The Tunnel. 2011. Directed by Carlo Ledesma. Screenplay by Julian Harvey & Enzo Todeschi.
Starring Bel Deliá, Andy Rodoreda, Steve Davis, Luke Arnold, Goran D. Kleut, James Caitlin, Ben Maclaine, Peter McAllum, Shannon Harvey, Arianna Gusi, & Russell Jeffrey.
Distracted Media/Zapruder’s Other Films/Dishs
Not Rated. 90 minutes.
Horror/Mystery/Thriller
★★★★
Father Gore always has time for found footage. Even better if it’s in the faux-documentary style. The Tunnel is the story of a documentary crew heading, unauthorised, into the tunnels underneath Sydney, Australia. What they wind up finding is more than a government cover-up of overspending and waste.
While this does follow a familiar path, bringing to mind the groundbreaking Blair Witch Project, there’s a genuine air of unease that follows the characters as they go headlong into a mystery they don’t quite understand. Found footage can often lose tension to the shaky camera, screaming and other too loud noise, among other things. Here, the tension holds up, and the documentary style takes us through the various stages up to the sinister events which the crew experience.
Perhaps why The Tunnel is so effective is because it takes on a real world issue, crafting an interesting plot within that familiar story constructed as a news exposé. The natural feel of the characters, the homeless people they encounter in the tunnels, the story of the tunnels themselves, this all builds up a whole world for the film instead of just feeling like an isolated environment for 90 minutes.
The faux-documentary lends an air of authenticity to the film, so the events which lead up to all the genuinely creepy horror midway through feel natural, the characters seem real. Best of all, the organic traits of The Tunnel make this better than three-quarters of the found footage out there, avoiding the typical “Turn off the camera” arguments and the expected moves of a lesser film. That being said, certain aspects, in the end, are the same we’ve seen before. Luckily, it all builds and releases a heavy dose of tense fear.
Unique locations add to the film’s feel, made possible by the plot itself.
The whole thing is just like an investigative series you’d expect to find on the BBC or another similar network. There’s an almost Gothic atmosphere, as the news crew venture deeper into the tunnels below Sydney there’s a sense something ancient, amongst mentions of the tunnels having been used as air raid shelters during World War II. Long before the evil down there becomes more concrete later on, it’s a s if the place is a haunted house, only in the form of a series of tunnels, homeless squats, and forgotten spaces lost to time.
Things take an eerie turn with Trevor the homeless man’s scene. Unnerving. Early on there’s a gut feeling something isn’t quite right, prior to any other hints of terror. Once the news crew start experiencing scarier and scarier events, recalling Trev’s brief but memorable freak out comes with the knowledge this man was giving them a warning without words.
It might’ve been nice to at least get a tiny bit of elaboration on the evil lurking down in the tunnels. However, the way it’s left for what it is on the surface is a testament to the trauma of people like Trev, the other homeless who are left shells of themselves – if they’re lucky enough to still be alive – and are unable to articulate the monstrosity of whatever’s down there.
Simultaneously, we can dig out our own meaning. WWII, the Holocaust, these were modern events which shaped the world, not merely Germany. After these modern warns, the psychological traumas of people suddenly took off, generational or otherwise, and largely they were forgotten. Because post-WWII was a time of celebration, when fascism had been defeated and the world looked hopeful, full of opportunity. Our societal ills were hidden; or, society wanted to keep them hidden. This leads us to the homeless, who’ve literally crawled down into the forgotten tunnels of the war, a fittingly metaphorical space for them.
And down there, a danger grows, some brutal mutation. It feeds on the homeless, the forgotten and discarded people of our collective society. The government doesn’t care too much because it’s solving part of their problem without doing the work; out of sight, out of mind, right?
The Tunnel genuinely freaked me out. It follows a lot of similar veins as the found footage classics we know and love. Yet it doesn’t go to all the same places, it plays with our expectations from the documentary standpoint while offering up nice frights weaved through the plot while we see it play out via found footage, the tapes shot by the crew themselves. This mix is something I really dig in the sub-genre, and it works for director Carlo Ledesma.
