Tomorrow I will be diving into the first of a month-long look at thirty-one of Universal’s classic horror films. Things will begin with a Universal film that I’ve never actually viewed before, 1933’s The Invisible Man, starring Claude Rains and loosely based on the popular H.G. Wells novel of the same name.
I’ll try to keep all of my reviews uniform over the course of the month. I’ll give a synopsis of each film and talk about certain aspects that really appealed to me whether they be a certain actor’s performance, the film score, special effects, or something else. Then I’ll tease the next film that I’ll be reviewing.
I will try my best to have each review written and posted by 3PM the following day. I’ll also be sharing the links to each review on my Facebook page. I’ll be watching The Invisible Man tonight so that my reviews will begin on the first of October and so that I’ll have the entire night of Halloween free to do whatever I want!
There will be spoilers in all of these reviews. The latest film in this batch was released in 1956 and the oldest film was released in 1925. For those of you who don’t want to do the math, that means that you’ve had sixty-three years to watch the newest film in this review series and ninety-four years to watch the oldest! If you don’t want anything to be spoiled about any of these films, skip their specific review!
I really hope that all of you enjoy reading my reviews over the next month. If this series proves to be a success with my readers, I might do a series of reviews for Christmas films in December!
Also be on the lookout for posts in October that are related to Universal Monsters beyond the screen. I’ll be reviewing Ravensburger’s Horrified, an official Universal Monsters board game, Funko’s Mystery Minis Universal Monsters series of collectible figures, and a documentary or two about Universal’s monsters. I might toss in a few other surprises as well.
Thanks for reading my post. I’ll have a few non-Universal posts this month as well, but things will be pretty spooky all month long in Ken’s Alternate Universe!
My regular readers know how much I love Bigfoot, Yeti, and all of the other cryptids out there. They might even know that I’ve visited Fouke, AR, in the past and blogged about it here. While own my recent trip to northwestern Louisiana to see KISS with my son, we decided to take a sidequest north to Fouke, Arkansas, home of the Fouke Monster and the film, The Legend of Boggy Creek.
Photo taken by my son.
Sporting my Ghoultown shirt (I’ll get to their connection to Fouke in a bit), my son and I drove into Fouke on Saturday morning. The drive up there was beautiful but we didn’t get to see the Fouke Monster. We stopped at the Monster Mart in town and were blown away by how much the store has changed and yet remained the same since our last visit in 2014.
The convenience store itself had changed very little. It’s a standard convenience store with soft drinks, snacks, and a few roadside necessities for purchase. On the museum side, however, things had been expanded upon greatly. A large display that included a Fouke Monster and one of its children had been added to the museum, as well as two display cases full of photos, albums, footprint casts, and more items related to the Fouke Monster and the history of the small town. There were also newspaper articles lining the walls and a gift shop that featured books, t-shirts, caps, postcards, magnets, mugs, and much, much more.
I talked with the lady behind the counter for quite awhile. She told me a little bit about the upgrades on the store and I also learned that Fouke won their high school football game on the prior evening.
I ended up purchasing a magnet and Lyle Blackburn’s Beyond Boggy Creek book at the Monster Mart. You can read my review of one of Blackburn’s other books, The Legend of Boggy Creek, here. Yes, I could have purchased the book on Amazon or even directly from Lyle’s website, but that would have meant that I couldn’t have purchased the book with the Monster Mart stamp on the inside. I plan to get Mr. Blackburn to sign the book if I ever get the chance to meet him.
Oh, and for anyone still not sure about the connection between Fouke and my Ghoultown band t-shirt, Blackburn is the frontman from the Texas-based gothabilly band. I’ve become quite a fan in recent months. Check out their website here.
After making my purchase, my son and I drove around Fouke for a few minutes before heading on to Texarkana, TX. We had no real destination in mind when we arrived there, we just wanted to kill a little more time before heading to Bossier City, LA to see KISS on Saturday evening.
