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Victim of The Night
This also applies to my opener, coincidentally
Ooooh! I wonder... could we have picked the same film? And if not, what two films fit this bill?

I mean, I know you're not talking about The Mummy.



Ooooh! I wonder... could we have picked the same film? And if not, what two films fit this bill?
No, I'm pretty sure you once told me that you've never seen this one. I've been secretly judging you for it ever since.



Victim of The Night
No, I'm pretty sure you once told me that you've never seen this one. I've been secretly judging you for it ever since.
Oooh, a mystery! I'm looking forward to it.



Victim of The Night
Well, it's time.
It is never October for me until I hear The Vampire Song, "Bloodletting", by Concrete Blonde, a sort of riff on Interview With The Vampire.
You're welcome, Rock.


The full album version is even better, with more ambience, but I wanted to get the video in here.





The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972)

The tiny town of Fouke, Arkansas is rumored to be the home of a sasquatch-like monster and this no-budget faux-documentary reenacts selected sightings and encounters in an episodic fashion, using non-professional actors recruited from the actual citizens of Fouke. This article, besides being a good appreciation, does a good job of recounting the production and distribution story. Interesting stuff.

I don't consider this to be a “halloween” movie, but it is very much an “October” movie. As far as I'm concerned it's THE October movie. There's one other person in my life that is as obsessed with this film as I, and for many years we had an annual tradition of watching this on the first weekend of October. Age, jobs and COVID have killed that tradition but since this is the 50th anniversary of the film I decided to revive it this year. Anyway, the point is this thing is dripping with October vibes.




So how does one become obsessed with a G-Rated Bigfoot film? Well when I was a kid I loved monsters, but I also liked shows like Wild Kingdom. So when I encountered this on Sunday afternoon TV at age 9 or whatever, it was another nature documentary as far as I was concerned. The very simple conceit of flashing a guy's name on the screen, documentary-style, was enough to convince me that all of this really happened and there is a literal monster walking around out there. Terrifying.




So that explains my childhood fascination but I'm over 50 now, why does it still resonate? Anyone who's had to listen to me ramble about films over the years knows that my main interest in horror films is atmosphere. A good plot is welcome but I can live without it. I've often made the joke that removing the actors from my favorite horror films would not affect my enjoyment, as I'm mostly concerned with the trappings surrounding them. I'm usually talking about cobwebby gothic films but in this case we're talking about the pinnacle of “The Woods Are Creepy” movies. The film opens with a sequence of swamp footage set to only ambient sound effects (frogs, birds, etc) that's masterful in setting the mood. That's right, I said MASTERFUL. And there's lots more to come throughout the film. I've watched it with folks who are not on the film's wavelength, and their reaction is usually “OMG, enough with the turtle footage already!” That's a valid reaction, but for me that's where the magic happens. Prospective viewers should expect to see lots of trees.





And it's important to stress that this is not a film in which an angry Sasquatch chases people and eats them. It might surprise some of you to learn that I do not actually believe in Sasquatches or Yetis, so the “scary murderous bigfoot” approach has never been something I was especially interested in. This film goes out of its way (with a ballad no less!) to portray the Fouke Monster as nothing more than a misunderstood loner living out in the woods that would rather not be bothered by civilization. So this is more like a series of people going about their daily lives and finding themselves faced with a dark shape in the distance that then disappears. Lots of shots of people staring at the woods thinking “did I just hear something?”



This is much more my vibe than a straight horror approach would be. In fact the climax of the film, in which the creature annoys a certain household, is where we get closest to a true horror thing, and it's no coincidence that this is the part where I'm most likely to tune out.
Give me more trees and frog noises, please.

One last thing I want to mention is that the G-Rated nature of it all is what really makes it comfort food for me. This is a "horror" film with no blood. The monster kills some pets and livestock (offscreen) but humans are mostly left unharmed. This is a film in which teenage girls have a sleepover and wear sensible nightgowns, drink Cokes and talk football. How can you not love something so wholesome?





So to conclude the longest review I've ever posted on the internet, this is a low-budget G-rated film with no professional actors and TWO (!) corny songs and lots of nature footage. You will probably find it silly and/or boring, but there's my attempt to defend it.



Victim of The Night
Ah, yes, of course!
I guess I just didn't know it had any sequels.
I did used to love anything Bigfoot.



Victim of The Night
Tonight it's back to Italian Gothic Christopher Lee movies, I promise.
Are you gonna do
WARNING: "thread spoilah!" spoilers below
The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism?!!!


