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.

Some of the worst acting I've ever seen. The story itself is a good concept but it's not as smart as they believe it is. Found footage films can be a lot of fun when done well, even if they're a little predictable, but this is very poorly executed. Again, I cannot stress enough just how bad the acting is, it's almost worth watching just to see how fake these characters are, especially his mother and the "friends", it's difficult to understand how this movie was watched by the filmmakers and still released. Absolutely terrible, it seems more like a highschool film made for a class project by people with no acting training and no filmmaking experience.

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.

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.

I really wanted to like this movie a lot more. The premise was intriguing, but one that we've seen before in other films, and even episodes of the X-Files. The problem is in the execution.

Under perhaps a more adept screenwriter, director and DP, it could've been suspenseful, frightening, or even scary. Unfortunately, there were too many ideas presented, and too many characters I didn't really - and were never made to - care about. For instance, the Police response when the two leads attempt to present them with evidence of the conspiracy (for lack of better word) was so predictable, I could've written it in my sleep.

The acting was fine. The effects were fine. But in the end, there was just no payoff. Was it an ancient "Akkadian" god behind this, or the governement, or what? And if it was a god, why don't we get to see it (not that we need too as proved by 2022's Glorius)?

It just wasn't enough to make it stand out from so many other similar works.

If you've got nothing better to watch, Project MKHEXE is a perfectly servicable distraction. I just wanted more from it.