Celebrate The Legend of Boggy Creek in June – My Recollections

The Fouke Monster is coming back! Well, not really, but the iconic movie based on the Fouke Monster, The Legend of Boggy Creek is coming back for several special screenings at the historic Perot Theatre on June 14, and  June 16, where it premiered back in 1972. This is in celebration of Charles B. Pierce Day on June 16.

This marks 45 years since the original movie release by Charles B. Pierce.  His daughter Pamula Pierce will be honoring her late father with the re-release of a restored and remastered version of The Legend of Boggy Creek. From a personal standpoint, I was a teenager living in Texarkana during the sightings of of this creature and remembering listening to reports on the radio from Newscaster Dave Hall about the monster being spotted in Fouke as well as other neighborhoods around the area. Speculation during that time from what I recall, was that it was some type of bear or an escaped monkey from a circus. Sightings of the Fouke Monster as it was come to be known became sporadic over the weeks to come but the descriptions of the sightings were all the same. A large, very tall, hairy, smelly, creature seen in the woods or crossing a highway.  Some reports even had the monster having red eyes, but I don't know how true that really was.

Of course, this all happened when there was not a lot of talk about bigfoot as it is today. Because of this movie the rural town of Fouke was put on the map and Travis Crabtree who played in the movie became an instant celebrity. People travel from all over the country to see this small town where the legend occurred. There's even a festival once a year that celebrates the Fouke Monster. I can't help when I'm driving through Fouke to start looking at the nearby woods hoping to see something.

But as time went on, the mystery of what it really was remains today, thus, the legend was born. This movie was the first of many movies from Charles B. Pierce who actually used local people in several of his films. Films that included, Bootleggers and The Town That Dreaded Sundown, for which I got to be an extra, in the cult classic.

Growing up during that time Charles B. Pierce was a weatherman and cartoonist, who eventually had a children's show named the Laffalot Club for which he played "Mayor Chuckes."  I can remember meeting Mr. Pierce for the first time when I was working for a TV repair man, we had to go to his home to repair his TV antenna. He was very personable, polite and cordial from what I remember, just a nice man.

Charles B. Pierce may be gone but his legacy lives on, and we may never know the mystery behind The Legend of Boggy Creek.

There is a great article this month in ALT magazine that's worth reading about the legacy of this film with his daughter Pamula Pierce. Go to Alt-mag.com

For tickets or to attend the Remastered Gala Premiere or other showing please go HERE.