Dr. Brant Lockhart (Charles B. Pierce) is a professor of Anthropology at the University of Arkansas. He receives a call from a sheriff, who reports sighting a bigfoot-like creature in a remote town in Southwest Arkansas. Lockhart recruits the help of two of his students, Tim (Chuck Pierce, Jr.) and Tanya, as well as Tanya's friend Leslie.
The group heads for an area near Boggy Creek, close to the town of Fouke, and set-up camp in the woods with a pop-up camper trailer, and secure their perimeter with a SONAR system. Lockhart sets about investigating the recent sighting, while relating to the group tales he had heard centered around the creature, presented in flash backs. The tales include:
A local rancher who, while having lunch, mysteriously lost his herd of cattle, and saw the creature leave the scene.
A local-man who encountered the creature while repairing a flat-tire on his vehicle. The man was rendered unconscious in the encounter, and never came out of it in order to relate his story to others. (How Lockhart then knows of it is unexplained.)
A local attorney who was in an outhouse that was attacked by the creature, soiling his pants in the encounter.
The local sheriff who encountered the creature behind his home following a fishing trip. The creature and its young ran off with the sheriff's catch. This is the story Lockhart has come to investigate.
While talking with locals, Lockhart is met with resistance and disbelief by most. Of those willing to talk with him, he's directed to speak with "Old Man Crenshaw" who lives in a shack along the river bank. Lockhart leases a boat, and takes off to meet with Crenshaw. Crenshaw is a sexagenarian man, fitting the stereotypical notion of a hillbilly or mountain-man, living alone on his property. While somewhat welcoming to Lockhart and his entourage, he seems unwilling to talk too much about the creature, or why he is maintaining a series of bonfires on his land. A severe storm closes in, and makes heading back down the river dangerous, forcing Lockhart and the students to have to stay the night in Crenshaw's cabin.
Believing Lockhart to be a medical doctor, Crenshaw enlists his help in tending to an animal he has caught. To Lockhart's amazement, it is the adolescent creature. Lockhart determines that the adult creature has been more hostile in the area recently due to the capture of its child, who is now near death. Lockhart commandeers Crensahw's gun and ammo and returns the adolescent creature to the adult when it attacks the cabin in the night. With its young in its arms, the creature leaves the cabin without further incident. The following morning, Crenshaw agrees with Lockhart's assessment that the creatures should be left alone. Lockhart decides not to tell others about his experiences while in the Boggy Creek area, and returns down the river with his students. [1]
Even though this movie is entitled Boggy Creek II, it is actually the third movie of the Boggy Creek series. The producer of the original Boggy Creek didn't have anything to do with the first Boggy Creek II, so he decided to ignore that one and make this as the sequel. [2]
Victor Williams played the "Little Creature". More recently, he co-starred as Deacon on The King of Queens.
Charles B. Pierce, writer/producer/director/star of Boggy Creek II, was a friend and neighbor of Clint Eastwood. Pierce pitched a film treatment to his friend that would eventually become Sudden Impact. It is believed that Pierce is the original writer of the line, "Go ahead, make my day." Charles B. Pierce died March 5, 2010 at the age of 71.
The original Boggy Creekfilm is generally considered to be the forerunner of the "found footage" genre of horror movies, later represented by such films as The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity. It was popular as a drive-in horror feature around the country, and was one of the top ten highest-grossing movies of 1971, earning over $20 million while costing only $165,000 to make. Charles B. Pierce used his residuals to make Boggy Creek IIand several other filmsthat were often filmed in Arkansas and featured local actors.
The Episode
Host Segments
Mike offers his potato to Pearl
Prologue: Mike and Crow are in uniform for their cub scout meeting, but Tom's choice of a brownie costume due to his body style and keen eye for a bargain ostracizes him. Crow declines to think of Tom as a "she-belo."
Segment One: Tom's second choice of Flemish glass blower costumer fares no better, while down in Castle ForresterPearl prepares to use grade school science to control the world's power. Things go wrong when Bobo misunderstands Pearl's command to get large quantity of potatoes and the SOL crew are unable to supply an acceptable replacement foodstuff.
Segment Two: Crow and Tom are fighting until Mike breaks them up, only to forget why he came there in the first place. The bots and Mike decide to use flashbacks to help him remember.
Presenting van Gogh's "self portrait with bandaged ear"
Segment Three: Inspired by the movie and smelling a buck, Pearl invents the legend of the Monster of Forrester Swamp complete with Brain Guy's singing a folk song about the mysterious creature. The SOL crew repeatedly point out it's Bobo.
Segment Four: Tom has taken up whittling in a big way, opting to commercialize and expand his interest into big business with WHITLtech.
Closing (Segment Five): Lord a'mercy, Crow has to tend to his fires, until the Bots get bored with playing "Smelly Mountain Man and Baby Critter" and leave Mike to clear up the mess. Meanwhile, the Legend of Forrester Swamp giftshop receives an eager young visitor whose dreams are shattered when the Legend makes an appearance.
Stinger: "I saw the little creature." "Nooo!!"
Other Notes
Trivia
That’s Kevin Murphy’s wife Kathleen’s guitar in Segment 3.
