Shudder Day: Infirmary (2026)

Am I tempting fate by watching yet another Found Footage Film this Month?

Will I be pleasantly surprised?

Let's find out...

A young Veteran is hired to work a low-stress Security Job.

The problem- it's the Night Shift job at a recently abandoned Hospital.

He's a bit traumatized by the older Security Guard who wants to razz him.

He is also a bit on edge due to some trauma from his time in Afghanistan.

The big, spooky hallways don't help.

They try to find a stranger that breaks in, but they disappear.

As our Hero tries to relax, the power goes out!

The older Guard is going to leave him alone to reset the breaker.

On edge already, being in the dark is not helping his state of mind.

He also starts seeing these medical mannequins everywhere.
Weird.

Can he survive the night?

What secret is this Hospital hiding?

Will they avoid ending on 'The Cannibal Holocaust' Shot for a change?

To find out, stream it now.

A Film that does so many things well...and just fumbles quite a bit at the end.

To start with, the Film has great atmosphere.  They used a real Hospital, which helps things.

The Film is very tightly focused, which also helps a great deal.

It can make interiors look unsettling and do much with something as simple as a creaking door.

They also build up some interesting lore about the place.  I wanted to see where it went.

The problem- it didn't go anywhere.
Weird shit happens.  It ends.  That's it.

If you want even a halfway decent answer, it's not here.  If they had delivered more, I would be praising the Film more.

I don't mind the low budget.  I like how they shot it.

Just actually make a proper ending or make one so insane that I still remember it (and not the Film).

I wanted to love this (honest), but it wasn't quite there.

Is this part of The Backrooms?

A Film that wrote 3/4 of a potentially interesting Film and then stopped.  For what it does do right, I'm optimistic about what the Director might do in the future.

Shudder Day: VHS Mixtape (2026)

 I have a very interesting relationship with this Series by now.  I like it more than I don't.

This is the 2026 edition known as...

The whole thing has a different kind of Framing Device this time.

It is bits by Gwar, which you'll either love or hate.
I don't mind the lack of narrative if the content is good.

In the first Segment, a Producer- Barbara Crampton- attempts to do a new version of a kid's puppet show with cult appeal.

What she doesn't know is that the Show had a worse finale than 'Gordy's Home' and it's not safe there now!

After a weird Claymation bit from Flying Lotus, the next proper Segment is about those folks who go out into the middle of nowhere to explore for content.

Their journey ends...poorly when they find a hidden lab.

In the next Segment, a pretty flimsy setup for found footage- a guy shooting a Daily Diary in his Apartment- occurs.

He hears a musician upstairs and, well, chaos ensues.

In the final Segment, a young lady tries to complete a track that her dead Dad was working on.

The Black Metal piece leads her to kill many poor souls in the search for pure, bleak metal goodness.

To find out how these go, stream the Film now.

A bizarre mishmash of styles, quality and all out insanity.

For starters, the Gwar Segments are as crazy as you'd imagine.  They might make or break things for you.
They have a certain...style.

As far as the Stories go, the first one was my favorite.  Evil 'Muppets' are so fun.

The 2nd Segment built up nicely, even if I wasn't quite a big fan of where it ultimately went.
The 3rd Segment is like a gonzo attempt to do a Lovecraft Story and just goes in a direction that nobody could have likely predicted.

The final Segment is creative and devious, possibly to a fault.

All in all, it's a mixed tape...er, bag for me on the actual content.
The overall package is fun with Gwar's often gross, always strange Interludes.

In lieu of a proper Theme, I'll happy take this Easter Egg...

Given the stark variety and so much Gwar, this one is likely to be divisive.  While it's not my favorite, I am glad that I checked it out.

Shudder Day: Grave Encounters (2011)

 As October officially begins this week, I'm beginning Halloween Horror Movie Madness yet again.

To start off strong, a Found Footage Film that hit big 15 years ago.

Prepare for some...

The Film begins with a Producer talking about how he was approached by a man to make a Ghost Hunting Show.

He says that this was before there were a dozen (so everyone says that this Film is set in 2003).

This man is the Host.

His Show- Grave Encounters- ran for 5 Episodes and the sixth was never submitted.

Instead, they have the 76 hours of raw footage which THEY cut into a Narrative.

They are staying overnight in a supposedly Haunted Asylum and we see that they are bit loose with the truth- because every one of these Films is inspired by Cannibal Holocaust.

After lots of setup and seeing them in full, uncut takes- again, this is from CH- we finally get some tension build up as they wander around.

The best Character- T.C.- is having none of their shit, so, naturally, the Ghosts pick on him the most, first shoving him down some stairs.

