NOVEMBER 13 — Even in 2021, that much maligned horror subgenre that we call found footage is still very much alive and well.
A phenomenon undoubtedly started by the runaway success of The Blair Witch Project and further strengthened by the even more startling success of the Paranormal Activity franchise, what started as a way for genre filmmakers to turn a handicap (lack of budget and proper equipment) into an advantage has now, thanks to advancement in technology, become more and more a showcase of what can be done with consumer grade cameras and mobile phones, with even drone shots becoming part of the inventory as drones have become more affordable nowadays.
So unlike in those early days, where films like The Last Horror Movie, The Collingswood Story and The Poughkeepsie Tapes all have that grainy, grungy look in common, found footage films nowadays have such a slick look that quite a number of filmmakers have had to resort to presenting their found footage film as some sort of documentary or vlog, which is the case in three out of the four found footage flicks I’m writing about here. Are any of them good? Let’s find out!
The Medium
One of my favourite horror flicks of the year, the latest film from Thai director Banjong Pisanthanakun (of Shutter and Pee Mak fame) is like a wonderful, everything but the kitchen sink, compendium of all the things that make Asian horror such a unique and fun experience.
Telling the story of a medium/shaman named Nim, possessed by the spirit of Ba Yan, who is followed by a documentary crew, the plot thickens when her niece starts exhibiting the same symptoms that she did when she was first possessed by Ba Yan.
The whole found footage angle doesn’t exactly work here, as there are plenty of instances where the audience will be asking how some shots are possible, especially with it supposedly being shot on the fly as a documentary, and let’s not even begin to think about the logic of why some people get possessed and why some don’t.
But if you just go with it and let the filmmakers and story bombard you with one delightful scare (no matter how cliched) after another, you’ll find yourself in the company of one of the most entertaining horror movies of the year.
V/H/S/94
The V/H/S franchise is a series of found footage horror anthologies that presents itself as a collection of old VHS tapes found at a particular location.
The finding of those tapes usually makes up the wraparound story and the contents of the tapes make up the rest of the movie.
With perhaps only V/H/S:Viral being the weak point in the franchise, V/H/S/94 has proven itself to be one of the series’ best yet, with all of its segments hitting their marks precisely and entertainingly.
My favourites are definitely Timo Tjahjanto’s “The Subject”, an over-the-top cyberpunk grindhouse gem that plays like a first-person shooter game and the last segment by Ryan Prows titled “Terror”, in which a group of extremist militia finds itself in possession of a dangerous supernatural weapon.
Paranormal Activity: Next Of Kin
With Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension declared as the final film in the franchise six years ago, it’s a bit of a surprise to suddenly see a new film marketed as part of the franchise in 2021.
The surprise doesn’t end there though, because other than this film’s found footage angle (a documentary crew, which is still a million miles away from the lo-fi aesthetics of the previous six films), there’s nothing in here that connects this film to the franchise the way that each of the previous six films did, even with Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones.
So not only do we have to sit through a thoroughly unimaginative mockumentary retread of Midsommar, but we’re also being duped into believing that this is a new Paranormal Activity movie. It’s most definitely not.
The Deep House
If watching Paranormal Activity: Next Of Kin has already induced in you a mild case of annoyance, prepare to be enraged by the time you’ve finished watching The Deep House, a new horror movie that comes with a pretty great pedigree, courtesy of directors Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury (of Inside and Kandisha fame) and a concept — an underwater haunted house film — that promises something fresh and maybe even new.
Telling the story of a YouTuber couple trying to make a name for themselves by exploring the world’s most dangerous and scary locales, we are led to an isolated branch of a lake somewhere in France that was artificially flooded, at the bottom of which reportedly lies an untouched and perfectly preserved house.
Partially a found footage film, with the directors utilising footage shot with the couple’s cameras, GoPros, drones and whatnot, but also employing standard filmmaking techniques when not using those footage, the whole movie is seriously hampered by the nausea-inducing nature of the underwater found footage.
This was made even worse by the absolutely by-the-numbers plotting and character building here. If you thought that The Blair Witch Project gave you vertigo, then you haven’t seen this yet!
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
