Tag Archives: found footage

Movie review – Missing (2023)

28 Tuesday Feb 2023

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Found Footage Films. Bit of a hot button topic here at Surgeons, they can be both brilliant & bad in that they can spin a great yarn despite limitations in coverage, whilst that very same limitation can lead to repetitive story-telling techniques.

Surgeons of Horror podcast – Found Footage Horror

Having said that, one of the more innovate ways to execute such movies, is to use the all-pervasive and ever intrusive digital world as your lens.
Cleverly done by the film Unfriended (and its sequel Unfriended:Dark Web) Missing is the sandbox sequel to Searching and Run (apparently). And by that we mean it takes place in the same universe as Searching (a similar digital interface film
– I’ve decided that that is what we shall call this type of found footage sub-genre) and Run (which is a traditional coverage film). And although no doubt the film-makers have a good reason to make these 3 movies connected, you are pretty much hit with a 3-letter word starting with a redundant W and H, and ending with a Y!? Especially when you actually see the connection (and you need a microscope for one of them) you soon realise their inclusiveness adds nothing whatsoever to the plot of Missing.
So maybe there is a future Avengersstyle mega Searching/Run/Missing film to come where the leads of each movie team up to, I dunno, tackle a genuine impossible-to-solve mystery; like tracking a missing Uber Eats order, but in the meantime let’s explore Missing!

The premise of the film – as seen by the trailer (see clip above this article) is – a single mother of a teenage girl goes on a holiday with her boyfriend, and then promptly disappears. Said teenager then uses the power of the internet to track her down, only to find multiple layers of “things are NOT what they seem….”

So far so usual right? And even though conceptually & execution wise Missing has a lot in common with Searching (and nothing in common with Run) it is a well-made film that does the most fundamentally important thing a flick like this needs to do. And that’s draw you in.

The actual plot is driven from the perspective of the daughter’s laptop interface. The daughter, June (played by Storm Reid (someone’s parents were Fantastic 4 fans…) uses every legit (and maybe one or 2 made up ones? I dunno, I’m a Gen X-er) website and internet service out there to hunt down her mother.
And the first thing you are immediately struck by is… just how fast can this girl type!?? Clearly the speed in which she navigates from one idea to another as she opens, scrolls, reads and downloads
app after app to hack, track, investigate, eliminate clue after clue to find out what the hell happened
to her mum is accelerated for ease-of-storytelling. But you kinda get the impression that, as with
most Gen Zedders, it ain’t that far off.
So dayumshe’s fast! The FBI (unbelievably impotent and inept in this film) really need to hire her
when she graduates high school.

And the 2nd thing you are struck by is, which websites or apps turned down this movie!? ‘Cause this
is a GREAT advertising platform for any such thing to show off their features! Just with Gmail alone, I can guarantee you’ll come away from the theatre saying “I had no idea it could do that!” In fact, if the film-makers were smart, that’s how they would have pitched this movie in order to
a) get permission to use said apps and
b) get funding.
Because the more cynical of you out there could easily accuse Missing of being a feature length commercial for Internet companies big and small. And you’d be hard pressed to be proven wrong. But the story is good enough to make you look past all that.

The 3rd thing is that one should definitely see this at the movies. Unfriended is a good film (yep, you have to print that Saul, ‘cause it is – (SAUL “I’m printing this because of freedom of speech, but just for the record, I completely disagree.”)) but if you see it on a laptop you WILL suffer from small text syndrome. Missing gets around this by zooming in where it needs to, but all words are legible by the simple fact it’s a movie going experience. If you wait for it to come out on streaming, you will lose some of the
impact.

The 4th thing is that this film – during the creative process – would have run into the usual limitation all found footage directors run into. How do you tell a story effectively when you are restrained in your camera coverage? Well Missing does a good job addressing this too, with surreptitious use of mirrors (literally) and jump-cut close ups.

The Prognosis:

Missing is a surprising page turner that builds frog-in-boiling-water style very well, so by the time you start to get to the more incredulous reveals, you honestly go with it, ‘cause they are quite well earned. And you do kinda want to see how it all ends. Otherwise, you’ll won’t know what you’re missing… (yeah. It had to be said).

  • Antony Yee

PS: Oh – a quick Google search says that this type of found footage drama is called Screen Life Horror. Well that’s just stoopid…

Movie review: V/H/S/94

12 Tuesday Oct 2021

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Continuing the found footage short features each directed by a different visionary, sewn together for the VHS movie franchise comes a further instalment entitled V/H/S/94. Much like its predecessors, the audience are presented with a collection of stories framed by an overarching narrative that takes us from one tale to the next.
Charged with encasing these stories is Jennifer Reader’s Holy Hell, a kind of purgatory set in a warehouse filled with various rooms containing television sets displaying static, and cultists who appear to have their eyes gouged out. It sets the tone of the film with a SWAT team going from room to room in search of answers to what took place in this world of anarchy.

