Found Footage 3D

This is a film very much in the spirit of "The Blair Witch Project", the low budget effort that can properly be said to have started the genre. Quite likely it has a semi-improvised script, at least it certainly gives that impression.

A small group of film-makers - professionals but far from A List - go out into the sticks to make the first ever found footage film in 3D. Almost from the very beginning, things start going wrong in their isolated cabin, leaving aside the fact that there are already certain tensions within the group, personal and sexual. The first question that must be asked is, this is a set up, right, most likely by the guy whose idea it was? Once that has been answered with a resounding no, things can only get worse, and they do.

Not a lot more can be said, except that the viewer can expect a gorefest. The people behind this actual film deserve A for effort if not originality. The special effects are thematic, but don't expect to come away either satisfied or comprehending.

Found Footage 3D is a breath of fresh air for the found footage genre.

My personal opinion is that the critical viewers missed the point of the movie. The film is supposed to break down the genre while adding in an element that in theory would make it worse. Yet, the joke is pulled off nicely and actually adds to the story. Granted, I haven't seen in 3D but those who have seem to think the 3D was a strongpoint of the film.

Something I worry about is that this may be the nail in the coffin for found footage films. Similar to how Scream was for slasher films, after the deconstruction was done, there hasn't really been a resurgence with the exception of Hatchet and a some select remakes.

I understand that the majority is sick of found footage, but I believe many films can benefit from them. I think of films like Cloverfield, VHS, and The Taking of Deborah Logan which were all great films and I don't think would have the same effect if they weren't found footage.

You've got your cast: jerk husband, wife, ingenue, dork, camera dude, and big bearded pig: who set out to make a found footage movie. Their hook is that their movie will be the first FF production to be in 3D. Simple enough, but confusing for the audience, as the title makes this movie sound like a documentary or even a class on making 3D found footage movies: and the actual movie itself is not in 3D (not the version I saw, anyway).

I'm no actor, and I know that it's easy to critique (tear apart) work that people have put effort into, BUT I'd have to rate this cast a 60%-70%. The jerk husband character can be too loud and showy and the ingenue is annoyingly young and innocent, but she's used sparingly so it's not really an issue. My teeth itch, however, when the jerk husband and dork director characters argue, and when the jerk husband later gets into a physical "fight" with the camera guy. That fistfight was so obviously staged it made me think of that scene from Napoleon Dynamite where he has to feed Tina the llama (for some reason). But the actors are all good enough, and this movie does feature a few legit scares.

There're some pacing issues: the scene where they go to the bar could probably have been cut, for example, but I suppose it adds tension. Found footage movies usually benefit from a slow build.

But the whole concept, and even title, hurts the film. The camera crew set out to make a found footage horror movie set in a cabin in the woods (yeah) and wind up, themselves, in an actual found footage movie. Right. Maybe the concept would work better if not for the title. It should've been called "The Specter Tapes" or something; I don't know. "Found Footage 3D" and the entire premise is too meta, too on the nose; leaves too little to the imagination. But I do enjoy this subgenre of horror, so I don't regret seeing it. So there.

The big world premiere for Bruce Campbell's Horror Film Fest was Found Footage 3D, a film years in the making that had gained quite a bit of traction online. Does this film live up to the hype it has created or fall into the same troupes most films of this genre have? Found Footage 3D follows a small group of people wanting to make the first ever 3D found footage film, to make their place in the genre. When arriving at their film site which is a old cabin with a shady past they soon start to realize that there is something actually happening in that cabin to them turning their movie shoot into a actual horror found footage film.

It's a simple enough premise and not something I'd call truly groundbreaking but what this film tries to do is almost spoof the found footage genre. They constantly call out the troupes of the genre in a joking or mocking fashion. The problem is that then the film falls right back into those troupes. You can't mock something so much then make the same mistake the films you are going at do. It's the case of being too meta for it's own good. It doesn't help either that so much of the film is just set ups, character developments, and a good amount of dialog that by the end when the events finally unfold that everything just goes to waste and feels rushed.

Another big problem is like most 3D films I feel like this was just added so they could claim it as 3D. Only at the beginning when the characters were first toying with their new 3D cameras did any of it actually have a 3D feel to it. Otherwise it just gave the normal 3D effect of giving the film a more circular view instead of looking at it on a flat surface. The film will be able to claim itself as the first 3D film but I feel like it wasn't truly worth it. I will say as well that this is the only 3D movie ever to make me feel a little nauseous in a few scenes. The shaky cam along with 3D effects can be hard to take in as well as the few scenes involving two go pros.

I will give it to the film however for having a few good gore scenes along with some very funny dialog. The characters banter between each other can be quite entertaining and is by far the biggest highlight of the film. It is humorous to hear them go on about the horrible things other films do and how to make their own better even if you only end up disappointed in the actions they take. I'll also give them credit for making me truly hate a character that being Derek (played by Carter Roy). (Also bonus points for Scott Weinberg).

Unrelated to the review before the film director Steven DeGennaro did come and speak to a nearly sold out theater for the world premiere of his first full length film. After the movie a full Q&A was held by the director and full cast for the audience to ask about the making of the film.

Overall I really went into this film with how hopes and instead left feeling like this was no better then all the other found footage films being released today. It just boiled down to unnecessary 3D, slow pacing, and being too meta for it's own good.

Score : 3/10 https://apocalypticdemise.com/2016/08/23/found-footage-3d-review/

The 3D gimmick is the only selling point for this movie, and it isn't even good. The acting is better than you'd expect for a low-budget horror movie--that's the only reason I gave it a 3. The problem is the SFX are terrible and the bigger issue is that the main characters are completely unlikable. I'm all for a decent found footage film so long as i care about what's happening. I didn't give a hoot about the three main characters. The other three I found more likable, but there wasn't enough there to make them more interesting.

There's also no build-up or suspense, just 90 minutes of people yelling at each other and making bad decisions until the last 20 minutes.

SKIP.