A really good review on Alexie’s film WILLOW CREEK. Read on.

Willow Creek Well-honed horror from former stand-up Bobcat Goldthwait

Source: The List
Date: 29 April 2014
Written by: Matt Glasby

They say there are no second acts in American life – then there’s Bobcat Goldthwait. A stand-up comic most famous for playing helium-voiced punk Zed in Police Academy 2 (1985), Goldthwait has since been busy making sly, often filthy, indie films such as World’s Greatest Dad (2009) and God Bless America (2011). And for his next trick? A found-footage horror about Bigfoot, of course.

Willow Creek is also a film of two acts, the first sunny and (seemingly) loose, the second precision-tooled for maximum creepiness. Holidaying couple Jim (Bryce Johnson) and Kelly (Alexie Gilmore) are on a sasquatch hunt around Bluff Creek, California (where the famous 1967 Bigfoot footage was shot), capturing their findings on camera.

To begin with their trip follows the format established by The Blair Witch Project (1999). Encountering eccentric locals (often non-actors) aplenty, they – and we – mock their small-town superstitions, while ignoring repeated warnings not to venture into the woods. ‘It’s not a joke,’ says an angry local. ‘You shouldn’t go there.’ But go they do and, well, you know the rest.

Except you don’t. Unlike most found-footage characters, Kelly and Jim are a charming, convincing couple. They’ve also brought a tripod, so their film is surprisingly easy on the eye. Goldthwait has some tricks up his sleeve, too, not least an astonishing 19-minute static shot of the couple in their tent, becoming increasingly terrified, as something stomps around outside.

It’s at this point you realise that nothing here is accidental. Though it feels improvised, this is a well-honed work, with details laughed off in the daylight becoming spookily significant once darkness falls. Funny, scary and over in less than 80 minutes, Willow Creek is so much better than it needs to be; it might be the start of a second act for the genre itself.

Limited release from Fri 2 May.

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I have a couple of things for you from Alexie’s BELIEVE episode. I have a couple of HQ stills as well as a couple of on set HQ images.

• [002] STILLS: BELIEVE – E1X07 BANG AND BLAME
• [002] ON SET: BELIEVE – E1X07 BANG AND BLAME

   

And Alexie’s gifts just keep giving. Another heartwrenching perofrmance from Alexie. This time in the NBC show ,strong>BELIEVE. Her scenes with the little girl Johnny Sequoyah where pretty tear inducing. I know she almost did it to me. Damn you Alexie. Ironically her name was Sarah in this episode. Seems she cannot get away from that name. Where else did her character go by that name? That’s right, NEW AMSTERDAM. The was such a good show, and she did it with The Kingslayer from Game of Thrones.

• [797] SCREENCAPS: BELIEVE – E1X07 BANG AND BLAME

Finally something to report as far as Alexie is concerned. I have some screencaps from an episode of CASTLE she did back in February. She was heartbreaking. She played a woman who thought she’d committed a murder. Thank goodness she didn’t do it. Did I say this was a spoiler free site? Nope.

• [510] SCREENCAPS: CASTLE – E6X16 ROOM 147

I found an event Alexie attended from back in 2009. Alexie is looking radiant as always.

• [006] EVENT: 02/16/2009 – TRACY REESE – FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE FALL 89 MBFW

    

Bobcat Goldthwait is showing WILLOW CREEK at the Syracuse Film Festival. The film stars Alexie as part of a couple who go into the infamous woods to try to find proof of the bipedal creature. The article to fallow.

Bobcat Goldthwait shows ‘Willow’ Creek’ at Syracuse film festival

Writer-director Bobcat Goldthwait’s movie “Willow Creek” is screened during the Syracuse International Film Festival on Saturday, October 5, 2013, at the Palace Theater. Appearing on screen are actors Alexie Gilmore and Bryce Johnson.

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I finally was able to get some screencaps uploaded and added to the gallery. Most are of some of Alexie’s television roles. Hope you enjoy.

• [530] SCREENCAPS: 90210 – E5X13 #realness AS ELIZABETH MCMANUS
• [430] SCREENCAPS: HAWAII FIVE-0 – E2X21 PAN MAKE LOA AS
  VANESSA PALMER
• [743] SCREENCAPS: HOUSE M.D. – E8X04 RISKY BUSINESS AS AINSLEY BARTON
• [873] SCREENCAPS: NURSE JACKIE – E1X08 PUPIL AS AMY GREENFIELD

   

A really good and positive review of Alexie’s film WILLOW CREEK. I like those. Enjoy.

FEARnet Movie Review: ‘Willow Creek’

After films like Shakes the Clown (1991), Sleeping Dogs Lie (2006), World’s Greatest Dad (2009), and God Bless America (2011), you surely know what to expect from writer/director Bobcat Goldthwait by now, right? Loud, colorful, perhaps even garish social commentary and raunchy farce from a stand-up comic turned actor turned surprisingly good filmmaker. Wrong!

The man’s latest film is a refreshingly matter-of-fact horror/thriller called Willow Creek, and to my eyes, it’s the best sort of “homage” you can do. Based solely on Willow Creek it seems plainly evident that Goldthwait is a fan of A) “found footage” horror films in general, and B) The Blair Witch Project in particular, and so he packed up a few (very good) actors, a handful of cameras, and hit the road to make a low-key scary movie that works for all the reasons I just mentioned.

Right off the bat I’ll “warn” you that the 78-minute Willow Creek is what’s widely referred to as a slow burn. As in, the first two-thirds of the movie are spent setting up the (simple) plot, the (cool) setting, and the (refreshingly cool) lead characters. Jim (Bryce Johnson) is an amateur filmmaker who wants nothing more than to document a trip deep into “Bigfoot” territory, and Kelly (Alexie Gilmore) is his sweet, smart girlfriend who comes along to help out.

That’s it. Two people, one camera, one goal: dig up some dirt on Bigfoot!

At its best moments, Willow Creek feels like someone (probably Goldthwait) was watching Blair Witch and thought, “Hey, that’s cool, but what if we tried a new angle, or went in a different direction, or what if we (I dunno) made the characters likable?” (I’m just kidding around. I love The Blair Witch Project, and the fact that it still inspires good filmmakers is a testament to its overt coolness.) Johnson and Gilmore bring an effortless chemistry to the film, which (it must be said) elevates Willow Creek beyond so many of its “found footage” ilk. For a horror flick in which, frankly, not a whole lot happens for 45 minutes, the actors do make it interesting enough.

The patient horror fans will certainly enjoy what the third act of Willow Creek has to offer, and soon there will be a lot of geeky discussions over the film’s one “super-long” (almost 20 minute!) take, but speaking as a guy who sees a lot of movies in which two people point a camera at dark shadows, I say Willow Creek is a calm, cool. creepy little winner. It coasts on the skills of the lead actors, and then it transforms into a powerful cauldron of legitimate suspense. Lots of indie horror flicks can steal a scare or shock you with some gore, but Willow Creek sustains actual suspense for an admirable amount of time. Straightforward, simple, scary. I like it.

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I was able to get a hold of another event Alexie attended. This time from 2009 and the “I Hope They Sell Beer In Hell” premiere. Alexie looks gorgeously hip as always. Enjoy.

• [002] EVENT: 09/21/2009 – I HOPE THEY SELL BEER IN HELL PREMIERE – ARRIVALS

 

Double postings tonight. I have two new photoshoots added to the gallery. I love how Alexie looks. So beautiful.

• [003] PHOTOSHOOT: 01/19/2009
• [004] PHOTOSHOOT: 06/17/2009