A group of students attempt a ritual in a supposedly haunted house; a cop investigates the aftermath. Generally-solid reworking of familiar material (including nods to The Blair Witch Project) helped no end by good playing from reliable hands like Maria Bello and Frank Grillo. No real surprises, but decent enough for fans of the genre.
Category: Found Footage
Avicii: True Stories (2017, dir. Levan Tsikurishvili)
DJ Tim Bergling/Avicii’s rise to fame, and struggles with physical and mental health issues, as well as with overbearing management and commercial pressures. A fascinating and ultimately poignant behind-the-scenes documentary detailing the mu.ltiple stressors acting on a popular artist’s life.
I See You (2019, Andrew Schuth)
Vlogger recording life captures murders in a take on found footage film. Has early promise but struggles badly to make its ‘point’. Hampered with limited budget and oddly out of date ideas – the plot chokes and splutters into tired formula.
#Screamers (2016, dir. Dean Matthew Ronalds)
An internet start-up keen for shocking content is sent a series of intriguing scare videos. Found-footage jumpscare horror that works pretty well for its first hour despite unlikeable characters, but which fails to deliver with a workable resolution.
The Beyond (2017, dir. Hasraf Dulull)
A wormhole appears near Earth; a solo mission into the anomaly is planned. Found-footage/mock-doc low-budget SF which has impressive CG, but a talky script happy to recycle Interstellar, Arrival, Avatar and many others rather than tell a story of its own.
Lake Mungo (2008, Dir. Joel Anderson)
Creepy, intriguing and oddly disturbing, found footage/paranormal film based around the death of a teenager and the events leading up to it. Told through documentary style footage and assembled bits and pieces. Exceptionally well executed. Watch it
The Darkest Dawn (2016, dir. Drew Casson)
A teenager escapes an alien invasion. More developed sequel to Hungerford, this time riffing on 28 Days Later and Heart of Darkness as much as Heinlein’s The Puppetmasters. Still some rough edges, but an improvement over the first instalment.
