When I went to see this at the 2005 Frightfest film festival in London, it was noted that it had been compared to The Blair Witch Project. Certainly the low budget feel and final act draw comparisons, but this piece can stand alone on its own merits.
Without exposition it opens the way it means to go on, cutting between webcam participants engaged in day to day conversation. The subjects veer from the personal to the banal, but even when not setting up the scene the stylised fashion of having the actors speak directly to the cameras is a masterstroke that builds up a sense of intimacy and involvement that would never appear if it were regularly filmed. When the situation goes into distinctly darker waters this makes the viewer feel enmeshed in the danger rather than just being a casual observer.
Whilst at first it seems a little fluffy or a little slow, the use of subliminal cuts, distorted footage and strange ambient noises brings up the tension and the webcam view turns from seemingly a gimmick to deliberately restricting what you can and can't see. At the screening at Frightfest, the tension during the final twenty-five minutes or so was palpable and the stunned silence between the credits coming up and the applause was testament to the effectiveness of the film. Despite a virtually non-existent budget and few actors, the film has the power to shock.
Without exposition it opens the way it means to go on, cutting between webcam participants engaged in day to day conversation. The subjects veer from the personal to the banal, but even when not setting up the scene the stylised fashion of having the actors speak directly to the cameras is a masterstroke that builds up a sense of intimacy and involvement that would never appear if it were regularly filmed. When the situation goes into distinctly darker waters this makes the viewer feel enmeshed in the danger rather than just being a casual observer.
Whilst at first it seems a little fluffy or a little slow, the use of subliminal cuts, distorted footage and strange ambient noises brings up the tension and the webcam view turns from seemingly a gimmick to deliberately restricting what you can and can't see. At the screening at Frightfest, the tension during the final twenty-five minutes or so was palpable and the stunned silence between the credits coming up and the applause was testament to the effectiveness of the film. Despite a virtually non-existent budget and few actors, the film has the power to shock.