Sure, if you don’t like found footage already, you’ll probably not like this one, too. But give it a shot. This doesn’t suffer from many of the mistakes other similar films do, it’s a smart and well paced piece of work. Ledesma’s pacing is rhythmic, lulling us into a comfortable feeling before bringing out a creepy moment or two until finally falling all the way into a chaotic finale.
Might be a great flick for a group of people in October. You’ll all jump at least once or twice. The characters aren’t archetypes, they’re actual people, flawed and full of shit sometimes; other times, they’re intelligent and raw, honest. Things get emotional, they get weird, and what’s down in those tunnels? Pretty chilling. You could almost see The Tunnel as an unaired special on a news networks, uploaded years later to YouTube as part of a conspiracy people try to unravel.
I’m of two minds: you can make found footage and not worry too much about ‘following the rules’ of the format so long as the story’s good, scary, exciting; or, you can make found footage while sticking to the format’s unwritten rules, working to make the film feel entirely genuine as a piece of recovered footage. The Garlock Incident is of the latter class, feeling exactly as if this film was picked up from a discarded camera somewhere out in the desert.
Straight away, the opening just jumps into footage; as a genuinely filmed road trip would, with no title, no opening scene like a traditional film, none of that. Not even the typical “On such-and-such date a group of…” Rather, we’re thrust directly into the characters and the plot. The immediacy of how we’re brought into the film allows the found footage format a sense of feeling genuine.
The haunted mining town setup evokes a sense of American Western tales meets the Gothic tradition, starting a spooky atmosphere. Works on another level, though. The old American Dream is symbolised by the gold mining town, the former path to glory which led many to their demise. Contrast that with the new American Dream, being in the movies, obviously represented by Lily and her friends making a film.
Cannot recommend this movie more. Found footage will always get a chance, from me. I’m willing to give anything a shot, because there’s a craving for the deeper subjects, the scarier stories, either supernatural or utterly human. The Garlock Incident plays with the audience’s expectations, then by the final frame you’re left reconsidering everything that came previously.
Let’s get this straight, I’ve been a huge fan of 
It’s hard to judge sequels separately as entirely different entities outside of a franchise. Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween; some of the films in these series’ don’t particularly link well with the others, whether intentional or just because of poor writing, and so it allows us to look at particular entries as a sort of standalone film even under the name of a franchise.
The found footage, faux-documentary sub-genre has run wild in recent years, to the extent the horror industry’s been flooded. It’s a perfectly viable sub-genre, it’s just been destroyed like the slasher sub-genre was particularly during the 1980s. Because, at this point in 2017, the accessibility of making a low-budget found footage movie is right at our fingertips. You can take a bunch of friends out in the woods for a weekend, along with some iPhones, and by the time Monday rolls around you’ve got a little movie!
The world of Halloween haunted house attractions is ripe for horror. The Houses October Bult was both engaging and frightening, taking us through the unsuspecting audience’s perspective inside the attractions. Hell House LLC takes us to the other side, from the perspective of a group of friends who put together haunted houses, here, they set it in an old hotel; clearly yielding scary results. The found footage aspect works perfect taking us into the action, but giving us great suspense as we watch the place come together, the eerie events which happen under the group’s collective nose. The use of a possibly supernatural backstory that comes out through the faux documentary offers an intriguing mix; whether the supernatural actually pans out becomes evident by the finale.
The Abaddon hotel here is an actual haunt attraction, previously converted from an old hotel. Like with all great locations, this one transforms the film, making it more interesting and spookier. So many found footage flicks don’t have atmosphere, here that’s just naturally taken care of by the setting. The hotel is a character on its own, akin to the lead villain in another film. This alone gives Hell House LLC fantastic atmosphere, a sense of place. As opposed to a set, the real location adds grim life to the plot, as you can imagine finding yourself in an ageing hotel, walking through its hotel, unaware of its history or what sort of entities, maybe people, are lurking within those walls.
In the top ten found footage efforts of the 2010s so far. There are so many of these movies dropped on us, because it’s cheap, especially for a studio to pump them out. But even an iPhone puts you in the director’s chair. Hell House LLC, and other films like it, prove that found footage is still very much alive. Some people want to make you believe they sub-genre’s played out. It isn’t, you just have to dig through the shit at times to find the pretty little diamonds.