If you have any interest in cryptozoology and want to visit a key location in Bigfoot history, make a trip to Fouke, AR. You’ll learn about the beast, the movie that made it famous, and the wonderful little town that became the focal point of one of cryptozoology most famous cult films.
Thanks for reading. Check out the links and keep an eye out for my next post.
In my last post I talked about attending the KISS: End of the Roadtour with my son in Bossier City, LA. Anybody familiar with the area knows that right across the Red River is the city of Shreveport. It’s the third largest city in Louisiana and the center of a region known as the Ark-La-Tex.
Located downtown along the Red River and nestled between casinos and the Sci-Port Discovery Center is the Shreveport Aquarium. I decided that a visit to the aquarium would be the perfect way to end me and my son’s little vacation to northwest Louisiana.
All photos in this post taken by me.
To be completely honest, I wasn’t expecting very much from this aquarium. I read through a few online reviews and visited the aquarium’s website and came to the conclusion that this would be a fun place, but probably nothing too amazing.
Thankfully the aquarium far exceeded my expectations. Yes, it isn’t a very large aquarium, but it makes up for its lack of size with beautiful exhibits, tons of opportunities to interact with sea life, and a staff that was both friendly and knowledgeable about the animals and plant life in the aquarium.
We were greeted with a smile at the admissions desk and offered the chance to purchase a feeding token to feed stingrays. My son didn’t want to feed the rays but I went ahead and purchased a token for a small fee. We then entered the first wing of the aquarium. It featured tanks full of brightly colored fish and other animals. Lionfish, clownfish, pufferfish, and other sea life darted in and out of reefs and hid behind rocks. Throughout the exhibit, seafaring items such as anchors and cannons dotted the walkway.
As we left the first portion of the aquarium, we entered a large solarium that featured wood ducks, turtles, fish, and vegetation native to Louisiana. The area also had a small play area for younger children. Despite it being in the 90’s outside, the solarium had cooling units in place that kept the temperature reasonable. It wasn’t hot, but it was warm enough for the reptiles in the exhibit to remain comfortable.
We left the solarium and headed into the portion of the aquarium that featured starfish, clams, and jellyfish that you could touch in the water. It was fun getting to touch and feel these creatures in the water. There are obviously strict rules in place about touching the animals, so please respect these rules so that others can enjoy this experience. Also in the area, seahorses and baby sharks are in tanks for observation.
The next area that we entered was the massive aquarium featuring all sorts of fish including a number of sharks. Two “portholes” were available that allowed people to experience being at the bottom of the ocean with tons of sea creatures swimming around you. This is a perfect place for a photo op.
The final exhibit area was my favorite. I cashed in my token to feed fish to stingrays and touch them as they swam by in their pool. The rays were extremely friendly and didn’t seem to mind all of the people touching them. Feeding them is definitely a memorable experience and I recommend it if you ever visit the Shreveport Aquarium.
The final area in the aquarium was the SALT Cafe and a small gift shop. My son and I didn’t eat in the cafe, but it had a nice view overlooking the Red River. There was also a massive foot made out of plastic bottles that reminded visitors of the impact that plastic can make on our oceans.
This aquarium turned out to be a nice surprise and an excellent way to cap off our trip to the Ark-La-Tex. I have plans on bringing the rest of my family here in the future. Visit the aquarium’s website for more information on the exhibits and experiences that happen throughout the week including meet and greets with pirates and mermaids!
Thanks for reading this post. I have one more upcoming post about another experience that my son and I had while visiting the Ark-La-Tex, and you don’t want to miss it!
I’ve been a KISS fan for a very long time. I’ve been ridiculed, laughed at, and even accused of worshiping Satan because of my love for the band. Despite this fact, though, I’ve only recently been able to see them perform live. In total I have seen KISS perform live on three occasions. The first two times were in Houston and the most recent show was in Bossier City, LA. This show was a little bit more special than the other shows, though, as this show would be my young son’s first concert.
KISS didn’t disappoint.
Photo by me.
