“The Legend of Boggy Creek” Director Charles B. Pierce Dead At Age 71

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: The New York Times

I know that everyone was shocked to learn this morning that the 38-year-old star of 'Lost Boys', Corey Haim, had died from a drug overdose, but I thought that all the monster movie fans out there should know that Charles B. Pierce also passed away last Friday.

Pierce will forever be remembered for 1972 movie, "The Legend of Boggy Creek", a film that recounted the chilling events that reportedly happened in rural Fouke, Arkansas in the early 1970s. As most of you know, the town has always been a hot spot for Bigfoot sightings, and Pierce's film documented a period of time when the monster went on a destructive rampage in and around Fouke.

To make his movie, Pierce borrowed $160,000 from a friend who owned a car dealership in Texarkana. The film maker used local residents to actually play themselves in the movie and used a man in an ape costume, which kinda looked like the Marvel comic book monster, Man-Thing, to play the 'Fouke Monster'. The film was a huge commercial success and raked in $25 million at the box office.

After "Boggy Creek", Pierce would go on to direct, “Bootleggers,” “The Town That Dreaded Sundown,” “Winterhawk,” “The Winds of Autumn,” “Grayeagle,” “The Norseman,” “The Evictors” and “Sacred Ground,” as well as “Boggy Creek II.”

Film maker Daniel Myrick notes that "Boggy Creek" was the main influence for his film, "The Blair Witch Project."

Pierce reportedly passed away in a nursing home in Dover, Tennessee, on Friday. The film maker was 71.


Pierce's family has not yet released the cause of death.

Update: I just added afew new, never before published, photos from "The Legend of Boggy Creek" to my review of the film.

See Also: The Legend Of Boggy Creek (1972)(Charles B. Pierce)