The Legend of Boggy Creek | |
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Promotional Movie Poster
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Directed by | Charles B. Pierce |
Produced by | Charles B. Pierce |
Written by | Earl E. Smith |
Starring | William Stumpp Chuck Pierce, Jr. Vern Stierman Willie E. Smith |
Music by | Jaime Mendoza-Nava |
Cinematography | Charles B. Pierce |
Edited by | Tom Boutross |
Distributed by | Howco International Pictures |
Release date
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Running time
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90 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $160,000 |
Box office | $20 million |
The Legend of Boggy Creek is a 1972 horror docudrama about the "Fouke Monster", a Bigfoot-type creature that has been seen in and around Fouke, Arkansas since the 1950s. The film mixes staged interviews with some local residents who claim to have encountered the creature, along with fictitious reenactments of said encounters. Charles B. Pierce, an advertising salesman from Texarkana on the Arkansas/Texas border, borrowed over $100,000 from a local trucking company, used an old 35mm movie camera and hired locals (mainly high school students) to help make the 90-minute film. The film has generated approximately $20 million in box office revenue and is available on DVD.
The film, which claims to be a true story, details the existence of the "Fouke Monster," a seven foot tall Bigfoot-like creature that has reportedly been seen by residents of a small Arkansas community since the 1940s. It is described as being completely covered in reddish-brown hair, leaving three-toed tracks and having a foul odor.
Several locals from the small town of Fouke, Arkansas recall their stories, often appearing as themselves, claiming that the creature has killed many large animals over the years. One farmer claims that the beast carried off two of his 200lb hogs with little effort, leaping a fence with the animals tucked under its arm. In one scene, a kitten is shown as having been "scared to death" by the creature. The narrator informs the audience that while people have shot at the creature in the past, it has always managed to escape. In another sequence, hunters attempt to pursue the creature with dogs, but the dogs refuse to give chase. A police constable states that while driving home one night, the creature suddenly ran across the road in front of his car.
In a later sequence, culled from the actual newspaper accounts inspiring the film, the creature is shown menacing a family in a remote country house. After being fired upon, the creature attacks, sending one family member to the hospital.
The creature was never captured, and is said to still stalk the swamps of southern Arkansas to this day.