The opening act for KISS was a performance painter named David Garibaldi. I, along with most of the folks in line around me prior to the show, had serious doubts about a painter being the warm-up for the band. I, and everyone else that doubted him, was wrong about David Garibaldi. The guy painted three pictures within thirty minutes and had the crowd cheering the entire time. He did brilliant paintings of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Elvis, and KISS. To top it all off, the KISS painting was raffled off for charity. I’ve followed Garibaldi’s Facebook page ever since and he comes across as a genuinely nice guy. Check out his Facebook page for links to his website and other social media.
Photo by Greg Wood.
Photo by Greg Wood.
Photo by Greg Wood.
When it was time for KISS, they opened the show as they always open the show, “You wanted the best! You got the best! The hottest band in the world…..KISSSSSSSS!” This was followed by the dropping of the black KISS curtain and the band exploding onto the stage via lifts, all the while belting out the opening to Detroit Rock City. They went on to play a total of twenty tunes including an amazing drum solo by Eric Singer (it was a highlight of the show for me) and a solid guitar solo by Tommy Thayer.
Photo by me.
Gene spit blood and fire and tore through tracks like Calling Dr. Love and War Machine. Paul flew out into the crowd for two of his signature tracks, Love Gun and I Was Made For Lovin’ You. Eric Singer gave us his rendition of two of original drummer Peter Criss’ signature tunes, Black Diamond and Beth.
Photo from the web.
The stage lighting and pyrotechnics were the best that I’ve ever seen at any live show. They were also the best of all of the KISS shows that I’ve either attended or watched online. HD screens, laser lighting, flamethrowers, KISS beach balls, and the signature confetti were all used during the show. Sure, some of Paul’s lines were the same ones that he’s used for decades and his voice isn’t as good as it used to be, but you could tell that he and the rest of the band put their entire hearts into the show. Gene sounded great vocally and on bass. Eric’s drums and vocals were as solid as they’ve ever been as well. The real star of the show, though, was Tommy Thayer. Perpetually viewed in the shadow of Ace Frehley by far too many fans, Thayer fleshed out the solos and made them his own this time around. Tommy is proving to the world that he truly is one of the best guitar players to ever grace the stage with KISS.
Photo taken by me.
When KISS played Rock N’ Roll All Nite to close out the show, everybody was on their feet. Knowing that it will most likely be the last time that we get to see these four guys on the stage together in full makeup and with tons of pyro behind them in Bossier City, it was a tad bittersweet. I’m going to miss these guys.
With that being said, however, something wonderful happened that evening. Throughout the show I would glance over at my son. He never looked back at me, though. He was too entranced with the wall of sound, flames, and lights that he was experiencing. He loved every single minute of the concert. As the final piece of confetti hit the ground and the crowd exited the arena as the house lights came up with God Gave Rock N Roll To You II blaring over the CenturyLink Center speakers, I looked at my son. He was smiling from ear to ear. He was completely amazed by what he had just seen.
Photo by the Shreveport Times staff.
Prior to KISS’ encore, he had been wearing ear plugs for the entire show. He was worried about damaging his ears. When Eric Singer returned to the stage to perform Beth, however, he took his plugs out, nudged me, and said that he wanted to hear all of the encore. I was fine with his actions and my heart tugged just a little bit as well. I gave him the okay and he smiled.
Photo from the web.
After the show, I picked up a t-shirt and bandanna from the merch table. My son didn’t want anything. As we walked to our car he repeatedly talked about what happened during the show and how cool he thought that it all was. Once we got to our vehicle, we decided to wait out the crowd a bit before leaving. We talked even more about the show and it was so refreshing to hear my son’s point of view. His favorite performer of the night was Tommy Thayer. Unlike many KISS fans these days, my son only knows Ace Frehley’s work with the band from what I’ve told him and played for him. His Spaceman is, was, and always will be Tommy Thayer. It was so refreshing to hear someone not complain about Tommy but instead, praise his work.
Photo from the web.
This show will always be my greatest memory of KISS. It was my last show, my son’s first show, and something that we will talk about until I’m gone. Hopefully my son will share this memory with his own son or daughter some day and he’ll get the chance to share some other band’s concert with them.
