Leaving D.C.

One of those micro budget, one man movies that actually works as a found footage and its spooky from beginning to end. Shows that if you have a good idea, you can make a fun little movie that overall its better and more enjoyable than some bigger budget flops.

I'm frequently antagonized by found footage films that tend to follow no logic and interrupt any significant action with electronic video interference. Leaving D.C. doesn't fall into any of those traps and presents a straightforward but interesting narrative about an average guy who moves out to the woods, where he's beset by what just may be supernatural phenomena. The film's mystery builds slowly and much of the interest involves simply observing star/director/writer Josh Criss doing his logical best to rise to the occasion of confronting a wave of spookiness. It's entirely watchable and Criss does a creditable job carrying the film as its primary on-camera presence, explaining the reasonable steps he's taking to identify and deflect the bizarre intrusions. While the conclusion could have used a little more oomph, the film is a good ride and an excellent example of what can be achieved with limited resources.

It was not an easy task to acquire this movie, let alone learning about it (IIRC I found it on someone's "best found footage horror" list here on IMDb).

This is probably the best found footage horror movie I watched made by one guy with little to no budget. It's extremely realistic and things happening during the movie are really scary and authentic. The movie consumes you fully, I needed to eat at some point and didn't even wanted to do that because I was too absorbed by it.

No typical tropes and no clichés, I watched hundreds of horror movies and never seen a story like this. No, the premise itself is nothing really original, but the details and the way they're presented makes the story unique.

The movie doesn't have a single freakin' jumpscare or all that stupid "noisy glitches" on the footage. Not even a "super dark" soundtrack. It just doesn't need that. Just pure, smart horror.

Right after watching Leaving D.C., which was strangely entertaining I have to admit, I told my wife this looked like a movie that was homemade by a guy that has some knowledge of modern technology, filming, and sound editing. After looking it up on IMDb I see that's exactly what happened. The writer, director and amateur actor is Josh Criss, he basically did everything by himself, probably got bored one day and thought it would be a great idea to make a movie by himself. Handycam movies are normally really not my thing, they always look so amateuristic but in this case it wasn't that bad. Josh Criss, the main and almost only character, acts pretty good, even though is role was to act as normal as possible, but that's also acting if you ask me. There is some mystery, that makes you keep watching, maybe a bit too repetitive at times, but entertaining enough to stay interesting. I would have scored it with a seven if it was not for the ending that I found a bit disappointing. Overall it wasn't a bad job for a man alone, better than some big budget productions.

I love found footage films. They're just the best types of movies - and ironically they cost next to nothing to make, so we should have thousands of them. 'Leaving D. C.' is a great example of how effective these films can be. There's nothing more than a creepy concept and the thought in the back of our minds about what could be out there, and yet it is infinitely more scary than most of the big-budget horror being made today.

What you don't see is always more scary than what you do. This film understands that and it is a large reason why it works so well. Sure we see a little bit, but only ever enough to know that something is messed up, never enough to know exactly what it is.

Even at only 77 minutes it can get a little repetitive in parts. Also the ending is going to be a little bit of let down for some. It works, but it is very abrupt and kind of over before you know it. A little more of a drawn out final sequences would have been nice.

Otherwise though I had a great time with this movie. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time and that is something I can't say about enough horror movies these days. 8/10.