Badasses, Boobs and Body Counts
Home
About
Badasses
Boobs
Body Counts
Everything Else
BBandBC Podcast
Upcoming BBandBC Shows
The Plot: The Legend of Boggy Creek begins with an over-view of Fouke Arkansas, population 350. Aside from homes, Fouke has several stores, a couple of gas stations, a post office, a school, a garage, a motel and two cafe’s where men gather to tell tales of the fish they’ve caught and the game they’ve shot.
Next we meet several people who live in Fouke. Smokey Crabtree raises beef cattle and traps part time. He also works as a pipeline welder. His son, Travis Crabtree, walks and paddles his canoe setting his traps for miles every morning before attending school. John P. Hixon, John W. Oates and Herb Jones are also part of this quite community.
Yes, Fouke is a right pleasant place to live, until the sun goes down. It’s then the folks living in Fouke fear for their lives as there’s a so-called monster living among them. John P. Hixon bears witness to the monster while hunting in the woods. John W. Oates explains how his prized hogs have been strangled and killed. Fred Crabtree (Jeff Crabtree) spots the monster for the first time thinking that it might be some sort of wild man. There’s no doubt that something is out there and it’s not content by staying in the thick brush of the Boggy Creek.
The Takeaway: Make no mistake about it, The Legend of Boggy Creek is a cornerstone film in the vast array of Bigfoot themed films. The film is a docudrama based on real reports given by real people living in Fouke Arkansas (pronounced as “Fowk”). Filmed in and around Fouke, the stomping grounds of director Charles B. Pierce, the story uses actual witnesses (non-actors), and real locations to recreate the encounters of what has now become known as The Fouke Monster. This of course lends a tremendous amount of realism to the film and is a part of its success.
Pierce’s decision to keep the monster mostly out of frame, or in soft focus when in frame (this technique ignites ones imagination), adds to the creepy tone and atmosphere of the film. Had the monster been shown in detail, the viewer certainly would have seen the cheaply, slightly modified, gorilla suit and would have likely laughed while leaving the drive-in. So keeping the creature blurred in both foreground and background scenes was key to its realism. In fact, the decision to focus on the ‘encounters’ more-so than the ‘monster’ helped scare the hell of an entire generation and shaped the way future cryptid cinema would be produced (albeit on a much less successful level).
Despite its financial success, The Legend of Boggy Creek is riddled with technical deficiencies. Many scenes are underlit, this is especially noticeable during scenes shot at nite (usually when the monster attacks). Other scenes are out of focus and the non-actor performers are often framed incorrectly and several scenes are over-exposed. Oddly enough though, these are the very things that help keep this film from feeling over-produced, or fake if you will. These are the very things that keep you on the edge of your seat from one scene to another. Another issue many people have with The Legend of Boggy Creek is its slow pace. This is caused by the film being “talk heavy” as it is for the most part narrated by the supposed, elder, Pierce (actual narration by Vern Stierman).
Film Facts: The Legend of Boggy Creek was directed by Charles B. Pierce and had a budget of roughly $160,000 to produce. In retrospect, and considering what the film made, upwards of $25,000,000 (this number varies depending on who you speak with), The Legend of Boggy Creek was a huge success and a ground-breaking film in terms of how it was produced and marketed. Pierce went on to direct 11 other films including the official, less successful sequel, The Barbaric Beast of Boggy Creek, Part II (1985). In 1975 Pierce directed The Town That Dreaded Sundown , a film in which leveraged the same type of filmmaking and production techniques used in The Legend of Boggy Creek . The Town That Dreaded Sundown is a period piece set in Arkansas in which a Texas Ranger hunts down a hooded serial killer who terrorizes a small Arkansas community (a must see for fans of the horror genre).
Here’s some additional information about Charles B. Pierce, He wrote the Clint Eastwood directed and acted, Sudden Impact (1983) and claims to have written the phrase “Go Ahead, Make My Day” in the story. This of course went on to become a staple in pop-culture and has since been used in many films following Eastwood’s fourth Dirty Harry film .
Thoughts In My Head: - Full disclosure, I love this film - I wonder if Smokey and Travis Crabtree are still alive - How did people function living in parts of Fouke. It seems very isolated - OK, I understand your baby is cold, but cover the draft yourself you lazy ass - If I see a big hairy creature just outside my house, I’m so out of there - I really want to believe that Bigfoot exist, but I just don’t know - The Legend of Boggy Creek wreaks of Grindhouse and 42nd street greatness - OK, I know the film is slow but I still love it
Favorite Badass or Badass Moment: Sorry kids, no badasses in this one Favorite Boobs or Boobs in a Scene: Sorry kids, no boobs in this one Favorite Death Scene: Sorry kids, no deaths in this one
Boob Count: 0 pair Body Count: 0
IMDB Rating: 3.8 / 10 My Rating: 4.5 / 10
Final Thoughts: Does the Fouke Monster exist? Did it ever exist? We may never know. But it’s hard to ignore the facts that the film lays out in front of you as they are indeed ‘real facts’ from ‘real people’ who encountered something out in the woods near Boggy Creek.
