THIS $*%! AIN’T PARANORMAL! When Kisha (Essence Atkins) agrees to move into Malcolm’s (Marlon Wayans) home, it doesn’t take long until mysterious things begin to happen; maybe it’s a ghost and maybe it can be caught on video? A spoof of the found-footage genre, the Paranormal Activity movies in particular. Lightweight stuff and very silly; … Continue reading A Haunted House
THE BOSS IS BACK. David Brent (Ricky Gervais) works as a salesman for a firm, but dreams of a career as a rock star; taking a month of unpaid leave, he pays a band to join him for a tour. A mockumentary done in the same style as The Office (2001-2002), where David Brent first … Continue reading Life on the Road
FROM THE SIDELINES TO THE SPOTLIGHT. Director Christopher Guest delivers another mockumentary, this time focusing on more or less ridiculous sports mascots who take their work very seriously and are now gathering for a national championship. Perhaps this visit to the well is one too many though. There are laughs and many of Guest’s veteran … Continue reading Mascots
A MERCILESS SATIRE. Adolf Hitler (Oliver Masucci) is suddenly transported to modern-day Berlin; discovered by a documentary filmmaker (Fabian Busch), the dictator is destined for a TV show. In the hands of director David Wnendt, Timur Vermes’s much talked-about satirical novel shares resemblances with Borat (2006), as many of ”Hitler’s” encounters with ordinary Germans aren’t … Continue reading Look Who’s Back
THERE’S A REASON WE’VE NEVER GONE BACK TO THE MOON. In 1974, the crew of Apollo 18 is secretly launched to the moon where they learn that they might not be alone. A found footage exercise that puts the genre’s worst on display. The original idea isn’t bad, but what the astronauts find on the … Continue reading Apollo 18
After the murder of a woman in Oxnard, California, high school graduates Jesse Arista and Hector Estrella (Andrew Jacobs, Jorge Diaz) break into her apartment and find mysterious things, including a journal of spells… This spin-off to the Paranormal Activity series has ties to it (that become more obvious as the story progresses) and was … Continue reading Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones
THE ONLY WAY OUT IS DOWN. Urban archeology student Scarlett Marlowe (Perdita Weeks) and a team of explorers head down into the Catacombs of Paris to look for the Philosopher’s Stone. Director John Erick Dowdle returns to the found footage genre after making Quarantine (2008) and the film has similar problems – the annoying aspects and … Continue reading As Above So Below
IN OCTOBER OF 1994 THREE STUDENT FILMMAKERS DISAPPEARED IN THE WOODS NEAR BURKITTSVILLE, MARYLAND, WHILE SHOOTING A DOCUMENTARY… A YEAR LATER THEIR FOOTAGE WAS FOUND. In 1994, three student filmmakers head into the woods to learn the truth behind rumors of a witch… but they’re not very good at reading a map. Reportedly made for … Continue reading The Blair Witch Project
YOU’LL BELIEVE IT WHEN YOU SEE IT! A group of college students try to make a documentary about a suspected bear poacher (Otto Jespersen), but he turns out to be secretly hunting trolls for the government. A found-footage exercise from the country that brought the world Edvard Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King”. … Continue reading Troll Hunter
IT’S CLOSER THAN YOU THINK. In 2011, Nevada teenager Alex (Kathryn Newton) and her family take care of their neighbor’s kid when his mom falls ill; the child is a bit odd and seems to have an invisible friend… This chapter is set a few years after the events of Paranormal Activity 2 (2010) and … Continue reading Paranormal Activity 4
NO SOUL IS SAFE. Isabella Rossi (Fernanda Andrade) goes to Rome to make a documentary about exorcism and to visit her mother (Suzan Crowley) who’s locked up in a mental hospital after committing several murders during a botched exorcism attempt on her. Another found-footage horror movie that tries to cash in on the success of … Continue reading The Devil Inside
IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY. In 1988, young Kristi (Jessica Tyler Brown) finds an invisible friend in her home… and her mother and her boyfriend begin to notice strange occurrences. The filmmakers behind the documentary Catfish (2010) directed this second sequel in the hugely successful horror franchise – but didn’t really add anything new to … Continue reading Paranormal Activity 3
CONTAIN THE TRUTH. TV reporter Angela Vidal (Jennifer Carpenter) and her cameraman are following a team of firefighters on their night shift, but an emergency call turns into a frightening crisis in an apartment complex. This Hollywood remake of a Spanish horror movie, [•Rec] (2007), was put together quickly and reveals no independent thinking on … Continue reading Quarantine