Thanks for the memories, KISS. This might be the end of the road, but you’ll be playing in hearts, minds, and plenty of stereos for many years to come.
Here’s the setlist from the show:
Detroit Rock City
Shout It Out Loud
Deuce
Say Yeah
I Love It Loud
Heaven’s On Fire
War Machine (Gene Breathes Fire)
Lick It Up
Calling Dr. Love
100,000 Years (Eric Drum Solo)
Cold Gin (Tommy Thayer Solo)
God Of Thunder (Gene Simmons Bass Solo/Spits Blood)
I spent my childhood growing up under the influence of pop culture icons like Alex P. Keaton (Michael J. Fox, Family Ties), ALF, and Macho Man Randy Savage. I listened to bands like Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard, and KISS. I watched iconic films like The Empire Strikes Back and E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial and a few cult hits like Critters and Fast Times at Ridgemont High. I am a child of the 1980’s and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Me, circa 1987 by way of 2019.
Last Saturday, the Brimstone Museum and the Henning Cultural Center in Sulphur, LA capped off their recent Chaos Theory Art Show with the Brimstone’s Totally Rad 80’s Party, a celebration of all things 80’s. I attended the event and have to admit that I really enjoyed myself.
A shadowbox display of a typical room from the 1980’s.
The party featured the Louisiana Ghostbusters, a public service fan group and fundraising group for charities. They were raising money for the American Cancer society. Attendees were given the chance to take photos with Ecteaux-1, the group’s version of Ecto-1 from the film, and also to take photos in full Ghostbuster gear. The original Ghostbusters film was also shown on a large outdoor screen at the event.
A Critters canvas that I purchased from a local artist, Malcolm O’Brien.
Local artists were also on hand to sell their wares. Original artwork, prints, magnets, books, crafts, and other items were made available by these artists. There was also a facepainting booth and Boombox Frozen Pops and Ice Cream was on hand to serve up some frozen goodies. I tried their “Pop You Like A Hurricane” pop and it was delicious.
Boombox Frozen Pops and Ice Cream’s “Say Anything” display.
The event also had a scavenger hunt that included everything from getting a high five from a Ghostbuster to busting a move on the dancefloor. I actually completed most of the items on the list but didn’t turn in my card for the prizes which included the legendary Maplewood sandal (only locals will get that reference). Other prizes included goods from Paper Heroes and dance lessons!
The infamous Maplewood Sandal!
Zoltar was on hand to tell you your fortune as well. He gave me some sound advice about a film that I am going to see.
Zoltar!
I left the event about thirty minutes before it ended. There was a costume contest well underway as I made my way back to my vehicle. I want to thank Thom Trahan and Kat Godsey of the Brimstone Historical Society and all of the volunteers and vendors for putting on such a great event! The bar has been set high for next year’s show!
Two months ago, Sexy Steve De Marco and his Great Sexy Love Stable made their presence known at Hurricane Pro Wrestling. They stormed the ring during the main event between HPW Champion Jordan Jensen and “SuperTex” Brent McKenzie and declared that they were going to take over HPW. In July, things ran rather smoothly for HPW’s Queens of the Ring event as GSL didn’t show up at all.
But HPW’s August show was a different matter….
Photo by Chad Cooper
Great Sexy Love arrived in full force, making their presence known by challenging for belts, disrupting matches, and basically stirring up as much mayhem as possible. While their antics outside of the ring drew a ton of heat from the crowd, their work in the ring left all but one of them in Loser column for the evening.
Photo by Chad Cooper
The highlight of the evening was for the Hurricane Pro Championship. Worthy challenger and all around monster in the ring, Edgrin Stone battled Jordan Jensen in one of the best matches of the evening. Jensen retained his title but his celebration was cut short as GSL attempted to close out the evening on a sour note. Thankfully Jensen had backup waiting for anything that might happen and Make Your Own Path and Don Rodrigo arrived just in time to prevent Jordan from getting another beatdown by GSL.
