Bad Ben: Pandemic

I've been a fan of this film series particularly because of the lead actor Nigel Bach. I dig the guy's sense of humor. The sequels in this found footage series have been hit and miss. In my opinion this one is a hit. Check it out if you're a fan of Mr Bach 👍

First movie was good. Then things have gone downhill. This installment is the worst. The only reason it got 3 stars is because Nigel Bach has some funny one-liners.

This was an unneeded entry in a micro-budget little horror series that is now 8 movies over the course of 4 years. I was genuinely impressed with the first (and the third) ones. Nigel Bach seems to have undergone a "The Room" type situation, where the first "Bad Ben" was almost completely serious, but was genuinely funny in how weird it was, and now Bach has latched onto that, making sequel after sequel and going straight for comedy in each one.

Unfortunately they seem to be deteriorating in quality, which is a shame because there is some genuinely neat elements and comedic moments. The whole of this film is basically Tom Riley having an internet video calling service for paranormal advice during the pandemic. People send him video clips or call him with a variety of paranormal problems.

Despite the largely bad acting and goofy jump scares, it's actually a lot of fun to see the backstory unfold as it becomes clear that despite it being a pandemic with facemasks and social distancing, whatever virus is in this universe is a lot more serious and scary than coronavirus. We piece together bits of information based upon matching statements and experiences from the various callers, and there's enough odd variety and seemingly hidden connections between each spook and scare to make it all interrelated in some way just beyond our ability to grasp.

For all these great ideas and neat storytelling, there is just a ton of really weird creative decisions in terms of the various callers and how they act. The majority of them are completely incapable of making their clearly pre-recorded segments align with Tom so you never get the sense that they are talking live with Tom as they ignore everything Tom is saying and sometimes even start responding to questions and statements Tom never made.

On top of all this, the film is entirely too long. Despite being 109 minutes, it feels much longer. Given the lengthy list of Patreon and GoFundMe supporters at the end, it seems clear to me Bach was attempting to cram as many top funders into it as he could, even when some of them clearly should've been cut for time or cut out entirely.

Tom is not particularly witty or clever, and his "one liners" are all largely duds, but it's funny seeing him constantly react to the same predictable motions, people ignoring his advice, random spooks, and him basically going "oh sh**!" at the end of every video.

The end part also added in a neat sci-fi twist that largely comes out of nowhere, but was fun and somewhat funny and seems to solidify what has been something of a running theme throughout the entire "Bad Ben" series: that ultimately Tom is the source of all these problems.

The format of this film is fun and innovative. He engages with the fans to produce this uniquely entertaining movie. Bach pulls it out of the bag once again! Such creativity with such limited resources. Truly a gifted story teller. This is my favorite movie by him since Haunted Highway.

Many viewers fail to realize the copious amount of work that goes into making a movie, and bringing it to a platform which avails itself to the public. This is an arduous task for an indie (one man operation) filmmaker. A little less harsh criticism and a little more appreciation will go a long way helping him improve.

Everyone is a critic, but not everyone can literally pick up a cellphone and begin shooting an entertaining movie on their own after the cast flakes out.

Good work, Nigel.

A few years back Nigel Bach made a fun little no budget film called "Bad Ben". It was nothing new, but it was unexpectedly effective. Since then, he's churned out sequel after sequel- and a prequel. None have been remotely close to the original in any way. The latest deals with the current pandemic, and does it poorly in every way possible. The fun of the original was long ago replaced with annoyance, as Bach refuses to move on from his sole concept. This one however hits the absolute bottom of the barrel, with lousy performances, poor direction, and positively no solid central concept. It was time to move on several sequels ago, but this one...there's just nothing positive to say.