Microbudget Movies: The Creek
The Creek is a horror movie that fails in only one aspect if, in fact, it is intended to be a pure horror/slasher movie: it is not scary. Where it did win me over, however, was it’s heavy reliance on characterization and acting.
Generally a horror movie requires actors to become a stereotype to give the audience satisfaction of seeing the know-it-all nerd, the prom queen, or the jerky jock die in horrible, painful ways at the hands of an inbred maniac with a knife, meathook or whatever else they may stumble upon in the wake of their destruction. The Creek asks different things of it’s ample cast.
So, if it isn’t completely obvious by now, the best part of this movie is the acting. All of the actor inhabit their characters well, giving them life and personality usually absent from a these sorts of movies. Where the story is predictable, the interactions between the characters allows for some entertaining moments. It’s sort of like Clue only with a ghost, and a complete absence of mystery, which leads me to my biggest gripe of the film.
The story here is so standard, and so packed with cliches that are used in such a predictable way that it is glaringly obvious who will die and who is the bad guy from the moment you figure out what’s going on. The kill scenes are equally lame, most involving being impaled by a stick.
Direction here is competent, none of the scenes outstay their welcome and there is no noticeable artificial run time padding in The Creek’s modest 90 minute run. The lighting is to be noted, too, because The Creek takes a tip from The Evil Dead by using flood lights to light up the woods so that everything is bright enough to see, but where Mr. Sam Raimi is bested is how none of the light sources are ever visible on camera. There are a few minor issues with the audio, the movie is dubbed very well, but at some points the ambient noise in the background rises over the dialogue too much.
There’s not much more to say about The Creek, it’s an impressive effort from a competent director, but the story brings it all crashing down. I hope to see more from Erik Soulliard soon.
Interview with Erik Soulliard, director of The Creek:
MM – How long did it take to film ‘The Creek,’ and how did you fund the
production?
ES – We shot for 18 days which sounds like a lot for an independent film
but in reality it wasn’t. We started shooting April 27th and shot every
Thursday, Friday & Saturday for six weeks. The film is shot entirely at
night except for one small scene. So, we could only begin shooting at
around 8pm in the beginning of the shoot and 9pm toward the end. Also, the
sun began rising earlier and earlier each week. At the end of the shoot we
had to stop no later than 5:30 in the morning. Not to mention the birds
came out a solid half hour before the sun came up. This left us with about
seven to eight hours of actual shooting time at night. Most independent
films shoot 12-14 hour days so only having 8 was a definite disadvantage.
We initially were going to look for outside investors for the shoot but
seeing that this was our first feature film we decided not to. After some
long discussions my wife and I decided to finance it ourselves by taking a
second mortgage on our house. We did end up having one investor come in
right before shooting which was very helpful.
you come to learn them?
ES - Shooting in the woods, in spring, with next to no budget, is a recipe
for disaster. We were very fortunate in that we only had to reschedule one
day for rain, however, it rained at least three days each week we shot.
Let’s just say MUD was very prevalent on set.
I also learned that you don’t shoot your opening scene the first night of
shooting. It seemed like a great idea at the time but in retrospect I would
have waited. The first night of shooting on something this low budget is
really sorta awkward. It’s like a first date. Everyone is excited but at
the same time they don’t really know what to expect. Actors are still
feeling each other out and sizing one another up. On top of that all these
people are supposed to be old friends and the scene is of them all
“partying” in the woods together. That can be a tough thing for a seasoned
actor to do. Throw on top of that a first time director and yeah…I should
have shot that on weekend two. I don’t think the scene turned out horribly
bad but at the same time your opening scene is your OPENING SCENE and you really want it to shine. I’d give everyone a better chance to shine next
time.
MM – Communicate the ultimate message of the film in one quick, clean
ES – Friends come and go but people you kill might just haunt you until you
die.
- Twilight Zone episode?
ES – It’s a bit cliché I think but I loved “Time Enough At Last”. The guy
gets his wish to have enough time to read but then his glasses break. Talk
about an amazing moment that just says, “You’re Screwed!”
- Non-Fiction Book?
ES – It’s all fiction. Nothing is ever just straight facts. Everything is
filtered through the writer’s own goals.
-Children’s Song, why?
ES – Never Smile at a Crocodile. I have a script idea to use with it. It’s
just a plain creepy freaking song.
ES – There’s just too many options for this. Every time I think of one I
come up with another that’s better and my brain hurts. I’ll take the
cowards way out and say that I’d change the car scene in The Creek. Just
didn’t work the way I wanted.
ES – You can purchase The Creek online from all major DVD retailers.
You can google it and or go to www.thecreekmovie.com and we have links to
some of the bigger vendors on the homepage.
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