Photo by Chad Cooper
Here’s a breakdown of the evening’s matches:
GSL’s Loverboy Nate Andrews lost to Ryan Davidson.
Billy Fletcher III and Estrella Galactica’s match ended in a no contest when both were savagely attacked by an unknown wrestler.
Photo by Chad Cooper
Ricky Starks lost to Miranda Alize in an intergender match.
Photo by Chad Cooper
Johnny Flexx upset defending champion Don Rodrigo for the HPW Cruiserweigt championship after interference from GSL’s Punk’n Morrigan.
GSL’s The Great Ones fell to defending HPW Tag Team Champions The Pump Patrol despite attempted interference from Nate Andrews and Punk’n Morrigan.
Photo by Chad Cooper
Bu Ku Dao lost to defending multi-belt champion Sexy Steve De Marco (GSL’s only victory of the evening).
Photo by Chad Cooper
Edgrin Stone lost to defending HPW Champion Jordan Jensen.
While all of the matches were excellent, the matches between Ricky Starks and Miranda Alize and the Stone/Jensen battle were outstanding. Stone and Jensen were well matched and hopefully they forged a bond as friends since Stone would definitely add some bulk to HPW’s lineup as they continue their battle against GSL. Starks and Alize provided one of the funniest and most violent matches of the evening, with Starks repeating slamming Alize into the guardrail and Alize exposing Starks’ posterior and getting a face full of backside as a result.
Next month’s event promises to be a good one as newly crowned HPW Women’s Champion Heather Monroe returns to Beaumont to defend her belt for the first time at Ford Park. Her opponent hasn’t been announced yet. According to HPW’s Facebook page, rematches and international debuts are also going to occur. I’m sure that Great Sexy Love will also be returning to stir up trouble. I’ll be sure to let you know all of the results right here next month!
Thanks for reading. If you’re local to the southwest Louisiana/southeast Texas area, I highly recommend checking out Hurricane Pro wrestling. They provide excellent independent wrestling action and have brought in some of professional wrestling’s best athletes like Thunder Rosa, Brian Cage, Chelsea Green, and Masada!
About two years ago I decided to watch and review thirty-one horror films across the month of October. I made it to day fourteen and had to call it quits due to the fact that work was piling up on me and I’m lazy. This year, however, I’m primed to complete my initial journey of thirty-one films and I plan on doing it by watching thirty-one classic Universal Monsters films!
From Bride of Frankenstein to Abbott & Costello Meet The Invisible Man, I’m going to view all of the great (and not so great) horror films that turned me into a horror fanatic for life.
So why Universal Monsters? One reason is that I’ve always loved these films. If you’ve read just a few of my posts on classic horror, you know that I am a huge fan of the Wolf Man and love films that feature practical effects. These films blazed trails in effects and in cinematography as a whole. Another reason is the fact that I recently read Mallory O’Meara’s brilliant book, The Lady From The Black Lagoon, about the life and career of Milicent Patrick. Check out my review of the book here.
Yet another reason is that these films are just fun to watch and I can watch them with my family. My kids think that I’m insane for watching these old movies, but every now and then one of them will stumble into the room, sit down, and watch a few minutes of the films with me. My daughter has especially taken a shine to the Creature, and I hope that she continues to watch more of these films with me.
I’m also excited to see a few of these films for the first time! I’ve never watched an entire film featuring the Invisible Man, but that will change in October!
Let me know some of your favorite Universal Monster flicks in the comments section. Also, keep an eye open for the first film review on October 1st in just over a month. I plan on throwing in a few interesting historical facts and maybe tie a few of these classic films with films that they inspired.
Thanks for reading and I hope to see you all in October!
Trapped behind enemy lines during World War II and chased by Nazis, a small group of American soldiers end up as the rescuers of an unlikely POW—an alien!
1985’s Zone Troopers is definitely not for everyone. It’s a B-movie with big dreams and hokey special effects that might turn off a lot of audiences. For me, however, it’s perfect. Featuring a cast headed up by prolific character actor Tim Thomerson (the Trancers film series, television shows such as Down And Out In Beverly Hills, Sirens, and The Flash), this action/science fiction yarn is surprisingly fun and full of 80’s action.
