Horror fan here. I love all things dark and spooky, and the found footage subgenre is actually one of my favorites. I know, I don't get it either lol, but there's something about the way these films are crafted and play out that draws me to them over and over. A handful of these movies are some of my favorite horror films of all time, but yes *most* of them tend to be heavier on the tease than the payoff, but I guess I like a good tease!
Anyway, this was a stronger entry in this subgenre. If you don't know, this film is supposed to be the found video recordings of a young woman named Leah Sullivan, who is returning back home to her New England hometown to do a documentary on a well-known local family annihilation murder.
I mostly enjoyed this film and they were working with a lot - a good premise, a strong cast, a solid crew that did really well - but for some reason I think that they kind of lazed out and set the bar low for themselves. The result is something that could have been much better than it was. This film is just shy of 90 minutes I believe, and I think they reeeaaalllly stretched this one out to get it to that point, which is a shame. I'm glad its "just" 90 minutes and not longer, but I personally feel this film would've benefited by being even shorter. One of my fave mainstream found footage horror films is a super tight and perfect 70 minutes, wasting no one's time and leaving you wanting more, not wearing out their welcome. And another of my fave very indie found footage horror films is like 50 minutes, and that is one of the creepiest and most effective examples of this genre I have ever seen.
One of the ways they eeked this thing out to almost 90 minutes was during the increasingly excruciating interviews. The first time our heroine interviews someone, we see the whole pre-interview banter, the mic-ing up or whatever, and - oddly - the interviewee staring unblinkingly like a psycho into the camera for like 10 whole seconds for some reason, waiting for her to start. It's fine the 1st time because its found footage, and it sets up the process and shows her behind the scenes and its charming and lighthearted and kind of funny. But by the 3rd, 5th time we are put through this and she does an interview and we have to sit through all of this AGAIN and AGAIN, it becomes irritating and clear that the fillmmakers are just trying to eat up time and Draw. This. Out. As much as possible. It's just cheap, lazy and not nearly as charming or funny as they want it to be.
The film is very well acted, I will absolutely give it that. But the characters and the writing...Our two main characters are very smiley and All-American Abercrombie good-looking...and that's about it lol There's not really a whole to them and their chemistry is not that convincing, which is fine most of the time, but when the filmmakers choose to fill out a LOT of the run time with flirty, silly banter between these two characters...it gets a bit much to endure sometimes. There just was a bit too much of it. And in fact, at several points, our two characters essentially switch personalities in their banter, which is interesting. The writers clearly don't care who says what as long as it advances the plot. They completely forget who's supposed to be the skeptical one and who's supposed to be the believer. They're just two interchangeable, talking stock characters.
As far as the ending goes, I actually didn't mind it. It wasn't great and definitely forgettable, but I thought it was satisfactory.
Even though this movie is not perfect and has a lot of flaws, I absolutely believe that it is one of the better FF horror entries out there. I think I would consider it to be included in the Top 60 FF Horror Films I've ever seen, and even though that may not sound like much, considering how many of these films are out there, I think it says its generally pretty solid. Again the crew did a really good job and this seems very competently made. There was one point in fact that took place in a restaurant, and even though I suspect it wasn't actually a restaurant but just a room, all the sound effects were there and little touches were done perfectly and the angle was set up right as to not reveal too much. I could absolutely pretend it was a restaurant and I really appreciated that (because so many other super low budget films have done a terrible job at things like that).
I recommend this ONLY if you really enjoy FF horror in particular.
Anyway, this was a stronger entry in this subgenre. If you don't know, this film is supposed to be the found video recordings of a young woman named Leah Sullivan, who is returning back home to her New England hometown to do a documentary on a well-known local family annihilation murder.
I mostly enjoyed this film and they were working with a lot - a good premise, a strong cast, a solid crew that did really well - but for some reason I think that they kind of lazed out and set the bar low for themselves. The result is something that could have been much better than it was. This film is just shy of 90 minutes I believe, and I think they reeeaaalllly stretched this one out to get it to that point, which is a shame. I'm glad its "just" 90 minutes and not longer, but I personally feel this film would've benefited by being even shorter. One of my fave mainstream found footage horror films is a super tight and perfect 70 minutes, wasting no one's time and leaving you wanting more, not wearing out their welcome. And another of my fave very indie found footage horror films is like 50 minutes, and that is one of the creepiest and most effective examples of this genre I have ever seen.
One of the ways they eeked this thing out to almost 90 minutes was during the increasingly excruciating interviews. The first time our heroine interviews someone, we see the whole pre-interview banter, the mic-ing up or whatever, and - oddly - the interviewee staring unblinkingly like a psycho into the camera for like 10 whole seconds for some reason, waiting for her to start. It's fine the 1st time because its found footage, and it sets up the process and shows her behind the scenes and its charming and lighthearted and kind of funny. But by the 3rd, 5th time we are put through this and she does an interview and we have to sit through all of this AGAIN and AGAIN, it becomes irritating and clear that the fillmmakers are just trying to eat up time and Draw. This. Out. As much as possible. It's just cheap, lazy and not nearly as charming or funny as they want it to be.
The film is very well acted, I will absolutely give it that. But the characters and the writing...Our two main characters are very smiley and All-American Abercrombie good-looking...and that's about it lol There's not really a whole to them and their chemistry is not that convincing, which is fine most of the time, but when the filmmakers choose to fill out a LOT of the run time with flirty, silly banter between these two characters...it gets a bit much to endure sometimes. There just was a bit too much of it. And in fact, at several points, our two characters essentially switch personalities in their banter, which is interesting. The writers clearly don't care who says what as long as it advances the plot. They completely forget who's supposed to be the skeptical one and who's supposed to be the believer. They're just two interchangeable, talking stock characters.
As far as the ending goes, I actually didn't mind it. It wasn't great and definitely forgettable, but I thought it was satisfactory.
Even though this movie is not perfect and has a lot of flaws, I absolutely believe that it is one of the better FF horror entries out there. I think I would consider it to be included in the Top 60 FF Horror Films I've ever seen, and even though that may not sound like much, considering how many of these films are out there, I think it says its generally pretty solid. Again the crew did a really good job and this seems very competently made. There was one point in fact that took place in a restaurant, and even though I suspect it wasn't actually a restaurant but just a room, all the sound effects were there and little touches were done perfectly and the angle was set up right as to not reveal too much. I could absolutely pretend it was a restaurant and I really appreciated that (because so many other super low budget films have done a terrible job at things like that).
I recommend this ONLY if you really enjoy FF horror in particular.