Saw this after hearing praise on RedLetterMedia. This was touted as a jumpscare free horror movie, and I have serious complaints. That one jumpscare made me weak. I still haven't left the covers.
But on a serious note, the scares in the movie are so effective because it builds intrigue and gets you invested in the story. You want to see every piece of evidence and formulate your own theories. Of course girl-goes-missing or turns-up-dead stories usually have layers of dark societal ills that peel away, but thankfully, there's little of that here. This does in the end return to its supernatural roots, and does so in a very humble, convincing way. There's no real resolution or answer in the end because it's the most believable, rational conclusion in the supernatural universe given our limited understanding of conciousness after death.
I enjoyed this film because it made me participate in its photo and video scrutiny games, but the 'hidden figure' is actually some pixels you had no chance of seeing until you zoom in about 1500%. The movie kind of gets away with it because it's a decade old, and phones weren't equipped with good cameras back then. But the handheld video work is also extremely sloppy in most cases. I don't know if its just a tactic to make you work extra hard to spot things, or if teenagers really don't give two s***s about keeping the camera steady.
Overall it's something you can get completely roped in to, it's satisfying and well written, and will leave you with an eerie feeling for quite some time. What more could you want from horror?
But on a serious note, the scares in the movie are so effective because it builds intrigue and gets you invested in the story. You want to see every piece of evidence and formulate your own theories. Of course girl-goes-missing or turns-up-dead stories usually have layers of dark societal ills that peel away, but thankfully, there's little of that here. This does in the end return to its supernatural roots, and does so in a very humble, convincing way. There's no real resolution or answer in the end because it's the most believable, rational conclusion in the supernatural universe given our limited understanding of conciousness after death.
I enjoyed this film because it made me participate in its photo and video scrutiny games, but the 'hidden figure' is actually some pixels you had no chance of seeing until you zoom in about 1500%. The movie kind of gets away with it because it's a decade old, and phones weren't equipped with good cameras back then. But the handheld video work is also extremely sloppy in most cases. I don't know if its just a tactic to make you work extra hard to spot things, or if teenagers really don't give two s***s about keeping the camera steady.
Overall it's something you can get completely roped in to, it's satisfying and well written, and will leave you with an eerie feeling for quite some time. What more could you want from horror?