True Monsters Stories?

I am an unabashed fan of the 1972 monster-mash The Legend of Boggy Creek, the every stylish and oddly effective saga of a "Bigfoot"-like creature in the depths of the swamps and creeks of Fouke, Arkansas. This is a real myth in a real place, so the film has a gritty quasi-documentary feel which adds some verisimilitude to a what would have been other wise a pretty rough and tumble affair. I cannot really describe the movie accurately, it's a blend of legend reprise, folk singing, melodrama, and horror. The most potent sequence concerns two families sharing a house near Boggy Creek which is repeatedly haunted and attacked by the Fouke Monster. I well remember seeing this in the theaters and the scene in which a hairy arm reaches into the house to try and snag an unwary family member terrified me then and still gives a chill. I was able to finally get this on DVD a few years ago and have enjoyed it more than a few times since. Likely will again after I finish this post. 

What I was never able to see was Charles B. Pierce's official sequel titled Boggy Creek II and the Legend Continues. This movie is made in 1985 a decade and more after the original and after two unofficial sequels I have not seen and cannot comment upon. But at no point does this movie even remotely capture a mote of the real eerie sense of dread that oozes out of the original. This is not a faux-documentary but a ham-handed attempt at a straight adventure tale which has a professor and three students try and locate the creature. The director Pierce takes the lead role and frankly neither his acting nor demeanor are not up to the task. Instead we have what might be a comedic parody of an adventure. In the first movie the Fouke Monster is hinted at and glimpsed in bits and parts letting our imaginations make up a beast far more frightening than anything the moviemakers might've created. In this one the witless band of monster hunters find creatures around every corner almost literally, and we get good looks at them much to our dismay. I recommend the movie for laughs and for the very handsome and healthy college girls who join the band of hunters. 

Charles Pierce's real sequel to The Legend of Boggy Creek is actually the 1976 movie The Town that Dreaded Sundown. This is another documentary style movie in which we follow police of Texarcana, Texas as they attempt with little success to capture a serial killer who sadistically attacks young lovers in remote locations. This too is based on real accounts of a real "Phantom Killer" and feels it, showcasing the chilling touch of the real horror that human beings can bring upon one another without the need for the supernatural assistance. The depiction of the attacks is gruesome and grueling at times to watch, despite too much reliance on day-for-night shooting. Ben Johnson is the star and he's fine as a Texas Ranger doing his utmost to stop the villain. He is joined by Andrew Prine (star of every other movie made in the 70's) as doughty deputy of the town of bordering Arkansas. Dawn Wells of Gilligan's Island fame is a very believable victim. One odd aspect is the director Pierce in an acting role in the film as a comedy-relief cop, an odd addition to a movie in desperate need of its tension.

I can heartily recommend all three of these movies, the first and last for the effective storytelling and the second for its unintentional comedic results.  Now to find that copy of The Legend of Boggy Creek.

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