Bobcat Goldthwait was a one note comedy actor who has gained acclaim as a director.

Willow Creek is in the genre of found footage horror film where it is filmed in a home video style. A couple go off to the forest looking for an urban legend, the Bigfoot.

The man is keen to investigate it, going on the tourist trail, interviewing sceptical locals, having Bigfoot burgers and Bigfoot shakes. His girlfriend tags along and is more dubious.

On the plus side the couple come across as believable and likable. The interviews with the locals are nice enough but you find that the film already starts to drag and meanders aimlessly and that is before we get to the tent scene where nothing much happens apart from a few noises.

Of course it is a horror film and there are a few belated chills. Until then it is a cure for insomnia. This is a plain bad and boring film.

WILLOW CREEK is yet another example of a found footage horror film, one that almost exactly copies the plot and style of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. It was written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait, the actor best known for his roles in the POLICE ACADEMY series, if you can believe that. Unfortunately the film suffers from a slow pace and an almost entire lack of incident, so that it feels stretched and lifeless for most of the time.

The early scene-setting clips aren't bad, even if the main couple who act as the film's protagonists are quite boring and devoid of life. The dialogue all too often descends into meaningless profanity instead of being witty or realistic. The acting is merely okay. The set-up promises plenty, but once the action shifts into the woods very little actually happens aside from the usual weird howling and discovered tracks. The 21-minute single-take tent scene smacks of padding and feels extremely tiresome, and the ending is as predictable as they come.

I've never made any secret of the fact that I'm a big fan of the "found-footage" genre. I really enjoy almost every film that is made this way. It just makes sense as a story-telling style to me. For the most part though it seems to me that people are sick of the concept and no longer have any time for it. 'Willow Creek' was made back in 2013 when the genre was basically in its dying stages (films are still made in this style, but less and less frequently). So did 'Willow Creek' breed fresh life into the concept, or was it simply another nail in the coffin? The answer lies somewhere in the middle.

The film is very simple in its premise. Basically a documentary is being made about Bigfoot by a young couple and they head to a small town, do some interviews with the locals, and then head into the forest to see if they can find Bigfoot for themselves. Sounds simple? It is. Probably too simple. I understand films like 'The Blair Witch Project' pulled it off with basically exactly that formula, but the problem is that was 20 years ago which implies the genre has gone absolutely nowhere in that time. That's simply not true.

The film isn't bad though I wouldn't say. There's a quite incredible 18 minute long one-take scene (according to the IMDb trivia section at least) that is surprisingly well done. The main couple have enough chemistry and charisma to carry things and there is enough creepiness in the atmosphere to keep it interesting. This is a middle of the road horror film.