Shudder Day: The Found Footage Phenomenon (2021)

 A Genre that I have a real love/hate relationship.

All bad Movies are bad (obviously), but the Found Footage ones always find more ways to be annoying.

Here are all of them I've covered so far (the List will, of course, include this one too).

The Documentary talks about the Origin of the Horror Subgenre, talking about early Films and how they were influenced.

They thankfully credit such Films as Peeping Tom (below) and others that I'd genuinely not heard of.

Throughout the Film, you hear from various Directors and a few people that study Films.

This means that you hear plenty from guys like this before you eventually learn what Film he made.

They obviously spend lots of time talking about The Blair Witch Project.

If you're not familiar with it, this is informative.

They eventually talk about later ones in the Genre- like REC- and how they were made.

If you like this kind of Behind the Scenes talk, it is nice.

If you don't need every Found Footage Film Director to tell you how clever they are, it is less nice.

No disrespect to Andre Ovredal, of course.

Trollhunter rules.

We hear many times from this lady, who is pretty informative.

She has a French Poster for The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (and no, I didn't need to Google that), so I do like her.

In closing, if you don't know all of the minutia and history of these Films, this is a good watch.

The End.

A pretty enjoyable Documentary, even if it repeats itself a bit.

In fairness, the Film is made up of a couple dozen interviews taken at completely different times.  

I guess they couldn't be bothered to cut out the THIRD Director make the same point.

Joking aside, they got a great number of interesting people to talk about their Films, from Ovredal to Ruggero Deodato to Eduardo Sanchez.

More love for Ghostwatch- yes, please!

I love that they cover the History of the Genre (going back to the 1960s) and the realities of the World that inspired it.  Again- a very informative Film.

My final gripe- they gloss over all of the bad Found Footage Films, somehow not mentioning Area 407 (which this picture appears on if you Google it)...

A very enjoyable and fact-filled Documentary.  Just know that it makes the same points a few times too many throughout the runtime.

Shudder Day: The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)

 Like most Americans, I really liked Andre Ovredal after Trollhunter.

I've enjoyed other Films by him, so let's see this 2016 one too.

The Police find a crazy crime Scene!

The House is full of bodies.

There's no clear motive and nobody seemed to have broken in.

On top of that, they find an unidentified body half buried in the basement.

Said body is sent to the Father-Son duo of  Morticians, who seek to identify the woman and find a cause of death.

The Sheriff needs answers by morning- since he has none now!

They do their best, but find all sorts of strange things about the body...

They find strange things about the inside of her as they go through the autopsy.

They also find strange things ON the inside of her.

The duo start to see things, especially the Son.

Can they solve the mystery of the strange body before time runs out?

What about when they lose power...or gain a massive fire?

To find out, stream it now.

A real creepy Film that definitely delivers when the credits roll!

The Film is one with a unique premise.
How can the 'killer' in your Film already be a dead body?

That's the hook here and I won't SPOIL the details.  Believe me- it is hard.

What's not hard is to praise our Leads.  Brian Cox is great when he's not selling McDonalds and Emile Hirsch holds his own.  He doesn't get enough credit.

Is it because he was in Speed Racer?  Probably.

If you're a fan of big, fun and gory Horror, this won't be your thing.  It has some gore, but is far more about building and simmering tension.  

The moments really work when you get them, but you don't get them all of the time.

Autopsy is a really good Film with a unique feel and it is definitely worth a look if you're still in the dark about it like I was.

Just maybe avoid the more SPOILER-y alternate Titles and Posters.

A freaky Film with a neat hook.  The Pacing and Tone won't be for everyone, but I was a fan.

Quick Review: Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark

Another 2019 Film that I meant to see and never got around to.  

Did it live up to the hype?

It is Halloween in 1968 and a trio of teens turn the tables on some bullies.  Of course, pissing off bullies will definitely have no consequences.

I'll just get the obvious thing out of the way- this did not need to be a Period Piece.  

It adds nothing.

They meet up with a new guy in town and end up at a Haunted House.

They walked away from a first-run Drive-In Showing of Night of the Living Dead for this?
Also Horror Film shows NotLD Cliché.

They exposit about a creepy girl who would ready Scary Stories (told in the dark) to kids long ago.

Hmm...I see no danger in keeping her book of said Stories.  

I also see no danger in spending 30 out of this Film's 100 minutes with nothing but Setup.

The Stories start to be written by the Book itself and they spell doom for the subject.

Hey look- that thing from the Poster!

The Stories keep making bad things happen and they can't seem to stop it by burning the book or ripping out the pages.

Honest question- have you tried just writing 'The End' like half a page down?  

Wouldn't that work?

Who will live?  

Who will die?  

Will they wrap this story up or just hope for a Sequel?

