Hey folks, I wanted to remind all of you cryptid hounds that the new documentary Boggy Creek Monster is now available to purchase. The documentary is filmed on location in the hauntingly beautiful Fouke, Arkansas and tells the tale of the infamous Boggy Creek Monster, the cryptid that inspired the drive-in classic The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972).
Here’s the fantastic trailer:
Who made this movie?
The film is directed by Seth Breedlove and produced by the Small Town Monsters crew. Just last year they released Beast of Whitehall, a documentary about the 1976 series of Bigfoot sightings in Whitehall, New York. Sightings persist to this day, and Whitehall is even considered the “Bigfoot Capitol of the East Coast” by many.
Joining the Small Town Monsters squad is Fouke Monster expert, author, and musician Lyle Blackburn. Lyle is a foremost authority on all things Boggy Creek Monster. For years he researched the monster and interviewed witnesses.
So what is the Fouke Monster?
The Fouke Monster, or Boggy Creek Monster, is one of the more famous representative ‘wild men’ of southern Bigfoot lore. This seven-foot black phantom caused a serious stir in the small community of Fouke Arkansas in the 1960s. Passive encounters dating back to the late 1800s led the Fouke folk (see what I did there?) to believe the monsters were generally peaceful and just wanted to be left alone, despite the occasional livestock massacre. A 1971 pair of aggressive encounters reported by the Ford and Turner families changed the perception of these beings, and more-or-less sparked the original The Legend of Boggy Creek film by Charles B. Pierce.
The Ford family encounter
On the night of Saturday May 1st, 1971 two seven-foot tall, hairy apes attacked the Ford home, literally. Scratches were found on the house itself.
The monsters then boldly moved towards the windows.
One of the two giants stuck its hairy arm through the window (as dramatized in the The Legend of Boggy Creek) towards one of the young Ford girls inside. She awoke, terrified. As she leapt from bed, she said the creature leered into the room with red eyes. Chased off by shotgun fire, the creatures retreated to the swamp.
The sheriff was called in and investigated the area for the frightened families. Hours after he left, the monsters returned. When the men went outside to shoot away the invaders once more, young Bobby Ford was attacked in the darkness. A shadowy being allegedly grabbed Bobby on the porch and threw him to the ground. He survived the assault and was treated for scratches and mild shock later that night at the hospital. The monsters never returned to the Ford home.
A famous shot from ‘The Legend of Boggy Creek’ (1972)
Are there present day sightings of the Fouke Monster?
Absolutely. The film presents a rising amount of cross-the-road sightings and several creepy encounters through the eighties, nineties, and into the 21st century. The Boggy Creek Monster didn’t just exist in the sixties and seventies. The most compelling chapters of Boggy Creek lore may have been written long after the Ford family encounter.
And other than the consistent stream of sightings leading up to this very day, I am most intrigued by the 1971 14″ long, three-toed trackway found in a local bean field. The only three-toed mammal that looks and acts anything like an ape is the sloth. But, sloths are quadrapeds. Interestingly though, the extinct giant ground-dwelling sloth used bipedal locomotion. Hmmm…. A theory post for another day no doubt.
Where can I find this movie?
Normally I’d urge you to go buy this on Amazon since Bigfoot Base is an Amazon Associates Affiliate (meaning I get a small piece o’ the pie), but if you have ANY interest in this flick, please head to the Small Town Monsters online shop, buy the movie from there, and support your independent filmmakers.
I haven’t devoted an honest sitting to the Small Town Monsters trilogy, but I just sat down for my first viewing of Boggy Creek Monster and I was very impressed. I will put a full review on the table before long.
Just to clarify Twisted Tree was not the production company on this film. Small Town Monsters is the team behind this. Thanks for the kind words about the movie.
Sir,
It was in a soy bean field. I had the clippings from the Texarkana Gazette but, recently, I have been unable to find them. FWIW, there were also monster sightings in Arkansas back in ’64 or ’65 time frame.