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found footage

Willow Creek – The Bigfoot Cometh

by Peter Foy

Willow_Creek_poster

There aren’t too many comics that have made the sort of drastic career transition that Bobcat Goldthwait has. Known for being one of the most singular stand-up comedians of the 80s and 90s, Goldthwait then turned his attention to directing films in the 2000s. After putting World’s Greatest Dad and God Bless America under his belt, Goldthwait established a John Waters-esque identity for himself, specializing in dark comedies that were caustic, scathing, and (for lack of a better term) seriously fucked up on so many levels. Still, there’s no denying that the man’s ingenuity for off-beat concepts earned him critical recognition, particularly for World’s Greatest Dad, which can be seen as the black comedy that star Robin Williams had been looking to act in for decades now. When Goldthwait had revealed that his next film would be a found-footage horror-film in the vein of The Blair Witch Project, there was certainly a level of both shock and anticipation around the project, as it seemed like such an unlikely turn of genre for the director. Willow Creek turns out to be a film that explores both new and familiar territory for his oeuvre, although perhaps not in a manner that’s fully adroit.

Taking place in rural California, the film immediately introduces us to Jim (Bryce Johnson) and Kelly (Alexie Gilmore), an L.A. couple that’s going on an odd sort of nature hunt. Jim essentially playing the part of Agent Mulder, with his girlfriend naturally Agent Skully, has come to the wilderness equipped with a camera in hopes of capturing footage of Bigfoot. The first half of the film mostly involves these characters talking to townsfolk, and filming intellectual property related to the mythic creature, along with elongated scenes of Jim and Kelly debating on the reality of such a thing existing. The second half, however, is when the film fully adjusts into being a horror film, as the two protagonists find themselves alone in the wilderness, and things take a turn for the worst.

For a director known for bizarre concept and scathing satire, Willow Creek has an oddly pedestrian set-up. It’s a common-place idea for the genre in which a couple going on a trek in hopes of documenting a super-natural presence, and the film has a fare share of cliches in it. For me, one of the most eye-rolling scenes in the film came in a scene where Jim proposes to Kelly, as it appears to be nothing more than an attempt on the film for us to sympathize with these characters right before the shit inevitably hits the fan. Granted, there haven’t been too many serious films made about Bigfoot (Goldthwait has even referred to the film as “Scary and the Hendersons”), but that curio isn’t quite enough to subvert how hackneyed the whole film often feels. It’s also upsetting that Goldthwait casted such a typically good-looking actor and actress for the two leads, as while Johnson and Gilmore both give serviceable acting, it would have been nice to see this indie horror film featuring leads that were a bit more uncommon for the genre.

That said, Goldthwait reveals a few previously un-displayed talents here, particularly during the head-lined 20-minute long take. During this scene, Willow Creek is at it’s most suspenseful, and while it may resort to typical Hollywood-esque pop-out scares, its craft and nuance are enough to make it stand out amidst other films that use similar scare tactics. In addition, Goldwaith also does some interesting things with the style of found-footage, wisely realizing that the less gore shown the better (admittedly, a tactic that was also borrowed from The Blair Witch Project).  Also, Goldthwait’s humor is very much appreciated, particularly in the film’s first half when it plays more like a mockumentary.

Despite Willow Creek’s central attempt at breathing new life into a tired horror sub-genre, the film works best when seen as a straight up horror film, rather than as any sort of social commentary or genre-film breakdown. For that reason, fans of Goldthwait’s may leave the theater disappointed, and even newcomers to the director may feel like they’ve witnessed something that was actually a bit of a lost opportunity. Still, the sprinkling of the un-conventional is what makes this otherwise normal horror movie really work, and it’s enough to make me speculate that Goldthwait has a real kick-ass film for us next time around.

Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES Tagged With: Bobcat Goldthwait, found footage, Horror Film, Willow Creek

High Marks for Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones

by Dane Benko

Poster for Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones
Poster for Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones
Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones poster

Viewer beware, you are entering into the lost land of imagination, after the warmth of Hollywood’s carefully placed and critically lauded hits have faded and you settle down to bed, intending to hit up the cineplexes over the next few weeks for a bit of catch-me-up before all those award shows hit, and upon scanning the listings, have the horrifying misfortune of seeing the new releases.  It has arrived: January, Hollywood’s graveyard of zombie franchises.

And what better to start the toss off into lonely auditoriums than a new spin-off of the wildly successful Paranormal Activity series.  The Marked Ones has all the warning signs of a train wreck: they’ve stopped numbering the iterations, the release was pushed back from the franchise’s annual holding space as the go-to Halloween movie, and except for a couple announced cameos, it’s dropping the lineage of the previous installments in favor of a brand new cast.  You could almost say it was… marked… for failure?

Except I basically had all that written before I’d seen it.  It’s actually a lot of fun, and if you’re getting tired seeing the giants of Hollywood clash over golden figurines, you might as well jump in for the ride.

Helmed by franchise writer Christopher Landon, The Marked Ones follows Jesse and Hector, two best buds recently graduated from high school, staving off boredom in their run-down apartment complex by toying around with the new camera Jesse’s received for graduation.  Between smoking pot and pranking each other, the two manage to start poking their camera into places they don’t belong and end up finding a strange ritual they don’t understand performed by Anna, the old woman downstairs, who they quickly decide must be some bruja.

Which isn’t really enough to distract them from setting off fireworks and other shenanigans, until Carlos the school valedictorian shows up and offs the old lady in a spectacular manner while Jesse notices a strange mark appear on his wrist, not to mention suddenly acquires spectacular abilities of strength and levitation.  Which is all well and good for his YouTube channel until strange noises start upsetting the electronics and his behavior starts to get weird.

Paranormal Activity The Marked Ones screenshot
“Yo Mr. White, what’d you do to my eye?” Oh wait, wrong Jesse.

From there it’s all exorcisms and shaky cam as Jesse and friends venture progressively deeper into lower levels of the bruja’s hellhole and even follow up on trying to find what caused Carlos to go loco.  Ali Rey makes her appearance to provide tie-in and exposition, and the audience tries to tell the characters what not to do as they immediately proceed to do precisely that.

 

However what makes the movie really roll is the friendship between Hector, played by Jorge Diaz, and Jesse, the headlining Andrew Jacobs.  As horror protagonists, they do predictably stupid things, but as Latino teenagers just trying to spend their last summer together and get laid, they’re those really goofy guys you know from that one party we don’t talk about.

 

Like how a good children’s movie will provide some references that will go over the head of the kiddos so that the adults can have a laugh, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones contains enough bumps, screeches, and scratches to keep the 14 year olds on edge while using the same elements of surprise and shock for some rather good slapstack pratfalls and screwball Spanglish.  The found footage style lets the story jump cut and fast forward through all the boring stuff until Hector manages to get the neighborhood gangsters to pull out the big guns (literally) and it’s all Cholos versus Brujas in some empty plastic-and-dust mansion somewhere up in mapped but unmarked gringo territory.

 

It’s worth the price of admission as long as you allow your b-movies to be packaged in a brand name.  The Paranormal Activity series has managed to keep a legitimate cult following from its beginnings as an actually independent breakout hit through its progressively commercial sequels (and prequel), and The Marked Ones indicates that the filmmakers are willing to expand the world and make it playful.

Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES, REVIEWS, uncategorized Tagged With: ali rey, andrew jacobs, b movie, bruja, Christopher Landon, exorcism, found footage, franchise, Halloween movie, horror, january releases, jorge diaz, latino, movie, movie review, paranormal activity, paranormal activity 5, paranormal activity the marked ones, review, sequel, spanglish, spin off, the marked ones, youtube

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