To find out, stream the Film or buy a physical copy like some sort of Caveman.

A Film with some good moments, but it does make you wait.  

The most obvious issue here is the Pacing.  I get that there is a bunch of stuff to set up, but they still take too long.  

As noted, the Film is right at 100 minutes and they don't get to the first Story until 30 minutes in.  Would a Cold Open have killed you?  

Think about it- the Plot is built around the Stories told by this lady/spirit long ago.  

Why not start with one of those to set the mood?  

Instead, we get all of the Characters getting to know each other, them seemingly trapped and then them almost immediately getting out.  Way to set up and immediately diffuse a conflict!  

The actual Stories are handled nicely, with interest-looking monsters in each one.  The Film does struggle with a sense of identity.  

The Stories play out in an Anthology-style format, but they try to make it 'real time' to make people think of anything but.  It ends up being a bit awkward and not as strong as either version of it could be.  

Do one kind of Film or the other.  

I'm also going to say it 'I'm not that invested in these kids.'  They aren't bad Actors, nor are they badly-written- I just didn't get all that invested in them.  

Scary Stories has good moments and delivers in key parts.  The problem is that they tried to create a Genre Hybrid and it just didn't work.  

That said, I did find a product that I need in my life...

A pretty good Film that straddles the line between Anthology Film and straight Horror.  It's just a shame that the Subplots and slow start hurt the final product so much.

Delayed Review in Pictures: Troll Hunter

Mind the paperwork and giant monsters!  

Troll Hunter is a film that I heard about long ago.  In fact, I even featured its trailer upon the original release via the Internet.  Needless to say, I was excited.  This movie was guaranteed to be weird, possibly more due to it having foreign sensibilities.  

That may sound a bit jingoistic (look it up if you must), but it's true.  

You watch Executive Koala or Lucio Fulci's The Maniacs and tell me otherwise!  

The thing about this movie that is both a turn-on and a turn-off (depending on your perspective) is the film's dry sense of humor.  It takes a while to get going- although not nearly as long as Big Man Japan (another case in point)- but is totally worth the wait.  The humor is weird and quirky, but I dig that kind of thing.  

The plot plays out in an interesting way, although it does have the same problem with the 'found footage' aspect that Cloverfield did.  

How am I seeing this exactly?!?  

Aside from that, the movie is nothing like Cloverfield or Monster in terms of actual quality.  As such, I don't want to SPOIL too much for you, aside for one minor thing that barely qualifies.  

To find out just what makes this import so special, read on...

Our heroes are making a nature documentary covering an increase in the deaths of bears in the area.  

The single-camera style is used quite well, especially in interviews like this...

They find this hunter at a couple of sites and want to get the answers.  

Finally sick of them following him and asking him questions, he relents and agrees to show them just what he does: killing trolls.

Our heroes doubt him for quite a while on his first night hunt with them.  

However, they eventually learn that the man is not as crazy as he seemed...

Want to know why this Troll has turned into stone when exposed to light?  

Well, the movie does have an answer.  It's silly, but it sound scientific.  

Works for me!

This movie is all about mixing the realistic and the surreal. 

Case in point: paperwork for when you kill a Troll!

Why is the guy wearing a suit of 'bear armor' and holding a bucket of blood?  

Wouldn't you like to know?!?

Epic Foreshadowing!!!  

Um...I mean, nothing.

How did they get in this cave?  

Why are they afraid of the smell they're putting out?  

Again- wouldn't you like to know?!?

I'll leave you with this teaser image to seal the deal.  

Want to see how this ends?  Watch the movie.  

It's on Streaming now, so you have no excuse!  The End.

The one Troll that I actually like to talk about on the Internet.  

The plot of this movie is great.  It's a bit of slow burn at first, slowly building up to the idea of whether Trolls are real are not.  

The word 'Troll' is not even mentioned in the first several minutes.  

When the creature finally makes an appearance, it has quite the impact.  The movie makes great use of their effects, very rarely making me ever really question whether I'm watching a collection of 1,000,000 pixels instead of a living, breathing creature.  

It's not one-note either, as you get a number of different kinds, shapes and sizes.  

By the time the final one comes on screen, the movie feels like its truly delivering on what is the best that it has to offer.  

I wonder where they could go with a sequel, but I think that they could manage.  

Troll Hunter II: Trolls in Suburbia anyone?  

In all seriousness, this is a really good movie for those who have a warped sense of humor and enjoy subversive entertainment.  

When the whole movie builds to a joke about whether or not Trolls can smell Muslims in the same way that they can smell Christians, you know you're in for something good...

Up next, a whole week of crazy, foreign flicks (for the 800th time).  Japan adapts a crazy manga into an equally-crazy film- big shock.  Stay tuned...