Howard's Mill

I really like this genre of film just as much as I enjoy found footage horrors and some as comedies. This was so believable I'm embarrassed to say I had to look it up to make sure if it was or not. Keep them coming!

If you can stomach the acting of any given LIFETIME movie, you can handle this movie.

It may not be what you were expecting based on the description, but if you stick with it, it gets better & better. If you go into this faux-documentary thinking "Missing 411", you're more equipt for the eventual storyline. And if you've never heard of the "Missing 411" stories, check them out. They're unsolved mysteries of people suddenly going missing, with clues of what happened to them that never seem to add up. Sometimes people are found alive weeks later with no memory of having been gone for vast amounts of time, some are found dead, and some are never found.

I think what turns viewers away from this movie is that it's bringing in the wrong crowd. Most start watching this for the documentary aspect of a crime/mystery/thriller and their expectations are poorly met. But if this was marketed towards supernatural, unexplained mysteries, "Missing 411" type of genre, it would fare far better with the viewing audience.

You wouldn't label a "Romantic" movie a "Thriller". Generally, women like romance and men like thrillers. What would you expect when you lure the wrong audience in for a thriller and they're stuck watching a romance? Very bad reviews and a low rating. Imo, that's what's happening with this movie, "Howard's Mill".

If you like the "Missing 411" series, supernatural phenomenon, and unsolved mysteries, then this movie is for you. And I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy it too.

Great story the acting by the ancillary characters was strong but the leads were not believable, which helps to blow the illusion. The lead male did not act like a man under very real and ongoing suspicion of his wife's disappearance which took place less than a month earlier. It was creepy and if the story was adapted to a full on horror movie it could be entertaining.

HOWARD'S MILL is a "mockumentary" about the abandoned property of the title, and the mysterious disappearances of several people who lived nearby. As the tale unfolds, the documentarians soon realize that the single case they were following has led them into something much larger. Much darker.

The strength of this film lies in its realism, and its dedication to details while the investigation expands. It doesn't stray into self-parody territory, No matter how strange the story becomes, it doesn't insult our intelligence. The vast array of characters playing the film crew, cops, fire and rescue, townsfolk, etcetera, are all contributors to the genuine feel of the movie.

More mystery than horror, it still has its creepy moments.

A very convincing entry in its subgenre...

I found it very enjoyable. I thought some of the acting was a bit stilted, but much of it as fine and some downright entertaining. If you go in with the mindset that it is a real documentary you will soon realize that it is only written and filmed to capture that feeling. I may watch it again in a couple of weeks if I can find the time...