Thursday, March 20, 2008
Loren Coleman thinks this video, of a "creepy gnome" terrorizing the Argentinian town of General Guemes, is a hoax. And it is true: ever since The Blair Witch Project certain stylistic tics derived from that movie have crept into fake Bigfoot/cryptid footage.
Here, teenagers sit around filming themselves pointlessly on a deserted Argentinian street until something untoward (the gnome pitching stones, apparently) attracts their attention. Shaky, grainy cellphone footage ensues.
This footage, genuine or not, has a certain grungy effectiveness, however. (You should see some of the lousy Bigfoot fakes out there!)The gnome has a certain resonance from 80s slasher flicks, and the scream at the end is fairly convincing.