Found footage will always get a chance at Father Son Holy Gore. Because when done right there’s so much potential, both to be a compelling film and also scary. On the other side of that is that, when done wrong a found footage horror can truly be abysmal. Just utter shit. What’s frustrating about the whole sub-genre is when a movie’s got that potential, then instead of capitalising wastes every bit of its energy.
While the opening sequence does fit with the film, story-wise, it’s just a weird start. Especially considering the fact this is meant as a found footage film, and within the first 5 minutes or so there’s a mix of footage. Usually, I try not to lean too hard on one of these flicks for those types of things. But the first few scenes feel out of place where they are, maybe if they appeared later on once we know more about Dani and her situation it’d feel appropriate.
A great element, as previously mentioned, is how white people fuck around with things they don’t understand in other cultures. Here, we have the voodoo culture, traditionally practised by Africans/African-Americans. The cousin’s been dabbling in it, and wrongly with the pentagram fascination. Dani even stashes some beads under Stacy’s pillow, playing around where she doesn’t belong. We see the disrespect of the culture, their lack of seriousness in contemplating the consequences, which lays the groundwork for the later, horrifying trip to hell.
I really wanted this to be better. It has a bunch of expertly creepy elements, I expected more at times when the better bits shined. Unfortunately, Voodoo suffers from some bad acting, plus poorly delivered dialogue and flat emotions. The wasted energy and plot elements would’ve given more life to the whole film. Additionally, the needlessly nasty sexual horror in the finale is off-putting. Dani’s descent to hell makes you forget some of its imperfections, then Costabile hammers a bad nail home with this gross finish.
I’ll always defend found footage because, when done right, the results can be shockingly impressive, and really scary. There’s a lot of misfires. It’s a relatively new subgenre, in terms of popularity, considering movies like 
Altar succeeds investing the audience in the characters. These people feel real, like they’re actually a group of friends who’ve known one another a long time, we revisit their nostalgia alongside them on this reunion trip. There’s a lot of good organic little scenes where the characters all build up through dialogue that’s not just jammed with exposition. Even a decent explanation aside from ‘I wanna record our reunion’ that plays well into the relationships between certain characters. While not every aspect of the writing impresses me, Sconce makes it all feel natural. Lending to that are the believable performances of the lead actors.
The creeps are subtle and spaced out. It isn’t until the final 20 minutes when things unleash, when the tension boils over and there’s nothing but a spiral towards madness. Sconce avoids the usual ‘Turn off the camera’ moments, the constant infighting, sudden ruined friendships over fear. He opts to go for more of a group terror, one that lingers like static every moment we follow the group of friends. It’s not as if anything unexpected happens. What works is the tense, unsettling suspense of the last 20 minutes.
I personally feel Altar‘s more worth your time than many efforts out there. Better than most of the sequels to 
Director Michael McQuown sent me a screener for his and co-director Vincent J. Guastini’s independent film, 
My only beef, and I’ll get to this first before discussing what I enjoyed so much, is that the directing is mostly excellent. Then, they choose to show us too much. For the longest time what we only get glimpses of in frame is what drives the pulse-pounding terror. As you can see in the photo above, that’s a startling shot. Love that moment; freezing the frame only compounds the fear. However, the directors lose some of that momentum later when they choose to show this demonic figure up close for too long. They try offsetting this with the use of camera glitches (et cetera). But it never makes up for the undoing of the fright from seeing the creature long enough we can start picking out some of the less stellar aspects of its creation.
The tapes have an overall framing narrative, though I think that while there’s a connection between the tapes as a whole, it isn’t as connective as the filmmakers might hope. Mostly, I don’t feel that the connections are tight enough. The writing is interesting, at every turn. I can’t help think McQuown could’ve brainstormed something better to make them all into the cohesive unit the beginning (and mid-credits) speech we hear wishes it’d become. If this were tighter then it would’ve greatly improved the film.
For a low budget, non-studio film, The Dark Tapes has an impressive production value. This is one of the things that keeps even the lesser pieces involving, it’s better than the average indie found footage attempt. With so many of these sub-genre flicks saturating the market, incredibly easy to make on a shoestring to non-existent budget, it’s nice to see what’s so obviously a labour of horror love come to the screen from these directors.
