Good news! I’ve finally gotten Alexie’s work as Kelly in the Bobcat Goldthwait found footage film WILLOW CREEK up in the gallery. There are three things including the main film caps, plus the extras…that aren’t much. The DVD/Bluray were a standard release with minimal extras. The upside is the screencaps for the main film are in 720p therefore a resolution of 1280X720 as are the HD trailer caps. The downside is the extras are in standard form with a resolution of 640×360. I couldn’t get any better quality than that without the pixels being blown or the quality being too blurry. Sorry about that.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I loved this movie with a capital “L”. I’m not all that fond of the found footage genre, however, this film is an exception. I love the premise as well as loving both Alexie (who wouldn’t) and Bryce Johnson as Jim. Bobcat Goldthwait knew what to do with this film. What was so good about it was the lore it was based upon. The infamous Patterson/Gimlin footage from 1972 was shown all over the world as proof of Sasquatch’s existence, however, there was plenty of scorn going around about the validity of the footage. I remember seeing this first on an episode of the Leonard Nimoy series In Search Of back in the mid seventies. I thought all the quirky characters including many in the area playing themselves added a bit of realism to the film. The draw though has to be the seventeen minute single camera shot toward the end of the film with Kelly and Jim waiting out the night as they are visited by what appears to be a Bigfoot. The rest of the film is just plainly delicious and the ending is unexpected so that when it does happen, it sort of shocks one. Though it does give a whole new meaning to the term “Forest Bride.” All I can say is poor Kelly. Alexie is just amazing in this and the audio commentary on the disc is so hilarious as Alexie is joined by Bobcat and Bryce, who is a Bigfoot aficionado.

• [1436] SCREENCAPS: WILLOW CREEK
• [0109] SCREENCAPS: WILLOW CREEK – DELETED SCENE
• [0029] SCREENCAPS: WILLOW CREEK – BRYCE JOHNSON’S
  “THE MAKING OF WILLOW CREEK”

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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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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