Enough happens to scare them, but now they can't get out.  They're locked in, remember?

It seems that the Residents of the Asylum don't want them to leave...but also want to make them run away.

Pick a lane, Ghosts!

Tensions rise as their appears to be no way out!  
Exits they can find don't seem to help.

As the group gets picked off one-by-one, will they finally capture the proof that they have wanted to find for all of this time?

Will anyone live to show it?
To find out, stream it now.

A Film that is very cliche- even for its time- but is there more to it?

The Plot is basic.  You know how these go.
The Location is good, if cliche.
The Acting is...not especially amazing.
All of the Found Footage cliches are on display here.

Without going full SPOILER, the Film tries to do something where the Building itself (or their perception of it) is being warped in order to keep them inside.
If this wasn't a Found Footage Film, you could get away with the trickery aspect more- but the Cameras see what they see.

There was one- admittedly bad- Ghost Hunter Film which finished halfway and then retold the events with the real things being shown. 
Maybe do that and have them yell at a missing door.  Cut to it again and show them yelling at a wide open door that they just can't see a way out of it.
Just a thought.

In any event, this one has a very predictable beginning and ending.  Between that, a few good ideas slipped in.
On the plus side, Ghosts now to write the whole message equally across the door.  No 'Don't Dead Open Inside' mistakes by them!

A Film that I can see the hype for at the time.  For me, they only tried to do a little bit different and that wasn't enough to avoid being full of cliches.

Shudder Day: Bodycam (2025)

 After a busy weekend of work, I didn't watch a Shudder Film until the middle of the week.

As such, here's a Saturday Review before a proper one.

This one is from a Director whose last Film I really enjoyed.
Will this one be as good?

Two Cops are called in on a Domestic Disturbance.

The whole Film will be shot from the POV of their bodycams...and car cameras.

(There may be a few cheats).

The duo split up and their radios suddenly don't work.

That's odd.

The veteran Cop is confronted by a strange man in front of a hole dug into the floor (almost a well) and makes the split second decision to kill him.

He wants to get his partner on the same page.

They will cover this up.

The younger guy- Jackson- reluctantly agrees, but weird stuff starts to happen when they film a symbol found outside.

One of the drug addicts they ran across outside talks about The Under Man.

They ignore him.

As they try to leave the Scene, more of them form a barrier and threaten our duo.

They took something from 'him' and it must be repaid.

No, it's not Bill Oberst Jr.  I checked.

They try to deal with the footage, but that doesn't work out.

They try to get Jackson's Mom to help, but that's a no go.

They soon find out that the Under Man is more real than they could have imagined!

Is the truth to hard to handle?

What is the reality behind this strange force/being?

To find out, stream it.

A Film that has a tough gimmick to nail, but it kind of works.

Having a Film that is (almost entirely) Filmed by stationary, mounted cameras is sure hard to do.  You really need your Actors to almost act as Cinematographers.

The Film really forces you to live in the shared experience of these two men.  It is quite immersive.

That said, the Film's attempt at doing a slow burn effect doesn't quite work.  They give you a crazy setup and slowly explain it all.

It has a few good tricks- like the possessed people or the words on walls messing with the cameras- and really makes the most of them.  At a certain point, however, you've seen them all a few times.

I just wish that were more tricks on display here.  It gets a bit repetitive.

The end game here generally worked for me, even if it was a bit expected.

It's not the best Movie I've seen by this Director, but it is worth a look...

A Film that has a gimmick and fully commits to this.  My only gripe is that the Film only has a few tricks and repeats them many times over.

Shudder Day: The Taking of Debra Logan (2014)

 After watching that Documentary on Found Footage, I decided to give a few Films from that one a chance.

In this case, it is a much-lauded FF Film from 2014 that blends Story Genres...while still playing all of the hits.

A young woman decides to make her PhD Thesis on the Study of Alzheimer's Disease and how it affects people.

Sarah Logan- in need of money and help- gets her Mother Deborah to agree to the Documentary.

Notably, this one doesn't give us the 'Their Footage Was Found and they were Lost' kind of text.

As such, we can see stuff clearly added in post, like a B-Roll about how said Disease is so deadly.

For instance, it made this lady look like she just saw Samara crawl out of her TV.

This is either fake or someone consented to put this in a Film, so I'm good.

Due to how the Disease is affecting her, Deborah is alternately friendly and wary of the Crew (of 3 people).

Her behavior is unpredictable, but not dangerous...yet.

Since this is a 'Documentary,' we, of course, have to watch them set up Cameras.

That's a key part of every Documentary and not just an excuse for not at all subtle foreshadowing.

As the days go on, Deborah gets stranger and stranger.

