Project MKHEXE

Presenting a long-lost documentary, a filmmaker looking into the troubled final months of his dead brother discovers his obsession with a fabled mind-control experiment conducted by the government that has since slipped into urban legend, which soon brings him into the fold.

This was a fairly fun mockumentary with a lot to like about it. Among the better elements present here is the general approach taken introducing such a topic that this one covers as it's rife with the kind of background and mythology that offers up a perfect excuse for its presentation. The idea of investigating his brother's death and tracking it back through an investigation into a supposed military and government mind-control project carried out on the public decades ago, which has a hint of truth to it based on an urban legend populating the period, works incredibly well here. The idea of looking into the background on the project, its history, and general disappearance from society before the brother uncovers everything with the physical evidence, tapes of footage, and other recordings detailing what's going on and how it's affecting people creates a strong impression throughout here. The second half of this one, featuring the uncovered truth about what's happening and how they're being affected by the exposure to the project, does drop off the intensity, even though it also strangely ramps up the tension. The effects of the project and its intended purpose on victims are nicely explored through the footage showing interdimensional travel, portals, or figures appearing in the distance to influence their behavior or decisions, creating a fascinating psychological undermining of how the true effects of everything work. The problem is that very little of that is genuinely effective, putting them in danger as it devolves into the two of them trying to interpret what's going on and whether they're truly in danger or not, which is a bit disappointing. Whether or not the intent behind the action is scary is not the purpose, but it's more about getting the whole thing revealed at the end, so it's all dragged out at that point, which brings it down.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.

There was alot of work put into this. Well thought of and in my opinion nicely executed, I had no feelings of dread, nor did I feel scared or 'jumpy'... but I was sucked into this movie from the start untill the end with feelings of unease and curiosity. This movie went deep. I applaud the efforts put into this, from writing to acting and the visuals/audio.

The acting and buildup are very good. The evidence in the movie that is presented is very convincing. But it comes accross as a documentary with not much horror. Like watching a documentary on the Incas and how they sacrificed to the Gods victims they captured. It is all very inresting but ther is no real dread or suspense as it is a documentary.

They do such a good job with making it feel and look like a documentary that it stays stuck in that role. That makes the ending flat and predictable.

In Blair Witch Project they were able to make us feel fear, dread, paranoia, etc etc. None of that is here.

I respect their idea here, I really do. I bought in at about the 20 minute mark, but then after 40 more minutes of the same interviews and half built concepts the movie turns into something like a nightmare. Not like a cool nightmare movie, more like a nightmare for the audience to endure.

So many flashing lights, yelling, split screens, confusion, nothing adds up.

I haven't watched a movie in a while where I was annoyed and angry at the end. This is one of those movies. Nothing even makes sense in the last 30 minutes. My headache just got worse and worse and worse. Please for all young filmmakers, if you're doing a found footage movie it needs to be under 1 hour and 30 minutes and it needs a coherent plot something there...I have a migraine now. Great. 2.2/10.

While the film falls into the same negative cliches and aspects typical of the genre, such as some spotty performances, annoying and persistent quick cutting, and some lame jump scares, the film as a whole stands as a largely well constructed, creepy, formidable entry in the found footage genre. Despite some actors falling short, certain performances, like that of the mother and older brother, ensure that the film maintains some level of tragedy and legitimacy. The idea of psychological and Lovecraftian elements being weaved throughout the narrative was compelling, as well as being pretty original in terms of a found footage film. There's also some very effective uses of primarily audio based/recorded horror that's usually not employed too often anymore, which was refreshingly unsettling. While I thought the conclusion fell a little short, I did appreciate how it connected to the central theme/message of the narrative: What we fear, we create.