Contracted

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chqtOlOEdsY

Director: Eric England

Writer: Eric England

Actors: Najarra Townsend, Caroline Williams, and Alice McDonald.

Synopsis: After a night at a party and a one-night stand with a stranger, a young girl thinks she has contracted a sexually transmitted disease. However, it’s something quite different that affects her life and the lives of everyone around her.

Review: Some people may find this movie somewhat mundane or boring but to be honest, I found it refreshing. Samantha (Najarra Townsend) is a 20-something who works at a restaurant and raises prize-winning Orchids in her spare time. She has a complicated relationship with a girlfriend as well as one with her own mother. Apparently, Samantha had substance abuse issues in the past.

While attending a party, she meets a young man who she ends up having sex with. There are a lot of different views on if he raped her or not because during their tryst in the backseat of a car, she repeatedly tells him to stop, yet he doesn’t.

Within a couple of days she is showing symptoms that are strange like a really weird rash on her body, a lot of bleeding, hair loss, etc. Things start to escalate and her mother thinks she is on drugs again.

The last few minutes are really intense with Samantha acting out against her girlfriend, another woman who seems to want a relationship, and a guy who she sleeps with. The final few seconds are pretty awesome as well.

Found Footage O Meter: This is going to be a slow burn type of movie for most. I found it intriguing however because it took normal people that have normal jobs and made a story that is both unique and interesting. I give this a solid 8/10 for its story, execution, and acting.

 

The Afflicted (2013)

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Director: Derek Lee, Cliff Prowse

Writer: Derek Lee, Cliff Prowse

Actors: Derek Lee, Cliff Prowse

Synopsis: Two best friends see their trip of a lifetime take a dark turn when one of them is struck by a mysterious affliction. Now, in a foreign land, they race to uncover the source before it consumes him completely.

Review: Hand down one of the best found footage movies of 2014. This movie is what found footage is all about. Take two buds Derek and Cliff, who head off to see the world on a vacation I can only dream of. The movie maintains a steady pace. And I love the fact that Derek Lee and Cliff Prowse are good friends in real life. It made them so believable, and you found yourself rooting for them.

Basically off in a land far away these buds are out looking for fun. I mean who wouldn’t if you could just jet set across the globe. Fun comes in the form of a hot brunette for Derek Lee. The brunette was more than any of them could have ever expected. After that encounter it is a whirl wind edge of your seat ride. Derek Lee begins an unexplainable transformation that he, and his buddy document on film.

The is one of  the best solid plots in a found footage movie I have witnessed. I am not left guessing at anything for the most part. The two main characters are well-developed, and definitely well acted. It is actually fun watching this thing get so out of control. It’s like watching a train wreck in slow motion. Made on a shoe string budget kudos to these guys.

 

Found Footage O Meter: 8/10 for me on this one. It was just so well done. It is in my top 5 possibly top 3 of found footage this year. It is definitely in my top 10 of all time found footage.

The Possession Of Michael King (2014)

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Director: David Jung

Writer: David Jung

Starring: Shane Johnson, Ella Anderson, and Cara Pifko

 Synopsis: After the death of his wife, a man who doesn’t believe in God or Satan decides to make a documentary where he is the subject. He attempts to prove that none of it exists by allowing various spells to be cast and occult practitioners to perform rituals on him. Of course, evil indeed exists and manifests itself in Michael King.

 Review: I had high hopes for this movie after hearing that a few others had really enjoyed it. I have to say that the beginning started off promising but about midpoint through the movie, I lost interest.

 Michael King (Shane Johnson) is a married man, seemingly happy. We see video footage of him and his wife during happier times – heck, he even has a daughter and a dog. Of course, you know what that means for the dog but more on that later. After his wife is killed and by the way, the movie never does really address her death; we simply know that she died, Michael decides to prove there is no God and there is no devil. He pretty much blames the tarot card reader for his wife’s death and by the way, there is one good aspect of the movie – Dale Dickey (love her) plays the tarot card reader.

 Michael starts his documentary by visiting a variety of people to help prove his theory. He takes part in a few occult rituals and along the way he eventually does become possessed.

 One issue with the movie is that all of the fake scares are super loud and unnecessary. The acting is fine and I do have to commend everyone on that but I honestly got bored after a while. Add into that the fact that of course the dog has to die and well, I was done with it. It wasn’t horrible, it wasn’t great, and while many enjoyed it, I didn’t so much.

 

Found Footage O Meter: I give this one a 5/10 on the found footage horror scale. I admit it is one of the better ones of 2014. But it was lacking something. I am not sure what. The Taking of Deborah Logan was much better. And why must movies always kill animals. I mean is it really necessary to the plot.

