Here, the sulfur river flows,
Rising when the storm cloud blows,
This is where the creature goes,
Save in the land he knows.
Perhaps, he dimly wonders why,
Is there no other such as I?
To love, to touch before I die,
To listen to my lonely cry.
— The song in the end credits.
The Legend of Boggy Creek is a horror film from the year 1972.
It centers around a cryptid called The Fouke Monster, a sasquatch-like creaturenote which prowls in the state of Arkansas. It is shot in a documentary style which varies between with interviews of locals and dramatized encounters with the Monster.
The film portrays the sightings of the Monster escalating slowly, starting with random caught glimpses of it in the woods and then ending with an attack against a house shared by two families.
It was followed by two sequels: Return to Boggy Creek in 1977 and Boggy Creek 2: And the Legend Continues in 1985.
Examples in this work:
- Agony of the Feet: It is mentioned that Herb lost half of his foot in a hunting accident. He then dragged himself several miles through the swamp to find help.
- As Himself: The interviewed cast.
- Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti: The Fouke Monster certainly looks the part.
- Camping a Crapper: One man is almost attacked when he goes to the bathroom.
- Create Your Own Villain: The narrator notes that early sightings of the Fouke Monster tended to be peaceful, and argues it only becomes violent towards humans later on because of the townsfolk repeatedly shooting at, chasing, and generally fearing it, causing it start seeing them as threats.
- Dangerous Windows: Fouke Monster tries to grab one person through a window.
- Deep South: Specifically Fouke Arkansas near the Texas border.
- Don't Go in the Woods: The idyllic woods and rivers are home to plenty of dangerous animals and are downright terrifying at night, even without the Fouke Monster's involvement.
- Everybody Lives: Surprisingly. Despite the Fouke Monster's growing aggression, it never kills any humans… not for lack of trying in at least one case. It claims plenty of animal victims though.
- Evil-Detecting Dog: Dogs go absolutely ballistic with fear at the scent of the Fouke Monster, foiling efforts to pursue it with bloodhounds. Animals in general are terrified of the monster, which is unsurprising given that it is shown to be at least somewhat carnivorous and regularly kills domesticated animals. One poor cat is outright frightened to death by it.
- Hell Is That Noise: Any of the Fouke Monster's calls are eerie to this day. Many were reused in later bigfoot movies such as "Creature of Black Lake".
- Hollywood Darkness: A few shots taking place at night were pretty obviously shot at dusk or twilight, though this was to help keep things visible.
- Hostile Weather: Thunder can be heard in the background when the sheriff come to check up the Ford house.
- Hysterical Woman: Fouke Monster's appearance causes three women to go into hysterics when it grabs for them through an open window. To be fair, the men didn't do much better.
- It's Probably Nothing: After three women hear the Fouke Monster outside their house, they dismiss the noise just being the wind.
- Jump Scare: One sighting sees the monster nearly give a constable — and probably the audience — a heart attack by dashing suddenly across the road without warning.
- Last of His Kind: Suggested with the Monster. Its observed how the sightings are always of a single creature, leaving the question of whether its multiple individuals being spotted separately and they're just solitary animals, or if the Fouke Monster is the last of its species in the region.
- The Legend of X: Its in the title.
- Narrator: Jim, whom we see as a child in the beginning and a grown man in the end.
- "Not So Different" Remark: The narrator argues that the townsfolk and monster that terrorizes them probably feel the same way about one another; confused and frightened.
- Police Are Useless: At the end, when the two young couples in the Ford house call the cops, the police tell them not to worry, there's no monster around, it's just a mountain lion trying to break in and eat them! Even one of the characters says, 'This is supposed to make us feel safe'? On the other hand, the sheriff does leave a pair of flashlights and shotguns behind so they can protect themselves.
- Protect This House: The last shown encounter with the Monster plays out like this.
- Public Domain Feature Films: The movie was thought to be this up until 2018, when the director's daughter purchased film rights from the Ledwell & Son firm after discovering they still owned it.
- Riddle for the Ages: In keeping with the nature of the film, a lot is left unclear by the end, like why the Fouke Monster behaved as it did or whether there's more than one or its a single creature.
- Scenery Porn: Expect a lot of shots of the Arkansas bayous, fields, and forests.
- Screaming Woman: Mary-Beth starts screaming when she sees the Fouke Monster outside from the window. Again though, the men don't often do any better.
- Slowly Slipping Into Evil: The Monster's encounters with humans become gradually more and more violent and confrontational, culminating in the siege on the house at the end. It's speculated to be in response to getting attacked the few times it dares to come near humans.
- Swamp Monster: The Fouke Monster is a a Bigfoot that roamed around a swampy area. Supposedly inspired by real-life sightings of this cryptid, the film had him terrorizing rural residents. It was successful enough to beget a sequel.
- Tragic Monster: The Monster is portrayed as such, with speculation that it may be the Last of His Kind in the area and only became violent because it approached humans in search of some kind of kinship only to be attacked out of fear.
- Very Loosely Based on a True Story: The film takes a great deal of inspiration from actual sightings, folklore, and local history around the Fouke Monster, to the point of featuring many witnesses and townsfolk As Himself, but is far from accurate in it's depictions; it dramatizes much and is more of a mystery story loosely inspired by the legends and those similar to it than an actual documentary.
- The X of Y: Used for the title.
