half the film was directed by Tobe Hooper and the other half by Cheech and Chong.
Regardless, for any fan of Bigfoot genre-this is a must!! It is nightmarish, laughable and twisted but above all it is a very, very entertaining film.