Panic Fest 2026 Coverage
Creature of the Pines review
Once more into the mockumentary/found footage hybrid, dear friends.
Festival reviews will not contain spoilers.
Creature of the Pines
Directed by Chris Ruppert and Tyler Transue
Written by Chris Ruppert and Tyler Transue
Starring Greg Poppa, Eric Francis Melaragni, Austin Greene, Kelly Warren, Tyler Transue, Chris Ruppert and Ian Anderson
Creature of the Pines Review
I feel like I have to go through the same routine every time I review one of these movies. The mockumentary/found footage hybrid is all the rage with modern independent filmmakers. It makes sense…they look fun to make. Some talking heads, some found footage shooting in the woods…and you get to create your own lore. I’m not knocking it. In fact, I generally preface these reviews with the acknowledgement that there has been a surprisingly high floor with this format. Something about the combination of true crime style framing device and purportedly found footage connected to the mystery just works. It’s been a surprisingly resilient concept too…it feels like one of these pops up every other week at this point.
On the flip side…it has to be recognized that there is no winning over some viewers. For many found footage movies are a non-starter no matter how you dress them up. Which is a shame…because independent filmmakers have been dressing them up in some fine clothes for years now. The mockumentary/found footage hybrid may just be an elegant way to present shaky camera footage shot in the woods…but it is an effective one. If you’re willing to give it a chance.
And so it is with Creature of the Pines. A local legend surrounding people who go missing in the woods. Creature of the Pines does what you expect it too…and it does it well. Talking heads (and some neat period accurate news reports) fill in stories about people who have gone missing in the past. Sometimes there is footage recovered from their last known whereabouts. We, of course, watch the footage. There’s nothing particularly innovative about it at this point…but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t work.
The legend here is a little thin…but that allows the story to focus on some genuinely creepy elements. Namely, the whispering one. Footage recovered from the scene has helped the legend grow. Something or someone out in the woods whispers your name…and you end up on a milk carton. Reports of disappearances go back decades…recent technological advancements have led to proof that the legend is true. A figure stalking around the background…an unmistakably human voice, known to the victim, calling out to them. Creepy stuff. Especially when Creature of the Pines takes you into the woods with it. Which it does…several times.
That last part is the only real issue with Creature of the Pines. It doesn’t have enough variety to sustain three trips into the woods. When we get the first bout of found footage, filmed by a missing YouTuber in 2020…we’re ready for it. We’ve heard a lot about the legend and are primed to see it for ourselves. This is why the format has been so effective despite heavy usage.
We’re still on board when footage from a missing pair of friends surfaces in 2024. This case has a bit of a twist to it. Three friends went into the woods that day…this time one came back. Learning what happened to his friends…and having footage of him being interviewed by authorities works again. One of the main missions of this type of movie is to feel real enough to be believable. At this point of Creature of the Pines…that’s going just fine.
The problem comes from the third round of found footage. In what is a strong idea on paper…the makers of the documentary we’ve been watching decide to head into the woods to see things for themselves. The problem is that we just watched extensive footage of three guys in the woods. Now we’re watching three different guys in the same woods. There simply isn’t enough lore to make the repeated trips worthwhile. We know what’s going to happen by now…and, even with some of the film’s best moments saved for the end, it’s hard to maintain tension when you’ve already seen it.
Despite those diminishing returns, Creature of the Pines still works most of the time. The concept of the whispering one is genuinely creepy. Hearing that voice call to you in the woods…or hearing a knocking sound returning your advances…it’s good stuff. Placing the footage inside a documentary style where people can add context and history to things lends it a more authentic feeling. We hear from investigators and experts and family members…it’s all fundamentally sound. More importantly it builds anticipation to the upcoming found footage segments. That’s where the power of this format comes from. Creature of the Pines understands that. It just doesn’t fully understand the trick doesn’t work on repeat.
Scare Value
There’s a rigidness to this style of movie that I find interesting. By definition…you have to play things as straight as possible or the trick won’t work. It locks the never-ending stream of these movies into a pretty confined space. But that space has almost always resulted in a pretty good movie. I don’t know if or when we’ll see much innovation on these things…but Creature of the Pines continues to prove that innovation isn’t needed to deliver an effectively creepy little story.