From here we are taken to Storm Drain by Chloe Okuno, which follows news reporter Holly Marciano and her cameraman in pursuit of a story through the mysterious ‘ratman’ lurking in the sewers. Is he real or simply a fabricated story by the homeless community living in the depths of the tunnels. Already we start to see commonality with the prologue, with the pursuit of the unknown and the dangers that lurk within as the protagonists venture beyond their means. In this instance Holly stumbles into a story that will change her and perhaps the world forever.

The next story, The Empty Wake is potentially my favourite and with little wonder as it is helmed by Simon Barrett, who was involved in previous VHS instalments and some of the mumblegore feathers such as You’re Next and The Guest. It’s a simple but effective story with Halley assigned to oversee a wake at a funeral home, where the corpse may or may not actually be completely dead. To raise the tensions, a thunderstorm hits, plunging Hailey into darkness. Filled with humour and fear, a fine balancing act is played out effectively.

Another VHS contributor, Timo Tjahjanto delivers the next short feature with The Subject, which is also equally as efficacious. It’s a warped and twisted version of the Frankenstein-like subject of creating humanity but with the fusion of technology. This is thrust front and centre as we bear witness to a disembodied human head attached with robotic spider legs. The creator of this abomination is Dr James Suhendra, hellbent on carrying through his vision. When at first it appears he is successful with Subject 99, the gods have other plans, and humans are in turn subjected to their own destruction.

The last short, Terror directed by Ryan Prows is one that follows a militia, who are invested in ridding America of evil. Their extremist views them to enact torture on a man whose blood holds some curious symptoms where it can explode in sunlight. They begin to run tests, but fuelled by booze and absent-mindedness, the group bite off more than they can chew, and must then fend themselves against an evil they may not be able to contain.

The final scenes bring us back to the epilogue with Holy Hell, where the true masterminds behind the collection of macabre videotapes is revealed. 

The Diagnosis:

Each story that is presented is weighted in individualistic style, connected by a common theme. Some are admittedly delivered more effectively than others, but each are united with enough substance to ensnare the audience and to show humanity at its darkest hour.

  • Saul Muerte

V/H/S/94 is currently streaming on Shudder

Movie review: Host

04 Monday Jan 2021

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Straight off the bat, I have to proclaim that I am not a massive fan of the found footage genre. There have been some exceptions, primarily Spanish horror flick, [REC], and as much as it pains me, I’ve come to appreciate The Blair Witch Project over the years for how it’s simple storytelling and tapping into the wake of the internet boom. 

Check out the Surgeons team on the Found Footage genre here

Similarly, Host capitalises on the current social climate and the restrictions that COVID 19 has had on the Arts. Unlike the film Unfriended which tried to harness the ever-changing social media landscape to project fear onto the screens, but ultimately falling short of expectations, Director Rob Savage, crafts a clever and creative script using the minimal amount of tools to his advantage, shooting everything through Zoom links and relying heavy on his cast to create the lighting, stunts, and visual effects needed to pull off the story and make it seem believable.

The narrative takes place with a group of friends meeting together via Zoom to initiate a seance, conducted by a medium, Seylan. It all seems innocent with some of the group not entirely taking it seriously, but as events play out, it soon takes a sinister turn with the group unwittingly calling in a demonic entity into their fold. Can they ward off this evil presence, or will it slowly and violently take them out?

The Prognosis:

Don’t be turned off by the remarkably short running time, Host packs in a lot into the story with great performances and strong characters. Not all of them are likeable, but that’s the point. You have to have a few that you wish to get their comeuppance and those that you genuinely hope to survive their ordeal. Savage has proved himself a compelling storyteller as a result, while taking a simple enough premise and weaving a delightfully dark tale with minimal tools at hand. It goes to show that you don’t need a lot to create a little bit of magic and by tapping into the social mainstream, breathe life into the found footage genre once more.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: The Blair Witch Project

25 Friday Jan 2019

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Transport yourself back twenty years and cast yourself in an auditorium draped with red velvet curtains and matching carpet where the unwanted popcorn had stuck to the floor and would crunch beneath your feet.

This is where I found myself ahead of this massively hyped movie that had allegedly had audiences throwing up in the aisles.

Was this a reaction to the events in the movie or from the hand-held cinematography that the filmmakers Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez were looking to achieve in order to capture the old documentary style filming you often saw in news reports etc.? What ever it was, Myrick and Sanchez had a lightning in the bottle moment that sent the Internet ablaze while it was still in its infancy, (no other film at this stage had created such a multimedia sensation) and in the process reawakened the found footage genre.

The twenty-year-old version of myself was determined not to buy into the insanity, but as I sat as the lights went down anticipating an awakening of my own. To be scared, thrilled, and gripped in fear at the events that would flow before me. This twenty-year-old was also incredibly stubborn. I beckoned, nay, willed the filmmakers to push my senses to the limit. Yes, I was disorientated, but not nearly to the degree that I had been led to believe, and I found my excitement transported to fury at these whining Americans that were lost in the woods.

