Thursday Movie Picks: Folk or Urban Legend (Halloween Edition): Wandering through the Shelves hosts a weekly movie challenge in which you choose 3-5 movies based on that Thursday’s theme and explain why you chose those movies. Today’s theme is Folk or Urban Legend (Halloween Edition) so here are my choices!
WILLOW CREEK (2013)
I have not seen this movie. But it’s directed by Bobcat Goldthwait and has gotten some pretty good reviews. A man (Bryce Johnson) and his girlfriend (Alexie Gilmore) camp in the woods to capture firsthand evidence of Bigfoot. – IMDB. I know this blog is all about rom-coms/movies, but I love all things cryptid and adore anything and everything, Sasquatch. Just knowing this movie exists makes me want to watch it ASAP! Hopefully, the shaky cam footage doesn’t make me ill.
THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999)
Another found footage movie! Based on the folklore of the Blair Witch in Burkittsville, Maryland, the one thing I remember about this movie is the hype. The marketing was pure genius and duped a lot of people into believing that the Blair Witch and the “found footage” of the missing filmmakers were real. I think I appreciate this movie much more now than I did when it first came out, and it’s still one of the strongest of the found-footage genre.
THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES (2002)
More cryptid-ness! Loosely based on the book of the same name by John Keel, Richard Gere plays a man who realizes that sightings of a creature called the Mothman are omens of impending disaster and tragedy. I recently visited Point Pleasant, WV, to check out the Mothman Museum and statue, and it was, of course, amazing. The movie itself is worth a watch, even if it’s not what I would call scary. But it’s a decent flick, and if you have time this month to watch it, why not?
Joel
October 14, 2021I’ve only seen Mothman which has an incredible cast for this sort of sci-fi/fantasy type film. I liked but didn’t love it though the acting kicked it up a notch or two.
When Blair Witch came out it was a sensation. However not one single person who I spoke to who had seen it had anything good to say so I never bothered to see it. Since then my interest has not increased.
Willow Creek doesn’t look like my deal either.
I went with an Icelandic film based on a Brothers Grimm folktale and two urban legends.
So Long at the Fair (1950)-Young Vicky Barton (Jean Simmons) and her brother Johnny (David Tomlinson-Mary Poppins’ Mr. Banks) arrive in Paris from Britain to see the 1889 Exposition Universelle. They check into their hotel and after a night on the town Vicky retires while Johnny lingers over a late-night drink. The next morning Vicky finds a blank wall where her brother’s room was. Asking Madame Hervé (Cathleen Nesbitt), the hotel’s owner the woman claims the girl arrived unescorted. Alone and adrift in a strange city Vicky struggles to prove her brother exists but romantic stranger George Hathaway (Dirk Bogarde) may hold the key to the mystery. Derived from the 19th century urban legend “The Vanishing Lady”.
The Juniper Tree (1990)-Their mother burned for witchcraft two Icelandic sisters, Margit (Bjork) and her elder sister Katla, flee looking for a place where no one knows them. They meet young widower Jóhann and his son Jónas. Katla bewitches Jóhann and the sisters move in. Margit befriends the boy, but he rejects Katla as his stepmother. Shortly apparitions of both deceased mothers appear (as a spirit and raven respectively), and the situation becomes fraught with danger. Based on a Brothers Grimm folktale.
Dead Man on Campus (1998)-College freshmen Josh (Tom Everett Scott) and Cooper (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) are party animals who take little time to study, and their poor grades are about to get them kicked out. They begin to despair but discover an outlandish college code that grants a suicide victim’s roommates automatic straight A’s! They think they’ve happened upon the answer but sharing space with a lineup of lunatics may just drive both boys crazy. Inspired by an urban legend.
Brittani
October 14, 2021Katy picked The Mothman prophecies too, I really need to see this now!
Sara
November 2, 2021It’s a fun movie! Not GREAT but fun.
ThePunkTheory
October 17, 2021We match with Blair Witch Project!
I appreciate the movie for what it did for the genre but ultimately I never really liked it. It just failed to capture and scare me.
Wandering Through the Shelves
October 21, 2021I’ve seen Mothman Prophecies a long time ago so I don’t remember anything now.
I still haven’t seen Blair Witch project, I keep missing it when it’s on TV, though of course I’ve seen those clips they released…yep very clever marketing
Sally Silverscreen
October 25, 2021Hello! Just wanted to say I read your post from the 2021 Against the Crowd Blogathon and liked it! If you’re interested, you can read my post from the blogathon at this link:
https://18cinemalane.com/2021/09/11/twentieth-century-vs-queen-of-the-damned-at-the-against-the-crowd-blogathon/
Sara
November 2, 2021Thank you! I will check it out!