Google +1
The Plot: PICK-UP begins with Chuck (Alan Long) peeing on the side of the road standing next to a motor home (a tour bus really). In the distance are two young hippie chicks sitting in a field waiting for a ride to come along. After a brief discussion whether they should ride along with him, they get up and get on the bus. Once on the bus we see that Maureen (Gini Eastwood) is hesitant about riding along with Chuck due to his astrological sign. But Carol (Jill Senter) has no issues what-so-ever as she immediately flashes her boobs at a truckload of rednecks passing by.
Not long after the adventure begins, Chuck’s boss (Tom Quinn), calls him (yes, this motor home comes equiped with a working phone that gets service in the middle of nowhere) and asks if he’s going to have the bus there on time. It’s here we learn that Chuck is transporting the bus from one end of the state to the other and if he arrives early he’ll get a $20 bonus. After Chuck informs his boss that he’s stuck in the swamps due to nasty weather, his boss tells him that he’s going to send a plane to search for him and the bus (this must be one very important bus).
At this point in the film things start to get really weird, specifically with Maureen. She has visions of a black goddess claiming to be the Priestess of Apollo. This goddess gives her a scepter, then tells her that she is her successor. Maureen then gets naked and climbs atop an alter apparently either being raped by an unseen entity or just having a hands-free orgasm (I’m not sure which). This scene is followed by visions of a priest who molested her as a child and finishes with the vision of a scary clown running around with a handful of balloons. During this time, Chuck and Carol are running around naked having sex in the woods without a care in the world.
The Takeaway: I’m not entirely sure what to think of PICK-UP . On one hand, performances from Long, Eastwood and Senter are actually quite outstanding considering the lack of experience they brought to the film. On the other hand, the flash-backs and dream like visions are confusing to say the least. Then there are characters in the film that just don’t belong as there are no plot payoffs with them what-so-ever. I’m referring specifically to the politician and the balloon-toting clown. All of this nonsense would make some sense if the three main characters were on hallucinogens. However, the only drug taken was the joint Chuck and Carol smoked at the outset of the film. This leads me to believe that the films production crew could have been on drugs when making the picture as it makes no sense at all.
Film Facts: PICK-UP was directed produced and shot by Bernard Hirschenson. It was written by John Winter (who also co-produced it). Both Hirschenson and Winter went on to do little else after producing PICK-UP (why am I not surprised). The three performers, Long, Eastwood and Senter never appeared in another film after PICK-UP . It’s also their only film credit to date (again, why am I not surprised). PICK-UP was distributed by Crown International Pictures and was released in 1975. Prior to PICK-UP , Crown International Pictures had a long history of releasing Z-grade films such as The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961), Orgy of the Dead (1965) and The Teacher (1974) just to name a few of the stinkers.
Favorite Badass or Badass Moment: Sorry kids, no badasses in this one Favorite Boobs or Boobs in a Scene: Maureen, she has a fairly nice rack Favorite Death Scene: None – there is one death but it’s not shown
Boob Count: 9 pair Body Count: 1
IMDB Rating: 4.7 / 10 My Rating: 4.0 / 10
Final Thoughts: The two girls in the film are very good looking and get naked often. Outside of that, and unless you can pick up the PICK-UP dirt cheap, I’d stay off the bus.
@ fallgycoltseavr :-) I doubt it's legal, no one has reported the guy I suppose 2 hours ago
@ stupid_hamster can't go wrong with that 2 hours ago
Bad Taste (1987) Peter Jackson, Terry Potter and Pete O'Herne FULL MOVIE: youtu.be/aTJuZc1fPSc via @ youtube 2 hours ago
Meet the Feebles - Sodomy: youtu.be/Ulb0pLBgRCw One of the featured songs in tomorrows BBandBC Podcast with guest @ proboothcast 3 hours ago
NEW REVIEW > Timecrimes (2007) wp.me/p2bXgm-NH 3 hours ago
Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.
Join 495 other followers
Interview with Pete O’Herne & Mike Minett
Timecrimes (2007)
BBandBC Podcast EP17 – From Beyond
Kung Fu Superman (1975)
BBandBC Podcast EP16 – Superman’s Ghost Rider
Land of the Minotaur (1976)
She Freak (1967)
BBandBC Podcast EP15 – Merry ‘Black’ Christmas
The Pom Pom Girls (1976)
BBandBC Podcast EP14 – The Legend of Bigfoot
100 Years of Horror
After Movie Diner
Aloha Mister Hand
Andy Sidaris Dot Com
Back on Line Back on Duty
Beardy Freak
Blood Sucking Geek
CheesyFlix.com
Cinema Schminema
Cinematic Shocks
Devour the Podcast
EL GORE
Evil Episodes
Exploding Helicopter
Grindstone Grindhouse
Hard Ticket to Home Video
Head in a Vice
Isaac' s Picture Conclusions
Let's Sneak Into the Drive-In
Parlor of Horror
Promote Horror
Schlock Treatment
Strictly Splatter.com
The B-Horror Blog
The Last Dragon
The Projection Booth
The Timothy Carey Experience
Tim's Film Reviews
Trash Film Guru
Wafu FM
Wide Weird World Of Cult Films
Written in Blood
Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.