Butterfly Kisses

A self-aware found-footage film. Now there's a concept I don't think I've seen before. At one point 'Butterfly Kisses' even has a character list all the flaws in the found-footage film concept. It also features the director of 'The Blair Witch Project' Eduardo Sánchez giving his opinion on whether a film was or was not real footage. And strangely enough, it all works and even manages to create a tense horror film in the process.

The concept takes a little while to get used to, but once you start to realise what they're going for and how the format works you are able to settle in and just enjoy the ride. It is admittedly a little clunky in places, but it certainly gets better as the film goes along. Because of the way the story is told it feels like two films in one. You have a mystery and a horror being told concurrently. The horror story is almost certainly the strongest aspect of 'Butterfly Kisses' though.

The film contains one of the best jump-scares I've ever seen in a film. It got me really good, and I'm not got easily. I missed this film back in 2018 when it was released but I'm glad I went back and found it because it was an enjoyable watch. I would recommend people give this one a look.

Working on a thesis project, a film student attempting to explore the truth behind a local boogeyman falls victim to the terrifying being, forcing a filmmaker to assemble the footage and complete the film for a documentary crew only to wind up going down the same roads of insanity himself.

Overall, this was an interesting and somewhat chilling effort. As with the majority of these kinds of films, the fact that the central premise of the project is based on a creepy concept works nicely. The central core of the local legend, a hooded figure that appears out of a local tunnel after performing a specific ritual and then begins to haunt the individual based on the ritual, is the kind of story that easily fits within a small-town urban legend that would exist. The manner in which this springs out of the film into their world as his obsession to get to the truth about the strange phenomenon he's filming soon grows to incredibly lengths due to the desire to get the adulation for having been proven true through the guise of several familiar and effective jump scenes regarding the figure as it seems to appear in their footage. There's plenty of unnerving and chilling work of the creature throughout here as the concept for its appearance offers several chilling encounters. Likewise, the other exceptionally enjoyable aspect of this one is a truly fascinating look at the concept of found-footage verses the documentary. As the filmmaker attempting the original project rightfully observes, the original footage in the truest context of the word is found-footage yet the documentary he is making clearly isn't so his claims about them being otherwise clearly is false. That this is in turn being covered by a documentary film crew exploring the realization of the original tapes brings the entire concept into a wonderfully meta conception invoking the commonly-known concept of the director letting the audience see only what he wants you too which allows the lines between reality and fantasy to get blurred as he begins to spiral out of control in an effort to get people to believe the truth about his project. This is what drives the final half of the film and is what really holds this one up. This one does have some flaws to it. The majority problem here is the fact that the majority of the documentary is about the arrogant, self-righteous filmmaker who alienates everyone around him, thinks everyone has to bow down to him for what he's found and has to be the authority on the matter at every situation. Whenever he gets any kind of negative feedback or even just general criticism about truly genuine issues here, the first response that it's not seen as a masterpiece results in a crybaby breakdown that's entirely unappealing to sit through and just makes him entirely unlikable. As well, there's also the fact that the film drops off the boogeyman entirely instead by focusing on the guy which drops off the horror elements entirely as these tactics are brought out. These here are what holds this one back overall.

Rated R: Graphic Language and Violence.

It's well made and has a clever premise showing not 1 or 2, but 3 different documentary/amateur filmmakers descent into desperation to finish their movie. It's obviously taken a lot of inspiration from The Blair Witch Project regarding the gritty, black and white parts, but falls short, actually, way short of building the mythology or the antagonist. It's definitely worth a watch, especially for found footage fans but I don't think it'd grab the attention of many others.

Yet another "found footage" movie. I have watched dozens of movies in this genre, most of them pretty below average.This one was however pretty good, and a cut above the rest with an interesting concept. A film maker comes into possession of a box of videos left in his mother-in-laws new house. It belonged to two film students investigating the local legend of the supernatural being, Peeping Tom, or The Blink Man. He becomes obsessed with the footage and begins his own investigation and documentary. That's the basic beginnings of the movie, and it takes several twists and turns from there. I did enjoy this movie, and would have scored it higher, but I found the central character of film maker Gavin York so unlikable, it was hard to empathise with him. His reactions in certain situations seemed excessive, even for someone obsessed as he was. Could have been an 8/10, worth a look.

I won't go into the details as so many others have already laid out much of it. If you're looking for a horror or thriller, this probably isn't the film for you. It's more of a character profile. It's a film with in a film. The "found footage" would be the typically generic of that genre...film students being hunted/killed by otherworldly force. The more interesting part of the film is the central character. He's a loser and a jerk. He failed as a film student, works a menial job, can't support his family, steals from his own child, is belligerent towards people who can help him and worst of all is using someone else's work in order to make a name for himself. There were annoying bits about not finding any records of the missing/dead players from the "found footage," except for one. Also the ending is annoying. I won't give that away, I will give my opinion on a stronger ending, though. I would have enjoyed the ending had it been an interview with the characters of Feldman and Crane being amazed that a failed and forgotten film project had driven someone to obsession and madness.