This movie was a loaded gun for me when it hit. First, since I first saw The Blair Witch Project I’ve loved it completely. In all honesty, the marketing got to me when it was released, and for those who experienced it in the early days of internet there’s this buzz that still gets you going every time the movie plays. You get taken back to those trailers, the opening scenes, all the faux-reality, but the terrifying faux-reality that gripped horror lovers.
One of the immediate aspects I noticed, and enjoyed a ton, is the great sound design, helping to put it above the intensity of the first film in specific moments. There’s a feeling of being lost in the woods alongside these people because of the sound; a hovering, pulsing sound wraps the audience up, as it surrounds the characters. This, in conjunction with the camerawork – chaotic and frenzied in the more mortifying moments – makes for good scares. The original movie does well with its bare sense of reality, having the actors sent out into the woods relatively on their own and manipulated into being scared. Blair Witch succeeds in its mission to creep people out partly due to the sound and the visuals together, plus the fact Wingard did things similar to The Blair Witch Project‘s directors Daniel Myrick and 
The acting is great, aside from any of the jump scares or the pure bits of scary madness. And it’s strange, because I’ve seen people complain that the acting is no good, or that it takes away from the tension. Totally disagree. Each of the actors gives it their all, as well as the fact a couple of them give absolutely awesome performances.
I don’t want to 
Found footage annoys certain people. Me, I’m always willing to give it a chance. There’s a lot of good stuff out there – unique, innovative stuff. No shortage of it, but now and then you’ve got to dig through a heap of trash to find the diamonds. Be My Cat: A Film for Anne uses its found footage premise well, driving the main theme of the film: obsession.
There are plenty films involving stalkers in this sub-genre, but they’re so often masked, or unseen behind the camera’s lens. Tofei is upfront and centre the entire time. This allows us a way into his mind, giving the audience a passenger side seat to the psychosis that overtakes him gradually; or maybe it’s been with him the whole time. Either way, it’s ugly. Not in a way which detracts from the story. There’s a compelling feel to watching this guy unravel.
The story’s trajectory is relatively obvious. Early on we understand there’s something not quite right with Adrian. Doesn’t take long. It’s how he takes us there that makes the plan uniquely terrifying. Adrian’s kinda crazy, kinda nonchalant attitude is unsettling, at the same time not wholly without charm either. His character, gradually flipping from fiction to reality to metafiction, engages the audience even in the slower scenes. You can’t help wondering what he’ll do or say next, which keeps you off balance, and never quite capable of pinning him down with any understanding.
I remember hearing of Be My Cat and just the short description, the Twitter account, caught my attention. There’s an edgy psychological aspect that sinks its teeth in and never lets go. Admittedly, I know that some may not find it as compelling. Not everyone wants to do a slow burn into madness in found footage format. And that’s fine, I understand. I suggest giving it a chance. Tofei has done something here that’s on the verge of greatness.
When found footage films go for different concepts from what we see so often, there’s always a bit of worth in watching them. Not that it automatically makes them good; not at all. But credit where credit’s due. Every inch of found footage could be the exact same plot, over and over, if it weren’t for a few great titles out there. Even a few that follow the repeatedly lifted plot of 
Just starting from the premise it’s an interesting way to begin this faux-documentary. A vague, mysterious opening with the postcard, holding endless possibilities. Wondering about many of those sketchy possibilities is a reason why the initial scene is kind of tense. There’s also this hopeful mood, too. Still, a lingering sense of uneasiness accompanies the postcard and even once they decide to head out after their friend there’s an undeniable apprehension inside them all. Like them, we feel on the precipice of a life changing adventure, never knowing if what’s next could be something terrible dark, or if it’s all worry for no reason. You might doubt your thoughts, which is a recurring feeling, and it’s in those moments The Triangle catches you in its tangled web.
I’ll probably be in the minority, although I couldn’t care any fucking less. The Triangle is an interesting addition to the found footage heap, definitely nearer to the top of the pile. When I felt it was about to rip off West’s recent Jim Jones-inspired effort, the plot threw me for a loop. Not everything was perfect. Even for a slow burn this one takes its sweet time drawing out the story.
