Found Footage 3D

Read the reviews here and thought I would watch to see why all the reviews were all over the place on this film. First off, the first 30 min are soooo slow. After the second appearance of the entity I called it. Way too cheesy for this to be interesting for me. If they would have had nothing there it would have been watchable. Effects are bad. Really bad. Acting was pretty bad too for most of the cast.

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/

Found footage movies have one rule but holy sh** is it boring and conformist to not see it broken.

This could've been to found footage what cabin in the woods was to horror.

Being a subversion of the genre might be most poignant when the movie itself adheres to all the rules of the genre itself and thus manages to be a great member of the genre in addition to being a good parody.

However this isnt the case when the rules themselves are strenuously dumb to uphold. Like a found footage cameraman being blind to the found footage genre.

And besides even Cabin in the Woods broke some horror rules to surprise us.

This would have been a much better movie with a "twist" ending of there not being a twist. The final 8 minutes robbed at least two stars from this movie imo.

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.

As the title of the film might suggest, this is a critique of the found footage genre and makes some good points. Howeverost of the meta commentary comes at the cost of making an actually enjoyable movie.

There are some points that stand out but it probably would have worked better if they had leaned into comedy a bit more than drama. Satire generally works by lampooning its subject so trying instead to show what would happen in real life is a confusion that doesn't come across right. Clearly there are parts where they leave the camera behind because that's what would really happen, but it doesn't exactly make for compelling watching. Instead you could have used comedy to justify ridiculous circumstance and still have made things entertaining and self aware.

Overall this isn't a terrible movie, it just muddies its point and labours over trying to both saturise and honestly critique the genre to the point where it is less enjoyable than it could be. Probably best to be watched academically rather than for fun.