Ghostwatch

Now available on Shudder is the made for TV movie Ghostwatch.  The movie originally aired in 1992 on the BBC, and caused quite a bit of controversy.  The film is presented as a "live" TV special and despite opening credits stating it was fictional, many people thought it was real.  One suicide and two cases of PTSD were linked to the show.

The film centers around an investigation of a haunting in a London house occupied by a single mother and her two children.  If this sounds familiar it's because it is based on the true story of the Enfield haunting,  The Enfield haunting was also the inspiration for The Conjuring 2.


Watching Ghostwatch I couldn't help but notice how much other found footage movies have been influenced by it.  All the tropes that are common today in found footage films are in Ghostwatch. One of the most noticeable is the explaining of how all the equipment works.  This is forgivable in 1992 because no one had seen this done a hundred times.

Paranormal Activity anyone?

Ghostwatch was definitely a film ahead of it's time.  When it aired nothing like it had been seen before.  It unknowingly set the standard that found footage movies have been  following ever since.

As Above So Below

Good things rarely happen in tombs. 

I finally caught this film tonight and I was pleasantly surprised.  I'm not sure why it hasn't gotten better reviews, it's a very effective horror movie. 

The movie tells the story of a woman ( Perdita Weeks) who takes a group to the catacombs under Paris in search of the Philosopher's Stone.

Things start to go bad almost immediately, and then get even worse.  I won't spoil anything by saying what it is that they encounter, but it was very different than I expected.

The movie does a great job conveying the claustrophobic feelings of the group. There were a few scenes where you could almost feel the walls closing in on you. 

Some people have complained about the "found footage" angle of it.  I can honestly say this is one film where that didn't bother me.  By outfitting everyone in the group with a camera, we weren't limited to one POV.  Before anyone asks, yes there is a reason that all the footage is edited together. 

Check this movie out, and do it in the theater. This is a film that benefits from being seen with an audience.

Willow Creek

This reminds me of "In the Hills, the cities" by Clive Barker

Found footage, Bigfoot and Bobcat Goldthwait are an unlikely mix for a horror movie.  I went in to this not convinced it would work.  Bobcat is a talented filmmaker but I wasn't sure he could pull this off.  My doubts proved to unfounded however. 

A bad night for camping.

Alexie Gilmore and Bryce Johnson star as Kelly and Jim who go out to the woods to try and catch some footage of Bigfoot.  They wind up getting more than they bargained for. 

The first half of this movie is very bright, cheery and mostly played for laughs.  It was almost like a Christopher Guest film.  One night falls, the movie really ups the scares and tension level.  After watching this film it's safe to say I'll never go Bigfoot hunting, 

My only problem with the movie is that end is one of the most WTF things I've ever seen, and there's no real explanation.  I would have liked a few more minutes to wrap things up. 

The Sacrament

A fashion photographer is traveling to meet his sister at Eden Parish. Once there, his friends begin to film interviews with the Eden Parish inhabitants, all of whom speak of the commune in glowing terms. However, they soon discover that there is a sinister edge to the commune that belies the seemingly peaceful setting.-From IMDB

I'm generally not a fan of the found footage genre, it usually makes the movie seem low budget, and the shaky camera work annoys me.  The Sacrament rises far above the usual found footage fare.

L-R Gene Jones, AJ Bowen, Joe Swanberg

To begin with the concept makes sense within the story.  The characters are making a documentary, so having the film be shot POV makes sense.  Since the characters are professional journalists the movie is well lit and the camera work mostly stable. 

All the actors do a great job, but Gene Jones as "Father" steals the show. 

Nope, not creepy at all. 

Jones just exudes a dangerous calm.  He's the kind of guy who scares you without ever raising his voice. 

This is a horror where the only monster are the people who will do anything for their faith and their father.  The Sacrament gets under your skin and stays there. 

Grave Encounters/Grave Encounters 2

After hearing about these for some time I finally decided to set down and watch them this weekend.

Grave Encounters

The Plot:
The cast and crew of the ghost hunting show Grave Encounters spend the night in the supposedly haunted  Collingwood asylum. They get more than they ever bargained for at Collingwood though. 

My Thoughts:
While I generally don't like the found footage genre, I was surprised with Grave Encounters.  The start of the movie is a great send up of every ghost hunting show you've ever seen.  Watching the crew bribe gardeners, coach the fake psychic, and stage the "scary" shots was great.  When the ghost inevitably arrive there are quite a few good scares. 

and that's a wrap!

The crew avoided doing typical horror movie cliches and they reacted realistically to the ghosts. The only complaint I have is that the last act was too long.

Grave Encounters 2

The Plot:
A group of film students sets out to prove that the film Grave Encounters  actually happened.

My Thoughts:
As much as I enjoyed the first one, the sequel left me flat.  It was to meta for my taste. Starting the movie off with people reviewing the first movie just killed it for me.  They took the shaky camera to the extreme too.   Motion sickness does not endear a movie to me.  Also I'm pretty sure  film students wouldn't record themselves buying pot.

They should definitely stop here and not try to squeeze any more life out of this concept.