The Legend Of Boggy Creek

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Watched this last night, have never seen it before. Knew it was supposedly a sasquatch psuedo-documentary mixed with more traditional narrative scenes, kind of an odd mix. I don't think it works very well, to be honest. It's an interesting movie in that it tries to do something a little different but by switching back and forth from narrated 'documentary' footage to non-documentary footage it's hard to stay in the moment. I think as a cultural glimpse into the lives of some Arkansas swamp people it's kind of interesting I guess.

Goofy theme song over the end. There is some nice camera work that captures the locations really well but none of the bigfoot related bits are particularly convincing but the filmmakers get some credit for keeping the creature mysterious at least.

[Andrew Monroe Pallid Hands Find all posts View Profile Close Andrew Monroe]

It doesn't hold up so well today but this really scared me when I saw it in the theater back in the 70s. Like you say, the location footage is very nice and has a really eerie quality to it.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Yeah, maybe if I'd seen it when I was younger I'd have found it more effective. I think watching it yesterday I was too easily distracted by all the flaws (multiple cuts and cameras obviously used in what was supposed to be captured live, documentary footage). Made it hard for me to suspend my disbelief.

[Andrew Monroe Pallid Hands Find all posts View Profile Close Andrew Monroe]

As a youngster the documentary style was what really shook me up, it was easy for 10 or 11 year old eyes to see it all as "real". That, and the dude who's surprised while he's on the throne, haha. The narration was also really effective, gave it a haunting quality.

Is there a nice dvd of this? I have a bootleg from one of those pd outfits.

[Jimmy Simard Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jimmy Simard]

Yes there is, but don't expect to learn more about the film as it came without a single extras. Of course I bought it in 2006 so maybe a better one was release since than...

[Gary Banks Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Gary Banks]

This was very effective back in the day when it first ran. Made a shitload of money too.

[Ehren H Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ehren H]

I've actually never seen this one, but have wanted to ever since I read a big interview with Charles B. Pierce in an old issue of Fango. He's definitely a talented guy, Town That Dreaded Sundown scared the crap out of me when I first saw it.

It's a definite shame Pierce passed away before he was able to do some commentary tracks for his flicks. He seemed to really enjoy doing these horror flicks about the local legends of his hometown, and if that interview was any indicator, he'd probably have tons of cool info to give us on a commentary track.

[Richard--W a straight arrow Find all posts View Profile Close Richard--W]

I didn't realize Hen's Tooth had released The Legend of Boggy Creek. Hen's Tooth isn't a bootlegger, are they? They specialize in independent films and feminist films. They are known for releasing VHS quality transfers on DVD, but authorized. They control some excellent films. They finally upgraded Cross of Iron but I'm still waiting for them to upgrade some of their other titles.

Texas filmmaker Charles B. Pierce had a number of independent hits in the 1970s and 1980s. I'd buy all his films if they were out in better quality. That scene in the woods in The Town That Dreaded Sundown is still scary, so far as I'm concerned. I think my copy of that came from Koukol.

[Jimmy Simard Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jimmy Simard]

Hen's Tooth isn't a bootlegger, are they?

Not to my knowledge. They had the colaboration of the producers of Flesh Gordon and Alice Sweet Alice on their release of those films wich sound like a good proof of legitimacy to me.

[Richard--W a straight arrow Find all posts View Profile Close Richard--W]

Pierce was as adept at promotion and distribution as he was at film making. Several of his films remain unreleased on DVD:

[Horace Cordier Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Horace Cordier]

Wow - never heard of that Jaclyn Smith flick and it looks killer. I still have a thing for her - she's like the ultimate GILF.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Though I wasn't wowed by Boggy Creek, I do appreciate The Town That Dreaded Sundown and would love to see more of his work hit DVD - those one sheet images are awesome, Richard.

[Dark Horse 77 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dark Horse 77]

I figured after the original Town That Dreaded Sundown was finally given an official release that Boggy Creak wouldn't be far behind. Still waiting on this one.

[C.D. Workman Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close C.D. Workman]

I'm a big fan of both THE LEGEND OF BOGGY CREEK and THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN. I first saw LEGEND way back when I was around five or six and it scared the shit out of me. I hate to confess this, but I still get a little creeped out when I watch it, mostly because of that early reaction. On the one hand, I recognize that it's pretty silly, unconvincing stuff, but it just has this strange nightmarish quality about it, no doubt a holdover from childhood. I watched SUNDOWN for the first time on Blu-ray two years ago and was surprised by how much I liked it (and how good it looked). The film is equal parts crappy and brilliant, waxing between unintentionally funny and genuinely thrilling. Now if only LEGEND would get the same kind of treatment on Blu.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

A clip from the restoration, still in progress.