Bogged Down

Charles B. Pierce, the finest independent filmmaker in Arkansas history, has died at the age of 71. An early champion of documentary-style film-making, he hit the big time, or at least the Little Rock time, with The Legend of Boggy Creek, which he followed up with Return to Boggy Creek and then completed the trilogy with the improbably named Boggy Creek II: And The Legend Continues, which hit the really big time as an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, and is the only reason this obit was included. Daniel Myrick, director of The Blair Witch Project, cited the Boggy Creek films pursuing the “Fouke Monster,” basically a redneck Bigfoot in Texarkana, as a major influence, and Pierce had similar success, netting $25 million on a $160,000 investment to make the first film. Other directorial efforts included The Town That Dreaded Sundown, Winterhawk, and he was a screenwriter on the Dirty Harry film Sudden Impact.