Found Footage

The way I would describe this movie is Parks and Rec meets The Blair Witch Project with a dash of Bigfoot sprinkled on top. If that doesn’t sell you then I’m sorry but I don’t know what’s wrong with you. The “found footage” part of this movie was quite pleasant because it wasn’t the standard approach that many films take where it legitimately is just what appears to be footage that was found. While it’s shot in that style, the presentation is much more like a mockumentary being made in the style of a Parks and Rec. The production quality is much better than most which makes it far easier to enjoy because you’re not simply watching the shaky hand camera work of someone with a home video style device. The story is that a real film crew is documenting an indie film crew attempting to make a low budget horror movie at a time share in the woods. So it has all the dry humor of a project like The Office but also wrapped up with the benefit of it not looking like garbage. I didn’t recognize anyone in the crew of this movie so they were all unknowns which worked out well. Sometimes having no affinity for the cast is a bad thing as it can make it hard to rally around a character. Name recognition or at least SOME kind of recognition is a much easier road to connecting with a cast in some way, even if it’s small. Horror has that problem for me where if I’m not brought along with the story then I’m too disconnected for whatever the fright factor is that’s supposed to hit me with the scares. This cast, while unknown to me, was still quite appealing in their performances and thus made it quite easy to root for some characters and cheer on the bloody demise of others.

In addition to the acting being really well done, the script seemed to be considerably cohesive as a full project. You start out following this desperate wanna be director looking to score his first big production of a Bigfoot horror movie they’re looking to shoot in the woods. Coupled with some friends, his girlfriend aka Assistant Director, and a distinguished retail furniture baron as their executive producer, they go about attempting to put together the connective tissue needed to make the movie happen. The film crew follows them along as they negotiate the pitfalls of funding the film and what that will take. As well as casting the movie with what they believe will be a big star. Whether or not that pans out how they assume it will is left to unfold. Spoiler alert, it doesn’t. But it works out really well nonetheless. What works really well with this cast is that they aren’t necessarily over the top. They all seem very real and very believable with just enough of that cartoony lovability that traditional mockumentaries seem to capture. If it’s too normal then it’s just a regular doc and it’s not funny. But too over the top and it becomes a campy spoof of the genre. They really hit the mark, in my opinion, with how this all came together.

I don’t think I’m giving away anything plot wise, and if I do, I’m sorry, but what happens is this crew descends on Natalie’s (director’s girlfriend and AD of the film) parent’s time share. She’s naturally SUPER nervous as she meant this as a last resort option for maybe a couple of scenes and is completely taken advantage of as it becomes the backdrop for their entire indie film. While there, in looking for ample storage for two film crews worth of gear’s storage, a PA on the film named Pete, also potentially my favorite character in the film, accidentally stumbles upon a sort of secret basement where there are clearly ritualistic things happening on the regular. Not sure what the implication is with Natalie’s parents on this one, but they definitely upset the balance and potentially the restraint of some very heinous spirits in doing so. This ends up being a big deal.

I really don’t want to go too far into the plot on this one as it was really quite a bit of unexpected fun. I’m still teetering on if I’m going to purchase but I’ve definitely not ruled it out yet. I’m still soaking it all in. The one thing I will say that holds me back a little is while they do a pretty fair job of peppering in the instances of something increasingly supernatural befalling the cast and crew of this indie film, the pacing is still a little off. It’s not slow. If anything it’s a bit rushed at the end. There are plenty of truly creepy things that happen but they don’t ever get their due timing and are introduced on screen and promptly dismissed as well. As the audience you can add them up and tell that something bad is happening but that disjointed nature to them keeps the tension from building real momentum. That’s where I feel like they shot themselves in the foot to a degree. The exposition that comes through the dialogue helps unpack what is happening and gives it all context, but the disconnection from experiencing it in a growing crescendo of fright with still a relatively healthy dose of comedic elements sprinkled on the plot as well really keeps this movie from achieving real horror notes until late into the movie. I do think it’s still balanced in a way that is very much palatable but if I could tweak something, I’d probably try and marry the horror elements back into the entire production with a little more dedication to the overall story so that once we realize things are heading in a dreadworthy direction, we stay on that track with minimal comedic u-turns. The comedy can absolutely still have it’s place. Many times a well placed laugh creates a vacuum for the fright elements to temporarily disappear which can be welcomed but also used to birth a false sense of security and double down on potential scares.

In the end, I really feel comfortable giving this movie a solid 7. For no notable talent, the actors really found an easy appeal early on in the film. I was enamored with them as a collective early on through the dry, comedic elements that worked well. Their ragtag group represented underdogs that were easy to cheer for while still introducing elements that made you wary of becoming too ingratiated in their collective. The presentation of the overall film was very nicely done as the production value was significant. It never felt like I was trapped in a Sony camcorder viewpoint watching a group of jerks run through the woods. Blair Witch nailed it and got away with it at the same time. Replicating that became cheesy and lazy at the same time. Because they chose to have this be a documentary about a film being made, it worked so much better than it being a vehicle to watch just the found footage movie. A story within a story worked extremely well for me. The thematic elements combined with the humor and the horror all came together expertly in the final presentation. I would gladly recommend this movie any day of the week. At 90 minutes, it’s super easy to get through quickly and it never feels like it’s too long. Even with the minor issues I have with their choice in pacing, the ending was great and brought the whole picture together in really fun ways. It’s a new movie this year and it’s on Amazon Prime so if that’s accessible to you and you’re looking for something fun, different, and new then this is the movie for you this spooky season. And I think with that note, I’ll catch you on the flip side.