To say that I was underwhelmed was a gross understatement.

And yet, something kept niggling away at me beneath the surface.

I was aware of the impact that this little movie had had on the horror industry, an industry that I loved so much. And numerous friends of mine would often talk about the impact that it had on them over the years. Was I wrong to have scoffed at the film so readily? Was there more to this movie than just your average run-of-the-mill found-footage horror?

Films of similar ilk like Paranormal Activity, or Cloverfield would come and go and not resonate as deeply, with the exception of Jaume Balagueró’s [Rec]. It was safe to say that I wasn’t a fan of this sub-genre.

It was only upon a few years back in preparation ahead of Adam Wingard’s sequel Blair Witch that I gathered the team together for a podcast on the franchise. It was during this time that I began to appreciate the making of this movie.

Listen to The Surgeons of Horror podcast:

The Blair Witch franchise


As The Blair Witch Project celebrates its 20th Anniversary, I’ve come to realize that it is a cracking example of experimental horror at its finest. The techniques that Myrick and Sanchez use in both production and marketing were exemplary, and should be applauded.

Whilst some could argue that it feels like a student film in places, (which let’s face it, it was) the direction would mark a new approach in film-making moving forward and open the door for similar stylized films.

With a 32-page screenplay and a trio of as-yet undiscovered actors (Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, and Joshua Leonard) in their crew, (some having to double-up as camera crew) they ventured out into the wooded terrain in Maryland to carry out their vision.

The aim was to guide the actors through pre-decided marks throughout the woods, where they would improvise around the screenplay, whilst adapting to each action as it was given to them. The effect was a naturalistic piece of drama, which made the plight of our trio all the more gritty and realistic.

It essentially became a test of endurance on the three actors, as they were deprived of food and disorientated by lack of sleep.

Throw in the shock ending, which was initially asked to be reshot by Artisan Entertainment for its confusion, only to end up in the final cut. It’s a good job too, as the ending is both startling and unsettling leaving the viewer hollow inside. Any movie that can garner such a reaction from its audience will always be held highly in these writers’ eyes.

The final mark of brilliance though comes in the marketing. With so much back-story written, it became an online producer’s playing field to create and sell the ‘history’ and cement the believability further. In an age where the scope of the internets online marketing capability had yet to be explored, and the mythology behind the Blair Witch was catapulted into the mainstream, coupled with the mockumentary, Curse of the Blair Witch, and the book, The Blair Witch Project: A Dossier.

There’s plenty of good reason that The Blair Witch Project should and still be deemed a horror movie classic, and twenty years on, it is a testament to clever filmmaking, marketing, and that special lightning in bottle magic, that only comes around every so often.

Listen to The Surgeons of Horror podcast:

Director Eduardo Sanchez interview

  • Saul Muerte

Movie review: Gonjam: Haunted Asylum

26 Friday Oct 2018

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Ask any of my fellow Surgeons my thoughts on found footage films and they’ll be quick to tell you of my distain towards this sub-genre. I’m quick to ascend into either boredom of contempt and often find the characters grate or get under my skin and not in a good way.

There have been a few exceptions, the granddaddy of them all, Cannibal Holocaust paved the way before The Blair Witch Project opened the door for the connected generation and was incredibly well marketed for its time. I even have a fondness towards Spanish film (REC) when that was released, as it was able to ground the style of movie and lure you in with the lead character before all hell was unleashed.

Anything else and I struggle to stay tuned-in to the horrors that I being played out in a reality environment.

So it’s an odd thing to find myself lured in by a Korean film called Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum that uses the same style and choice in its direction.

The film focuses on a known haunted location in Japan, Gonjam an old asylum that supposedly houses spirits and the fact that it is an actual place and is as one of the characters states one of the 7 most creepiest locations in the world as listed by CNN, which just cements the reality of it further and allows the viewer to settle into the believable factor.

Following a trio who make up the team from YouTube channel “Horror Times” and six volunteers, they make their way to Gonjam to film a live recording from within the asylum to see if they can capture any of the supposed paranormal activity and reach the record of 1million viewers for their channel.

The last part of the equation is high on the agenda for the channels owner, Ha-Joon, who will stop at nothing to reach his goal, including using his team to manipulate proceedings to draw reactions from the volunteers.

But by tempting the devil, have they got more than they bargained for? Will they awaken something lurking deep within the walls? And what or whom resides in room 402?

 

The Diagnosis:

I still believe that Gonjam falls prey to the usual found footage trappings, some of the characters do jar a little on occasion and borrows heavily from the previous movies from that genre.

And one particular characteristic of the possession was just fucking annoying. Having said that, it does manage to keep you gripped to the screen and tantalises the senses enough to rise above the bog-standard tropes with some impressive shots in places, using state of the art technology.

– Saul Muerte