The Fear Footage 2: Curse of the Tape

Have you ever seen a found footage movie before? If so you'll know they follow a strict formula.

Introduce the characters Take them to a haunted location Weird things happen People go missing They justify why they're still recording Running, screaming, night vision Camera falls to the ground, credits roll

That describes easily 99% of found footage features, they're cheap and cheerful to make therefore indie filmakers with zero money or talent pound them out like hotcakes. The first Fear Footage movie was a great example of this, non-existent budget, zero enjoyment and an all round awfully made movie brought to us by people with no imagination or skill at crafting a story.

Fear Footage 2 is almost the same movie as the first just with minor tweeks. Regardless it still ticks the above boxes and is yet another found footage movie that can be dumped onto the pile of forgettable awfulness with all the rest.

Until this found footage phase ends I suggest you avoid them and watch something with more substance.

Dumbest (and most annoying) lead character imaginable, terrible acting, infuriating plot contrivances. BUT...this film has a lot of jump scares, and it does them quite well. Yes, I know the jump scare is the lowest common horror denominator, but I still have to give some credit for timing and creepy visuals. Even as I sat rolling my eyes at the stupidity of everything, the next jump scare would still jolt me right out of my seat. I'd watch it again just for that. And while the cheap thrill is not my end game, you have to kiss a lot of horror movie frogs to find one you *might* go out with once just for coffee. So I'm semi-satisfied when an otherwise crappy movie pulls off one or two decent scenes, and this one definitely does that.

I rented this because across social media I'd seen the movie advertised as scary, creepy and I'll have trouble sleeping afterwards. Having now seen it I can tell you those words don't describe the film at all, words that do are boring unoriginal and feeble. It's as scary as Zombeaver and as well made as Birdemic!

The Fear Footage was an unexpectedly fun ride. It renewed my waning interest in the found footage subgenre. The sequel, as is the case with many sequels, does not live up to the original. This one is not an anthology, and it falls prey to the trap that many found footage films fall into: a loooooooong buildup. The tension was the key to the original's success - there wasn't a single wasted minute. We waste many minutes here. Decent once it finally gets going, but that isn't enough to make it recommendable.

Is this a good movie? Not really. Is it as bad as the reviews suggest? Absolutely not. So what is it? It's about as average as average gets in found footage horror. The premise is great if you are one of the few who enjoyed the 1st, like myself. It has some pretty good moments, just too many BLAH moments. Will you revisit it or even remember it a month from now? Probably not. But 1 star? No.