The Taking OF Deborah Logan (2014)

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Director: Adam Robitel

Writer: Gavin Heffernan, Adam Robitel

 Starring: Jill Larson, Anne Ramsay, and Mitchell Ang

 Synopsis: The daughter of a woman with Alzheimer’s allows a film crew to document her mother’s descent into dementia. However, things are not what they seem and Deborah Logan may have more than just Alzheimer’s.

 

Review: This movie is a little different than your usual found footage or even possession movies. I’d almost say it’s a breath of fresh air except I found it good, not great as some have coined it.

 Trying to help pay the medical bills of her mother, a woman allows a film crew to document her mother’s decline due to Alzheimer’s Disease. However, things start escalating into something that isn’t just due to the disease at all and that’s where the possession or occult aspect comes in.

 I found the acting pretty decent, especially with Anne Ramsay, who plays Deborah Logan’s daughter. There are quite a few creepy moments and one that is especially shocking so that in itself gives the movie some extra points. I didn’t care for the open-ended ending with the little girl (not a spoiler, by the way) and while I enjoy some endings like that, this one was just “okay” to me.

 I do like that the movie took a different approach to the usual possession theme. We have an elderly woman instead of your usual teen girl, the atmosphere was decent, and like I said, the acting was pretty good as well. I don’t know why I didn’t love it more but then again, it is probably one that I’ll watch again and that may change my review to an even higher score.

 

Found Footage O Meter: I give this one a solid 6/10 and that may change with another viewing. I dare say one of the best found footage movies of 2014.

The Den (2013)

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Director: Zachary Donohue

Writers: Zachary Donohue and Lauren Thompson

Starring: Melanie Papalia, David Schlachtenhaufen, and Adam Shapiro

 

Synopsis: A young graduate student (Melanie Papalia) attempts to study the online activity of random people in order to get grant money for her graduate thesis in Social Media Studies. She witnesses what seems to be a real murder and gets caught up in trying to find the killer when her own loved ones start disappearing.

Review: First of all, I loved this movie and it is most likely because the story seemed more realistic and the ending was pretty awesome. If you’ve ever played on Chatroulette or any of the other video chat services, then you’ll recognize some of the familiar scenes that the main character, Elizabeth witnesses the first few days of her studies.

Elizabeth starts out with the usual silly online presences – the guys who want to show off their privates, the pranks that are supposed to surprise and scare you, and foreigners wanting to make new friends. Things start out with her being filmed while making love to her boyfriend and having that video sent to various people, including the ones who decide if she gets a grant or not. Along the way, she makes friends with one girl who never shows up on video and when she eventually does, it’s her death that Elizabeth sees.

The police don’t believe her and it’s her best friend that she turns to in order to get help. Once he and her boyfriend disappear, Elizabeth goes out on her own to try to find them and this is where things get really interesting. Her sister is targeted and things go from bad to worse for her really quickly.

Without giving anything away, the ending reminded me of Hostel somewhat and that was really refreshing. It left the door open for a sequel while still allowing the original movie to end with closure should a sequel not be made.

 

Found Footage O Meter: I’d give this movie a solid 8/10 for an original look at what many of us are familiar with – online video chatting. There are some really intense and violent scenes if you’re into that but they don’t overwhelm the plot or seem gratuitous in any way.

 

 

 

Grave Encounters 2011

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Director: The Vicious Brothers

Writers: The Vicious Brothers

Starring: Ben Wilkinson, Sean Rogerson, Ashleigh Gryzko

Synopsis: For their ghost hunting reality show, a production crew locks themselves inside an abandoned mental hospital that’s supposedly haunted – and it might prove to be all too true.

 

Grave Encounters starts off very similar to any other ghost hunting show like Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures. I found the cast very realistic in the aspect of being ghost hunters. I felt like I was watching a show. You watch a camera crew stay the night in a supposedly haunted insane asylum. Most people will feel okay we have all heard this story and seen this movie. I thought the same despite the rave reviews it was gaining before I viewed it myself.

 

(Minor Spoilage) I also loved how the beginning it did address the fact that every show doesn’t always get results hence paying a handy man to say he saw something. I kinda figured this may happen in the real shows like Ghost Hunters.

 

Now, I don’t want to give too much a way. I am only giving my review and this is not a blow-by-blow of the entire movie. The movie had some great scares. However, I did find all the screaming and f-bombs dropping a little annoying. But I can’t really say anything because I am relatively sure if I were in the same situation I would probably be dropping f-bomb as well. But is just really annoying to watch for me.

 

I did not go in expecting much from this movie. It was surrounded by a ton hype by the time I got around to watching it. Typically when a movie is surrounded by so much hype I end up hating it. And I hate it when that happens. But this movie did its job. I was scared and jumpy. I put my hand over my eyes and peeked through a couple of times. So I am with this one to say the least. And it had a nice little twist.

8.5/10: Definitely one of my favorite found footage movies. It was well done and the actors were great. It’s definitely one not to be missed.

I will be reviewing Grave Encounters 2 very soon!!! 🙂