Director – Todd Chamberlain (The Test)
Starring – Cori Coulter (HogMaul: The Legend of Abrams County, The Ungulate), Davy Lantz Jr. (Jack Tarmite, The Ungulate), and Matt Burns (Bigfoot!, Radioactive Flesh Eating Foliage)
Release Date – 2020
Rating – 3/5
I remember a time when indie horror often dabbled in hixploitation. In fact, when I started my review career I was getting films like Porkchop, Pig Girl, Incest Death Squad, Bubba: The Redneck Werewolf, Hans Crippleton, and many more. Sadly, I rarely see these type of films anymore. Most filmmakers from Appalachia and the south try to branch out and not associate with the type of films which is a damn shame.
As a West Virginia native I would be lying if I didn’t admit how much I love a good hixploitation horror flick. A few weeks ago Matt Burns reached out to me to review Bottom Creek. This hixploitation film starred him and several others that have been around the indie horror scene for some time. I was curious to check it out and I’m glad I did. Thanks Matt!
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows a recent widow who lost her husband and two dogs, which was the apple of her eye, in an automobile accident. Once she recovers she is forced to care for two adult children who are mentally stunted. She soon learns that her deceased husband had taken out several loans with the bank and their land is teetering the line with become foreclosed on unless they find some serious cash. She decides to have her two sons abduct tourists and travelers and use them in their dog food. Things look up for them until a body is discovered in the river with traces of their dog food on it. This sends the police to their farm looking for answers. **Spoiler Alert**
I remember getting news on Bottom Creek sometime ago but nothing came in after those first initial communications. Honestly, I forgot about the film until Matt contacted me to review it. Usually a film tries to be consistent with news when gearing up for a release but this one completely blind sided me. With that being said, I really enjoyed this one but it was far from perfect.
The acting in this one is very uneven and inconsistent. I spend a good bit of my time watching and reviewing no budget indie horror flicks so I’ve seen inexperience before. This cast is very comfortable in front of the camera but there is times where their performances was just extremely flat. The dialogue is just so forced and deadpan. It was not natural and the scenes suffer for it.
The story for this one is pretty straight forward which I really liked. We don’t get any gimmicks or “mid fuck” twists that you can see coming from a mile away. It’s a story that isn’t that original but it works. I really enjoyed it and it unfolded. Sometimes simpler is better and this was the case.
Finally, the film is bloody but the effects are not that impressive. With that being said, I found a lot of the gags to be a little on the comical side. The film has a decent amount of humor spaced throughout and these gags just seemed funny to me. Overall, Bottom Creek is a fun no budget hixploitation flick that has some laughs and plenty of good ol’ boy horror. It is very rough around the edges but it still entertains. I would recommend checking this one out.
