The Big Picture

  • The low-budget, found footage style of Willow Creek adds to the realistic nature of the film, making it feel like true lost footage discovered in the woods.
  • Watching Willow Creek on a small screen like a cell phone, amplifies the terrifying atmosphere of the film, and its defenseless, hopeless characters.
  • Some scenes in the film were filmed at the same campground where the Patterson-Gimlin film, an infamous Bigfoot footage, was captured. Adding a chilling layer of realism to Willow Creek.

Movies by nature are meant to be viewed on a large screen, whether it be a movie screen or your living room TV. The effects and cinematography take on a whole new form when viewed this way. But sometimes, as unpopular an opinion as this may be, sometimes a movie has a more significant effect on the viewer when it's viewed on something smaller – like a cell phone. Of course, there are still films that should never be viewed this way, but there are some that seem to have a more intense reaction when watched through the tiny hand-held screen of a cell phone. A prime example is 2013’s Willow Creek. Sure you could watch it on a larger screen, but doing so takes away a lot of the atmospheric tension that makes the film as excellent and effective as it is.

Willow Creek Film Poster
Willow Creek
Not Rated

A man and his girlfriend camp in the woods to capture firsthand evidence of Bigfoot.

Release Date
May 2, 2014
Director
Bobcat Goldthwait
Cast
Alexie Gilmore , Bryce Johnson , Laura Montagna , Bucky Sinister , Peter Jason , Timmy Red
Runtime
80 minutes
Main Genre
Horror
Tagline
Existing soon.

What Is 'Willow Creek' About?

Willow Creek is a found footage-style horror movie, written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait in 2013. The film follows couple Jim (Bryce Johnson) and Kelly (Alexie Gilmore) as they travel to Six Rivers National Forest in California in an attempt to get footage of the elusive Bigfoot. Jim is a hardcore believer in the mythical creature, meanwhile, Kelly is a skeptic simply tagging along to support her boyfriend’s passion and dedication. The pair stop in Willow Creek, California, which is known as the Bigfoot capital of the world (hence the film's name), and garner interviews from locals, asking about Bigfoot. They set up camp in the woods that night, going against the angry demand of a local man telling them to leave. They awaken in the night to the heavy sounds of creatures moving around, along with whooping and the distant sound of a woman crying.

Making their escape at dawn, Jim and Kelly find themselves lost in the woods, with the same noises that haunted them throughout the night chasing them as they try to leave. Ultimately, the pair are attacked by an unseen being (whom we can only assume is the elusive Bigfoot), resulting in Jim’s death and Kelly’s abduction. It’s eerie and bleak, and given the short runtime of just 79 minutes, everything seems to happen so suddenly that you feel hopelessly trapped inside Jim and Kelly’s nightmare.

Willow Creek is similar to the far more famous found-footage horror flick, The Blair Witch Project. Though the films focus on two very different antagonists, both are about everyday people on a quest to capture footage of urban myths, with dire consequences. But while The Blair Witch Project is a hugely popular film nowadays, and a favorite among horror fans, Willow Creek tends to fall a little under the radar.

Why Is 'Willow Creek' Better on a Phone?

While nothing is stopping you from seeking out Willow Creek on a larger screen, there’s something about it that just works exceptionally well when viewed on a cell phone. First of all, the movie is noticeably low-budget with shaky camera work, minimal location, and an overall seedy quality to its footage that just adds to the ambiance of the film. The characters feel like regular people, like a couple you’d encounter on the sidewalk and not give so much as a second glance. They’re so grounded in reality, and the background characters you encounter around town only add to that notion. It really does feel as though you’re watching the lost footage of this couple.

And granted, that’s what all found footage films are meant to feel like, but too often they feel overproduced and thus don’t quite have the same vibe to them. Willow Creek aces this and makes it wholly believable that someone just came across their video camera in the woods and uploaded the footage to the internet. In fact, it was noted in a commentary for the film that Bryce Johnson is a hardcore believer in aliens and all things mythical, and Alexie Gilmore is a tried and true skeptic – just like their characters.

But perhaps the most perfect and terrifying part of the film is the nearly twenty-minute unbroken shot of Jim and Kelly in their tent. Having been awoken by a strange knocking sound nearby, Jim turns on the camera again, as this sound is supposedly caused by sasquatches banging pieces of wood together. Kelly, however, believes this to just be some locals pranking them since they ignored their warnings. Hooting and whooping are heard in the footage, which only seems to excite Jim but puts Kelly more on edge. The sound of a woman crying can be heard growing closer, and this is when Jim starts to share in Kelly’s reasonable fear. They have nothing to defend themselves except for the flimsiness of their tent, and so they turn out the light in an attempt to fend off the attention of whatever is outside. However, it doesn’t really work, and when they turn the light on again they (and us) are greeted with a jump scare as the fearless creature throws things against their tent.

For twenty minutes we’re forced to watch in agony as Jim and Kelly helplessly cower inside their tent with no reprieve – just the ever-looming threat of a monster in the darkness outside. It feels inescapable, and though we as an audience know we’re in no peril, it feels like we’re trapped just as much as Jim and Kelly. This is why watching the film on a small screen dials up the intensity to an eleven. It truly feels inescapable then, as the terror is hand-held and right in front of your eyes. There’s not the safety net of a TV screen on the wall a few feet away, there’s simply your phone, in your hand, in the dark, and it’s utterly horrifying.

To make matters more terrifying, in the aforementioned commentary, it was revealed that the tent scene was filmed at the same campground in which Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin stayed at. Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin are the makers of the Patterson-Gimlin film, which is a 1967 59-second short film consisting of footage of an unidentified figure the pair claim is Bigfoot. Since then, many have tried to debunk the footage, though Patterson maintained up until his death in 1972 that the footage was real. The fact that the most terrifying, tense, and pivotal portion of Willow Creek was shot in the same place Patterson and Gimlin camped out, adds a layer of chilling realism that simply works in its favor. Watching it on a small screen like that of a cell phone will only further immerse you into the terror and atmosphere of this chilling tale.

Willow Creek is available to rent on Amazon in the U.S.

RENT ON AMAZON