Tape 407

I attended a late night showing in a seedy section of downtown Los Angeles which put me in the mood to be scared already, plus it was the night before Halloween and several theater goes were in costumes so the mood was set for what was to follow. The film opens with two sisters traveling cross country and documenting it on their video camera. The younger of the two is quite annoying and I was wishing already that something horrific would happen to her. The character development was slick as it was all done via the words of each of themselves speaking to our little vixens of the friendly skies. After a few minutes of small talk as the passengers board the plane we are treated to an obnoxious passenger that is obviously in need of a drink or has already had one too many and things go downhill from there for this doomed flight. Once on the ground things take an eerie turn in another direction as we now have changed from a disaster film to a horror film! Delightful gore and confusion follows our wayward sojourners as the plot thickens and the mayhem continues. This movie began like a roller coaster ride as we clickety-clacked and climbed to a fever pitch height in order to be brought crashing down with a violent momentum that had like any great amusement park ride, an ending that makes you say "Oh wow I didn't see one coming!".

While many of the film-going public squawk about the gluttony of superhero films that are polluting our theatre screens on a repeating basis, it is with found footage films that I have reached my fill.

Made popular and mainstream in 1999 with The Blair Witch Project, there have been more dismal efforts (Apollo 18, The Zombie Diaries, The Feed) than there have been engrossing ones (Paranormal Activity, Cloverfield). Yet week in and week out, whether it be in the local theatre, video on demand or on DVD, there are release after release of found footage films with budgets of less than the average person's minimum Visa payment.

This week's latest cash-grab is Area 407 (also promoted as Tape 407). The film opens on a plane travelling between New York to Los Angeles on New Year's Eve where a young girl, Trish (Abigail Schrader) and her sister Jesse (Samantha Lester) are using their camera to video capture just about everything and everyone around them.

Side note: how is it in these found footage films they all have cameras with batteries that last so long as to even baffle a NASA scientist? After the obligatory introduction of a few central characters on the plane the passengers and crew celebrate New Year's Eve with cheers and noisemakers until a bad storm and turbulence send the darkened plane into a freefall. The plane crashes in a remote government testing ground and the handful of survivors that are left, band together in an attempt to find their bearings in the darkened night of their secluded surroundings.

But as we learn rather quickly, the plane crash was only the beginning of their nightmare as they are being stalked and hunted by some predatory creatures that look like mid-sized Jurassic Park raptors.

Armed with only their wits and a single gun coming courtesy of the Sky Marshall on board (how convenient she survived) the group will find their numbers dwindle as they struggle through the night for survival.

Area 407 was filmed in only five days and (according to IMDb.com) all the dialogue was ad lib. The dialogue before the plane crashes was actually engrossing banter that had our interest focused on the central characters.

But once the survivors collect themselves amongst the plane's wreckage, things go off the rails and the cast begin to yell, scream and draw out too many inconsequential conversations likely just to inflate the running time to a feature accepted 90-minutes.

As with most found footage films, the camera work is shaky and downright annoying. You will feel jerked, dropped and nauseous as the camera is passed between various characters that seem more intent on capturing their demise on film than putting down the damn device and using their senses to gather their bearings.

Directors Dale Fabrigar and Everette Wallin keep the creature out of sight and in the dark for most of the film which could work if you develop enough tension and atmosphere. But in Tape 407 audiences aren't engaged to any sense of caring or urgency and seeing the creatures in more detail would be the trade off for the long-in-tooth banter we are intended to endure.

Tape 407 ends in unexpected fashion with a conclusion intended to shock (I guess). But without caring about any of those that may survive or face their fate, you will likely just want it over at any cost. Even at the cost of writing off the video-on-demand investment.

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Though they do not turn green (any of the characters that is). Come to think about it, it would have made the movie better though. My strange thoughts aside though, this "Found Footage" movie is one of the worst offspring that this craze has brought us. I do wonder if anyone actually believes any of those are "real"? If you're too young to remember or never cared for them anyway, I will point you to Blair Witch Project. A movie that had some people trembling because the viral marketing (internet presence) made them believe it was real.

But this movie does not even deserve that attention. While they do try to put some special effects in it, the fact it looks cheap is not the worst part. It's the characters, that might be up for a Guinness book entry for most annoying film characters ever. You almost feel sorry for the actors portraying them, if you can stop feeling sorry for yourself or your precious time that you've wasted that is.

While I never was big on those Found Footage movies, there have been some exceptions (i.e. movies) that were made with some finesse and some excellent ideas/dialogue or characters. Those things are absent here. You do get a 2 or 3 scenes that may shock you for a second (and the ending is actually pretty neat, therefor the 2/10 and not the 1/10), but overall, you'll be wasting your time and test your nerves to the breaking point if you really take the challenge of watching this.

I could write so much more, but I'll leave it at that. It's your "call" (no pun intended)

I expected this too be really bad, well it wasn't one of the best found footage movies but i't's far from being one of the worst! (I think of just seen to many of these movies lol)

However if you can take a lot of shouting and yelling for about 85% of time, you may be able to enjoy this a little! and on top of that you may need to take in a very whinny girl for 10% of movie as well, it dose clam down in the last 30 mins! (You May needs ears plugs for some scenes, this is coming from a person who's deaf in one ear!)

The first 20 mins of movie were really dull and talking to the people on plane , countdown for new years day and the plane crashes!

I was little disappointed with the crash , it was good but they could have done a lot better.

I enjoyed that we did not see what was attacking the survivors at first as the movie goes we do get to see bits of the creature at times.

You will be able to see the whole creature near the end, which you will either find really silly and funny or scary (Which don't think anyone will be)

There also a little curve in last few mins of the movie, which I am so baffled by, I just did not understand that scene at all!

I thought was great idea and the acting was not too bad at all, I did found some scene boring at the start but most of the movie was so-what entertaining.

Found it descent 5 out of 10

Reading the other reviews here for this movie, I see a lot of "worst movie ever!". In my opinion, that's not true.

I'm a huge fan of the "found footage" genre, so I bought this one (just about 4-5 $, and gave it a shot. After watching it last night, I've gotta say; It's not as bad as many of you're saying. There are many FAR WORSE found footage horror movies. Some of them I shut off after 5 minutes, but I didn't do that with this one.

One thing I liked was the whole plane crash concept, because I think it's kind of original. I really enjoyed the ending too. Many found footage films has a horrible ending..you know that if you've watched a couple of them.

But don't get me wrong, because it doesn't deserve more than the 4/10 rating I've given it. Still, if you're into this sub-genre, I think it's worth at least a rent, or if you find a cheap-as-hell copy out there.