Afflicted (2013)

Almost 15 years since "The Blair Witch Project" pretended to document an ill-fated journey into the woods, its impact is felt more deeply than ever. The found footage horror genre technically pre-dated the digital filmmaking boom by nearly two decades (with 1980's "Cannibal Holocaust") but the age of user-generated footage, when everyone with a smartphone has one trigger finger ready to hit record, has made the device too ubiquitous for its own good.

The two actors performances are credible enough to legitimize the terror, only stumbling when they glare directly into the camera and profess their fears (a "Blair Witch" cliché that has run its course, the confessional moment is the worst example of overstatement). Derek's ensuing plight across the continent, in which he scales buildings and nimbly evades various countries' police forces, suggests "Cloverfield" by way of "American Werewolf in London," but lacks the same wry, self-deprecating humor of the John Landis classic. Instead, directors Proswe and Lee established a macabre scenario and then uses it as an excuse to run wild with the production values, piling up a series of impressive chase scenes and showdowns involving characters with the powers to scale buildings and hurl bodies across the room. It's a superficial delight to watch "Afflicted" gradually ramp up its effects work, and while the scares don't sink too deep, the movie offers surefire confirmation of found footage horror's latest stage.