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Reviews
The Fear Footage (2018)
Not even a badge and a gun can get you out of here.
I love the found footage horror genre but you have to suffer through some truly terrible ones in order to find a gem or even a tiny shine. With that in mind I would call 'The Fear Footage' a diamond albeit in the rough.
To be honest the beginning almost made me quit when a scary clown was introduced. Yes, another scary clown movie or so I thought but that's when the film throws a curve ball. The concept is that you are never sure whether or not you are watching an old VHS tape ( the titular Fear Footage) or not and while the entire film seems to be linked to a specific house the film swaps between time dimensions as the past, present and possible future all twists together. All this hopping around between characters and set-up's could be confusing but instead the film finds it's own eerie and abnormal logic that just keeps leading you deeper into this nightmare.
I liked this movie because of it's warped nature. It deliver's on the chilling frights, some parts are insanely tense and there's more than a few jump scares and while the film might not offer the answers at the end that some like, the mystery and freakishness is there for those who like to let their imaginations run rampant.
The Rainbow Experiment (2018)
A haunting, emotional inspection of a normal day suddenly turned horrific
Set at an American school, this film revolves around an accident, a science experiment gone wrong that leaves one student clinging to life and the rest of the students and staff in utter chaos. The film opens with the moments leading up to the tragedy and from there it quickly expands as you watch the varied reactions and responses to the incident. It is fascinating, one day under an intense microscope as teachers break down, cover-up and politicize, bringing their own personal baggage into an already manic situation. The parents bicker and rage and the students assign blame and fight as they try to comprehend what happened whilst dealing with their own real life problems and situations. Like the idea of the Butterfly Effect or the waves that eminate from the drop of a pebble in water, everyone involved is twisted up and rocked in some way.
Using a large ensemble cast of mostly unknowns, it would have been easy to lose track of the story or for the individual characters to get lost but this does not happen. In fact the number of actors involved helps the film as we watch them interact, their own personal journeys contorted by others and the situation. Overheard conversations, school mis-managment and simple mistakes become huge problems and cause life changing decisions.
This is high drama, people on their worst day, but the acting is sublime never straying into histrionics and over acting. Every reaction is real, understandable and the direction aids this immeasurably, with the camera almost like a bystander, an eavesdropper in every room. The editing is also magnificent, with the use of jagged jump cuts, split screen and blurry effects that add to the tension and the constant sense of unease.
In all, a magnificent film that really hits you hard, keeps you interested and emotionally engaged and that you think about long after the credits roll.