Daylight

I admit, with some hesitation, to having become a bit of a fan of the low budget found footage/hand held horror genre. I tend to be quite forgiving as I understand that these are mostly done by those who are still learning their craft combined with a few who have a true passion for the project.

While the acting was somewhat hit or miss I did admire the ambition of the story. There was a level of complexity and interwoven character histories that is unusual for this type of film. It stylistically made its way from a somewhat predictable beginning to an almost Clive Barker like place then through a very dark surreal phase and finally settled in to what I can only call a Gothic (did I mention I found it ambitious?).

This would not be for anyone who simply wants to have a good scare or a fan of slasher flicks. I can not even truly say it is for exorcism junkies as it was not what one would typically thinks of as that type of film. It was an almost experimental feeling magic carpet ride. For me, at least, it was an interesting ride.

OK, where do I begin! I watch movies every day, every genre from blockbuster to micro budget. I will watch practically anything from start to finish, even if it is awful! This film, DAYLIGHT, left me staring at the screen saying WTF just happened! Very loose plot, too many characters to keep up with, awful camera work (found footage motion sickness job) and a story that just goes to hell. I have no idea what the point of this film was, and Im pretty sure the director took some acid half way through filming because there is no way anyone in there right mind would have taken a movie in the direction this one took! Maybe you have to have some serious chemicals ingested in order to understand this film! Wow, Im still actually shaking my head at what I've just seen!

I'm still curious why it took so long for this genre to take off. Blair Witch seemed to have opened the door for cheap (even cheaper than usual) horror movie making. Whatever the case, I'm not a big fan of that craze. Still the movie although it has many flaws (acting being one of the major ones, clichés and bad shots some of the others), is somewhat enticing and has tension when needed.

It almost takes really off during the last third of the movie (even if it seems to change pace in between), but it also gets tangled up in some mysterious threads that might not be as obvious as you have thought at the beginning of the movie. So it is complex, but maybe not in a good way (Eye of the Beholder). If it weren't for going that different route, I think I would've given it a lesser rating, but maybe you'll feel different. It's a strange movie, keep that in the back of your mind

I keep a personal movie inventory where I rank movies and categorize them in good, average, and bad buckets. Daylight has the honor of being at the very bottom of my bad category (and I like found footage films), even behind a flick called "Primal Rage" that makes Bigfoot an archer(!) That's saying something.

This was possibly the worst movie I've ever seen, regardless of genre. Constant quick cuts, grainy video, multiple characters speaking simultaneously to make the dialogue indecipherable in order to hide the fact that the plot is completely inane. The running time was 1 hour 37 minutes but it felt like it was 6 hours of torture. The only positive thing that I can say is at least it was free on Amazon Prime.