The word "shit" got missed by Sci-Fi Channel censors, and was later cut out. Rhino left it in for the DVD release.
A reference to the Hank Williams Jr.-sung theme to "Monday Night Football", and also a callback to the reoccuring "Are you ready for some football?" gag from Laserblast.
Crow and Servo sing the lyrics to Ferlin Husky's "Wings of a Dove" to the movie's theme music at several points.
"It's the Orval Faubus museum!"
Orval Faubus was the governor of Arkansas during the 1950s, and is best remembered for resisting federal efforts to desegregate Little Rock's public schools.
"I'm gonna look at Oui for a while."
Oui is a "men's" magazine published by Playboy Enterprises.
The Shmoo was a fictional creature from the comic strip "Li'l Abner". It is small, white, and blob-shaped.
"Viv Savage, Research Assistant!"
Viv Savage was one of the keyboard players for the fictional heavy metal band Spinal Tap.
"Pat Conroy at home!"
Novelist Pat Conroy's works are heavily influenced by his experiences growing up in the South with an abusive father.
"It's the Arkansas remake of 'Wages of Fear'!"
The Wages of Fear is a 1953 film about truck drivers hauling explosives through a South American jungle.
"Checking on the land they bought from the Clintons!""Now they stumble on the Rose Law Firm billing records!""Ken Starr witness!"
Allusions to the Whitewater scandal, in which President Bill Clinton and his wife were accused of using the office of Governor of Arkansas to arrange real estate deals that profited themselves.
Ranger Rick is a children's nature magazine with a raccoon mascot by the same name.
"Call the Pinkertons for me!"
During the late 19th century, agents of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency were often hired by industrialists to infiltrate and sabotage labor unions, and to "protect" factories and mines from striking workers.
"Now *this* is the boat they should have taken over that mountain in 'Fitzcarraldo'!"
Fitzcarraldo is a 1982 film about a Peruvian rubber baron.
An allusion to Ed Gein, a serial killer arrested in Minnesota in 1957, who became infamous for making clothing and furniture from his victims' remains.
"The woods are just crammed with those Y2K survivalists."
This episode aired near the height of panic about the Year 2000 Problem, during which some people believed that the fact many computers had been set up to enter the year as a two-digit number (e.g "99" for "1999") would cause wide-spread computer failures, perhaps leading to a complete societal breakdown. These fears proved to be unfounded.
"Go ahead. Make my day!"
Okay, this reference in itself isn't obscure, but the Brains quote the line while Charles Pierce is on screen holding a gun and that could be considered a reference within a reference. Pierce was the author of the original treatment of the Dirty Harry film Sudden Impact andis usually credited as the original author of the infamous line. It's unknown if the Brains knew this fact at the time of filming, however.
Memorable Quotes
Servo: And the legend continues... to be not heard about, by anyone!
[During a scene set amongst ardent University of Arkansas football fans.]
Mike: A razorback hat lacks the quiet dignity of a cheese wedge.
[As a subplot comes to an entirely unsatisfying end.]
Servo: And so, the completely pointless stretch of movie whimpers out like a small, dying rat.
[Narrator "Doc" Lockhart introduces himself and his travelling companions.]
Doc: Leslie Ann Walker. All I know about her is she's a good friend of... Tanya Yazzie, my prize student.
Servo [as Doc]: Prize student in that she gets Cs, but she's really cute.
Mike [as Lockhart]: We're goin' camping, and you're gonna watch.
[Doc enters a backwater country store which has no obvious merchandise, other than a turquoise, plastic pith helmet.]
Crow [as Lockhart]: Do ya'll have any turquoise, plastic pith helmets?
[Doc and party get ready to leave the backwater country store.]
Servo: Ya'll like to contribute to our fund for the War against Northern Aggression?
[Tim is walking around shirtless]
Crow: Geez, kid, do a push-up.
[In a flashback scene, the Creature and a farmer stare at each other through the farmer's barn.]
Mike [as the Creature]: Well, I'll be damned... farmers do exist!
[Shirtless Tim walks up to someone's front door.]
Crow [as Tim]: Can I borrow a cup of shirt?
[Tanya, with long dark hair and apparently wearing no undergarments, runs through the woods.]
Servo: Lucy Bra-less!
Leslie: [Over a walkie-talkie.] Tanya, do you read?
Mike [as Tanya]: Third grade level!
[Doc is looking at his "radar" set up in the woods as his two assistants test it out.]
Crow [as Doc]: Boy, Tim's a real strong blip on my gaydar.
. . .
Doc: [over CB] Tim?
Crow [as Tim]: Yes, Dad...I mean professor-who-is-in-no-way-my-dad-giving-me-a-role-in-his-movie?
[Doc is in the woods, as Leslie watches for the creature on the radar back at base camp.]
Leslie: [over the walkie-talkie] He's close to you!
Doc: My left or my right?
Servo: Well, which way are you facing, idiot?
[Doc finishes narrating as his group begins walking up some stairs to Crenshaw's place.]
Mike [as Doc]: I put Tim in the front of the line to absorb the first hail of bullets.
Video Release
Commercially released on VHS by BBI in November 2001.