Three actors round out the core cast with Thomerson. Biff Manard (Trancers, The Flash, Bonanza), Art LaFleur (The Sandlot, Field of Dreams, Trancers), and Timothy Van Patten (Class of 1984, St. Elsewhere, The Master) are all excellent performers in their own right and keep the story interesting.
Thomerson, Manard, and LaFleur have starred alongside each other in many films and television shows over the years. Most of those projects were either written and/or directed by Danny Bilson. Zone Troopers was Bilson’s directorial debut and one of his earliest writing credits, but he’s probably best known for writing films and television shows such as The Rocketeer, The Flash (1990), Viper, and Human Target. Timothy Van Patten started as an actor, but made his mark behind the camera as the director of multiple episodes of hit series like The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones, Sex and the City, and Touched By An Angel. He was even nominated for four Emmy awards.
Zone Troopers moves quickly and feels more like a big budget television movie than a major motion picture. That’s a good thing in my opinion. I can easily visualize this movie being sandwiched between episodes of The A-Team and Knight Rider in 1980-something. The humor is light and cheesy at times, but it’s perfect for this film. The action features a lot of shooting, running, and a little bit of luck, which was par for the course in most 80’s films.
While the special effects and costumes aren’t much to look at, they don’t take away from the story. Yes, you might chuckle whenever the alien uses a grenade-like device to obliterate a Nazi tank, but you’ll keep a smile on your face for the entirety of the film because it’s such a fun ride. I do want to point out that the exterior of the crashed alien ship looks great, as does the interior hall that leads to the cockpit.
This is an excellent film to watch if you’re rained in on a weekend. You won’t feel like you’ve wasted your time watching this movie and you might even find yourself watching other classics like Trancers while you’re at it.
As always, thanks for reading. Let me know if you’ve seen Zone Troopers or any of the other films starring, written, or directed by this extremely underappreciated cast and crew.
When I was nine years old, my family went to the movies to see a film entitled Boggy Creek 2: And The Legend Continues… which was actually the third film in the Legend of Boggy Creek series. There aren’t many people that consider this particular film to be great, but for young me, it was golden. I became determined to find Bigfoot and since this particular version of the beast lived just a few hours north of me, it became the focal point of my mission.
Well, I’m north of forty years now and while I never became the great Sasquatch hunter of my dreams, I still love the beast in all of its incarnations. The Fouke Monster is my favorite simply because it’s (possibly) the closest version of the creature in my vicinity.
I became familiar with Lyle Blackburn‘s work a few years ago when I started seeing him pop up in documentaries and as a guest at different conventions. While I have yet to meet him (primarily because I’ve always been unable to attend any conventions that he has appeared at), I’ve become a fan of his work. This book, The Beast of Boggy Creek: The True Story of the Fouke Monster, is an excellent resource for those interested in the Fouke Monster.
Blackburn’s style of writing is extremely personable. At times it’s as if he’s simply having a conversation with the reader. He takes a look at the history of the creature and its supposed appearances prior to the Bigfoot craze of the 1970’s and continues through with sightings up to the publication of his book.
He also gives the reader a look at the history of the community of Fouke and the surrounding areas. He then weaves the history of sightings and interactions with the beast over the years into that history.
A large portion of the book deals with the Charles B. Pierce film that brought the world to Fouke’s doorstep, The Legend of Boggy Creek. Blackburn describes the process of Pierce as he created the film, how it affected the community and many of its citizens that starred in the movie, and how it influenced other movies that came after it.
Blackburn also spends a lot of time giving an in depth look at selected sightings of the beast. From the credibility of the witnesses to evidence uncovered, Blackburn reveals the good and bad of possible legitimate interactions with the creature and some potential hoaxes.
Blackburn takes us through Fouke today and how the beast still influences it. From Smokey Crabtree’s books to the Monster Mart (which I’ve visited and you should, too), we get a glimpse of just how much of a unique hold this creature has on this otherwise sleepy rural town in southwest Arkansas.