Weird stuff happens to her and around her, but, you know, they don't call anyone but Doctors (when she hurts herself).

Windows that are nailed shut just fly open and the lady levitates on camera...but just keep shooting, gang!

Is Deborah going through the sad and often sudden slide from a brain disease/disorder OR is there more at play?

As they learn more about her past (and that of the area), questions are raised.

Is she...possessed?

Things get freakier and freakier.

Deborah seems to mutate and become quite violent.
Secrets about her family's past come to light.

Lots of running around and doing everything at night.

Can they figure out how to fix things or is it too late for everyone involved?

To find out, stream it now (also on Tubi, apparently).

A Film that is actually quite good, when it is not doing all of the usual cliches.

I'm not a fan of the 'Run Around in the Dark with just a Flashlight' bits in any of these Films.
It is a cheat.  A way to not show things.

I won't SPOIL the finale of the Film for you, but I will say that it would have been far less annoying to watch if it happened during the daytime.

So much happens in the dark when it doesn't need to (save for cutting the Budget down).

When you do get to see stuff, it is effective, creepy and usually quite good.

More of that please!

It is a tentative recommendation from me here.

The good stuff is really good.
The annoying stuff is...quite present throughout.

At this point, you're probably sick of me and my big mouth...

A Film that is genuinely upsetting and freaky throughout.  If they had just made this like a normal Film, I'm 100% on board.

Rare Flix: Special Bulletin (1983)

 Sometimes going down a rabbit hole leads to something really great!

Well, looking at the Wiki Page on Found Footage Films (after watching the Documentary on the Subgenre), I found this Film...that I'd never heard of.

This is Special Bulletin, a 1983 TV Movie.  Why would I want to cover this, you ask?

I can't be too hard on myself- the Film has only gotten a single VHS and (Warner Archive) DVD release in the last 42 years!  That is in spite of winning multiple Awards, including an Emmy!

This TV Movie is an early example of a Found Footage Film, representing the entire course of events as a live news broadcast that you are watching on your local TV affiliate.

The Film looks and feels so real that it was required to have a warning (see later down) at the beginning of every return from Commercial Break.

Oh yeah, it was also Directed by Edward Zwick, a man who did Legends of the Fall, Glory and The Last Samurai!

How did a TV Movie traumatize so many people?  Let's find out...

Get used to this Graphic.

You'll see it many times if you watch the proper version.
The VHS Version cut them out apparently!

A Reporter named Steve Levitt is out shooting his Intro for a piece on a Dock Worker's Strike.

While he's there, some people shoot at the Coast Guard and he's taken hostage by them.

The men demand a live feed and use Steve to get their message across.

They demand that the US Government disarm their nukes.

They say that they have a bomb on board.

Do people believe them?

Throughout this, we hear from the Newscasters and also cut to Reporters covering events and getting interviews.

Notably, we get Lane Smith, the future Perry White from Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

He talks about how the Government is really wary of complying with their demands, especially with a 24-hour window to do it in!

Tensions rise as the time passes.

The 'bad guys' are a bit sad when they learn that one of the Coast Guard guys dies.

It comes to a head when one of the leaders- David Rasche (the future Sledge Hammer!)- tries to lecture our Anchor in real time.

It feels so real.

They also get really agitated as nobody seems to believe them.

Throughout this, we get Vignettes explaining their backstories, told in News Segments.

We see an earlier moment when the erratic member shoots at a News Copter.

All signs point to the Government not acquiescing to what the so-called Terrorists.

The time is starting to run out...

To find out what happens, stream this Film now.

A Film that still feels very real and visceral, even all of these Decades later.

Like Ghostwatch, it would be hard to properly match the feeling of turning on the TV and seeing this with no warning.

If you want the full experience, run YouTube on a CRT Monitor or an older TV.  It will be a seamless blend.

The actual Plot is really good too, as you learn more about the 'villains' and other people in an organic way.  News Segments explaining them really work to sell this.

Bulletin is full of lots of little touches, like people talking over each other when doing so over a live feed, people being interrupted as someone comes out to speak and more.

The only times it doesn't work is when they have to put someone in 'Washington D.C.,' so they use a blue/green screen.  There's a later effect- which I won't SPOIL the context of- that also doesn't look great.

It was Made for TV in 1983, so be fair to it.

Special Bulletin is a real hidden gem, not helped by the fact that the DVD rights apparently are muddy, so we don't get this in 4K (or 2.5K, maybe) or Streaming on a big platform.

It also features a Cameo that was going to be a lot more fun a couple of weeks ago...

Next up, let me switch up my old plans a bit to be more topical.  How does this James Gunn Film hold up on a second opinion years later?  Stay tuned...

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.