Edit - No, wait, I forgot, that one's German. I think I know what you're going for.



Picked up a blu-ray of that not too long ago. Gonna give it a go this month.



Ah, yes, of course!
I guess I just didn't know it had any sequels.
I did used to love anything Bigfoot.
Return to Boggy Creek (1977) was made without the participation of Charles Pierce. It's even cornier than the original (the monster makes friends with children, including Dana Plato). It's fine if you're into that particular 70s vibe but it's not "good". It's like a Sasquatch episode of The Waltons or something.

Pierce finally made a sequel in the 80s, and that's why the third film is called Boggy Creek II. That one has none of the charm of the original and was the subject of a MST3K episode, to give you an idea of its quality.



Are you gonna do
WARNING: "thread spoilah!" spoilers below
The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism?!!!


Edit - No, wait, I forgot, that one's German. I think I know what you're going for.
Yeah, I watched Dr Sadism earlier this year, this one is another from the same Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee box. A rewatch, but it's been years so I don't remember a lot.



Picked up a blu-ray of that not too long ago. Gonna give it a go this month.
I remember that you mentioned it. I always hesitate to recommend it to people that didn't encounter it in childhood, but I think if you can get with its vibe it has a definite charm. Calling it a "tone poem" sounds too fancy for what it is, but I guess you know what I mean.

I'm not an outdoorsman in any way, but I do enjoy an occasional walk in the woods, and always have since I was a kid. And in my corner of the world "woods" = swamp. There's few things creepier than a swamp at night, especially in the pre-cell phone era, and this film comes about as close to capturing that feeling as I've found. The bigfoot is almost superfluous.



I remember that you mentioned it. I always hesitate to recommend it to people that didn't encounter it in childhood, but I think if you can get with its vibe it has a definite charm. Calling it a "tone poem" sounds too fancy for what it is, but I guess you know what I mean.

I'm not an outdoorsman in any way, but I do enjoy an occasional walk in the woods, and always have since I was a kid. And in my corner of the world "woods" = swamp. There's few things creepier than a swamp at night, especially in the pre-cell phone era, and this film comes about as close to capturing that feeling as I've found. The bigfoot is almost superfluous.



I'm a giant computer dummy, so this is probably baffling to most, but the trouble I've had for years trying to find a copy of this online, either legit or not so legit, has been mystifying. Especially considering my dumb ass has ultimately found almost everything else I've looked for before.


*shines Popcorn Reviews signal into the night sky*



I'm a giant computer dummy, so this is probably baffling to most, but the trouble I've had for years trying to find a copy of this online, either legit or not so legit, has been mystifying. Especially considering my dumb ass has ultimately found almost everything else I've looked for before.


*shines Popcorn Reviews signal into the night sky*
Yeah, I was trying to find it on Youtube in order to steal some gifs and was surprised to find it wasn't on there in full. I thought it was public domain for a few years. The director's daughter commissioned a 4K scan a couple of years ago, so maybe the rights went back to her or something.

Some time ago it was included in the Joe Bob Briggs series on Shudder, not sure if it's still there. He had some interesting commentary to contribute because he grew up in Arkansas and as a boy scout camped in some of the locations where sightings had been reported. And later I think he worked for a newspaper in the area at the time when the sightings were first happening.



Today being October 1st, I'm starting out with Universal Monsters remakes. I watched The Wolfman from 2010 and now The Mummy 2017. Next will be The Invisible Man 2020.

They aren't the best, well I really like #1 and #3, but they are horror.

If I have time, I will see if I can find The Invitation 2022 online. In a way, it fits and I didn't mind it when I saw it at the theatre.



Victim of The Night
Today being October 1st, I'm starting out with Universal Monsters remakes. I watched The Wolfman from 2010 and now The Mummy 2017. Next will be The Invisible Man 2020.

They aren't the best, well I really like #1 and #3, but they are horror.

If I have time, I will see if I can find The Invitation 2022 online. In a way, it fits and I didn't mind it when I saw it at the theatre.
I thought The Wolfman was sort of unfortunate but not without certain charms. I thought Benicio Del Toro was the perfect choice to play Larry Talbot given that Talbot will always be defined by the hang-dog pathos of Lon Chaney Jr.... and Del Toro can do that just a lot better than Chaney.
I genuinely liked The Invisible Man. I feel like it's almost unfortunate that it has to exist in the same "universe" as the other mis-steps Universal has made so far.