The book also contains a timeline of events as they happened in “The Legend of Boggy Creek” and Blackburn lets the reader know just how much artistic liberty Pierce took with some of them. He also provides an excellent timeline of sightings of the beast over the years.
This book was fun and informative. It’s especially interesting if you, like me, grew up with the old films and lived either in the Fouke area or nearby in Texas or Louisiana.
I plan on reading more of Lyle Blackburn’s work, and be sure to check out his band, Ghoultown, as well.
As always, thanks for reading. If you are interested in Bigfoot or any other cryptids, let me know in the comments section. Also, I’m always eager to hear stories about such creatures, so if you know any good tales or had an encounter yourself, comment below or send me a private message.
This post is a modified version of a review that I recently posted on Amazon.
When I was nine years old, my parents took me and my siblings to see Boggy Creek II: And The Legend Continues. In a dimly lit theater in Oakdale, LA, I became enthralled with the beast that terrorized the rural town of Fouke, AR and a professor and students intent on discovering the truth about the creature. No matter how bad the film was, it inspired nine year old me to hunt for Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and any other cryptid that may or may not be lurking in the forests of the world.
I haven’t found anything yet, but I’ll always hope that the creature is real.
With that being said, I’ve watched tons of documentaries, read plenty of books, hit a couple of trails with mild intentions of finding something (but not really sure what I’d do IF I did actually find something), did a little web research and viewed countless films, most of which were terrible, about the beast.
Add 2011’s Boggy Creek to the list of terrible films that I’ve watched. While I commend the actors and crew for attempting to make a decent horror film, I can’t say that I have any good memories about this flick. Texas Battle (Final Destination 3, The Bold And The Beautiful) and Stephanie Honore (The Final Destination, Mirrors 2) are probably the best known actors in the film and they feature in supporting roles. Actress Melissa Carnell heads up the cast as the star of the film and is given support from Battle, Honore, and relative unknowns Shavon Kirksey and Damon Lipari.
The film has no connection to the cult classic The Legend of Boggy Creek or any of its sequels. In fact, it doesn’t even take place in Arkansas. It takes place in the fictional northeast Texas rural town of Boggy Creek. It was actually shot in Jefferson, TX and the area around Uncertain, TX, which along with places like Gun Barrel City, Cut And Shoot, and Kermit, only strengthens my argument that Texas has some of the coolest small town names.
The plot was pretty basic, even for Bigfoot horror. Jennifer (Carnell) returns to her deceased father’s camp after it is left to her. With tensions brewing between her and her mother, she decides to take a break with her friend, Maya (Kirksey), and Maya’s stepbrother, Dave (Lipari). Dave brings along his snobby girlfriend, Brooke (Honore), and Maya’s boyfriend, Tommy (Battle), pops up unannounced. Violent deaths and mutilations are on the rise in the area that the group decides to camp in and despite warnings from others in the area, the gang decides to stay at the camp. After a lot of build up, the creature begins its attack on the group, planning to kill the males and kidnap the nubile young ladies for breeding.
For whatever reason (maybe it was just my television), the film seems to be shot entirely in soft focus, which made me believe that this was an attempt at bringing a little Hallmark Channel flair to horror. The acting wasn’t that great and neither were the special effects or music. I will say that the ending of the film had a ton of potential but ultimately flopped like the rest of the film.
So if this film was so terrible, why did I revisit it and blog about it? For the simple reason that I’ve been on a larger than usual Sasquatch kick and I decided to watch this film again. It was perfect fodder for an evening of laundry and Coke Zero. It’s brainless, bad, and somehow a little bit fun.
As always, thanks for reading. I’ll be watching more bad movies as we get closer to Halloween. I’m thinking about attempting Thirty-One Days O’Horror once again. I failed at it a couple of years ago, but considering the fact that I’ve acquired a ton of bills recently, I won’t be leaving home that much because I’m poor. Netflix and meager meals, it is.
