In the early 1970s, Charles B. Pierce, who worked in
television and lived in Texarkana at the time, decided to independently make a
movie about the legendary "Fouke Monster," a Southern Bigfoot creature that had
supposedly been sighted numerous times in and around Fouke, Arkansas. Pierce
used friends, family, and locals for his docudrama that consisted of interviews
with people who claimed to have seen the creature, as well as reenactments of
sightings of the beast. The movie even contains a song about the creature,
entitled Lonely Cry. This all may sound silly, but guess what! The
Legend of Boggy Creek gets under your skin and is really able to creep you
out. It's one of those horror movies that keeps you up at night after you watch
it.
This film was a huge box office hit, becoming the 10th
highest-grossing movie of 1972, and it was a major inspiration to the
filmmakers behind The Blair Witch Project (1999). However, Boggy
Creek never received a proper widescreen home-video release. For years, you
could get washed-out, pan-and-scan VHS copies, as well as crappy bootleg DVDs
on eBay, and that was it--until now.
Spearheaded by the late director's daughter, Pamula Pierce
Barcelou, The Legend of Boggy Creek has received a meticulous 4K
restoration by the George Eastman Museum. I have the new Blu-ray and it looks
immaculate. Besides the Blu-ray/DVD combo, the restored and remastered Boggy
Creek is available to stream on iTunes and Amazon.
