Review: CHEROKEE CREEK (2018)
The prologue, in which two ski-masked and armed figures either thank the viewer for buying/renting the film or drop various homophobic insults on them for pirating, it gives the viewer a good idea what to expect from CHEROKEE CREEK. It’s a crass, crude, and very non PC horror comedy.
The plot is exceptionally basic, two friends, (the masked guys from the prologue), kidnap a soon-to-be married buddy and drag him out into the woods for a bachelor party. A party complete with strippers and a guy in a Bigfoot costume. But the real Bigfoot puts in an appearance, and he isn’t in a mood to party.
The problem is, after a pretty good start with two would be Sasquatch hunters meeting a nasty end and the fake kidnapping that keeps going hysterically wrong, the film bogs down. It’s not until nearly forty minutes in that a park ranger shows up to interrupt the not very funny guy talk. Shortly after that, the strippers show up and we get some boobs and lame partying. But it’s not until an hour and fifteen minutes into CHEROKEE CREEK, (the film runs just under two hours), that Bigfoot reappears.
When he does, things pick up dramatically and the film lays on the blood and gore quite heavily. If you’ve seen PRIMAL RAGE, that’s a good comparison. There’s also plenty of fairly graphic, (soft core graphic not full-on porn), sex.
Todd Jenkins (KNUCKLEBONES, HOWLERS) who wrote/directed and stars as Jinx has some funny moments as does Billy Blair (THE HARROWING, BULL SHARK) as action movie star Vinny Blades. The kills are brutal, and the effects are done without CGI, which is always a plus. One, in particular, will have folk thinking of another Bigfoot bloodbath NIGHT OF THE DEMON. Also of note is the film’s score by Jonathan Padilla and John Massari who composed the score for KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE among many others.
Which leaves me with this question. Why bother with the lame-ass buddy dialogue and not just move right to the goods? The film’s publicity plays on the fact that it’s raunchy, bloody and doesn’t give a damn about good taste. Those drawn by it are not going to enjoy sitting through a load of talking to get to what they were promised. CHEROKEE CREEK could, and should, have been a much shorter film.
CHEROKEE CREEK is available on Amazon, Google Play and other streaming platforms. You can check for other availability on their Facebook page.