Found

Based on the novel by Todd Rigney, "FOUND" is a refreshing addition to the horror genre. A familiar yet grim coming of age drama wrapped in a very dark and horrific nightmarish shell. The story is told through the eye's of Marty, a typical twelve year old boy who like most of you reading this can probably relate to, tends to escape the turmoil of his daily life by taking refuge in horror films. From early on in the film we learn that Marty (Gavin Brown) is from an average American family with the usual facade of "normalcy" hiding a plethora of underlying social problems. His fathers overt racism and inability to relate to or get along with his older son. His mothers inability to mediate or intervene in the situation, and his brothers (Ethan Philbeck) worsening antisocial behavior. Marty has discovered personal secrets of his family members. His dad's porn stash, mother's love letters to an old boyfriend and the biggest one yet, a bowling bag containing a severed head in his brothers closet. Marty discovers the brother that he loves and looks up to is a serial killer. "My brother keeps a human head in his closet. Every few days it's a new head", "My life is starting to turn into a horror movie." Let me just say that I found this film intriguing and truly disturbing. Director Scott Schirmer has done a truly amazing job on a shoestring budget of a reported $8000.00 dollars, managing to tell a great story and do what most big budget horror films seem to fail at, making you care about the characters. The only drawback of the film for me was the talent level of some of the supporting cast. While Gavin Brown and Ethan Filbeck gave outstanding performances for their first outing, the mother (Phyllis Munro) and several of the supporting members, most notably the father (Louie Lawless) seemed to lack the ability to convincingly pull off any dramatic moments. But this is a relatively minor complaint and hardly a drawback in the ability to enjoy this film. Other indi film makers and directors should pay attention and take notes. This is how it's done, with an engaging story and a lot of heart. With all that said, I highly recommend this film. In the end I was left almost speechless. This film manages to tell a sympathetic yet engaging horrific story. It is severely brutal and gory at times and not for the faint of heart. Four out of five stars!

"Found" may very well be one of the most difficult films I ever reviewed… It completely wasn't what I expected, but then again I didn't really know what to expect. It is definitely a horror movie, but simultaneously also one of those films that are unclassifiable. Like several other reviewers around here, I'm tempted to label it as a "coming-of-age" story, but those are usually pretentious and boring, and "Found" most certainly is not! And finally, I don't want to use too many enthusiast superlatives, because it honestly isn't that unique or fantastic, neither. The least I can say for myself is that "Found" pleasantly surprised me in some ways and also that it made me think. Not necessarily about deeply philosophical subjects, but merely about how simple and identifiable the most shocking horror tales actually are.

The one thing I find absolutely astonishing in Todd Rigney's screenplay (adapted from his own novel) is the realism and authenticity of the lead characters, and particularly of the young protagonist Marty. I recognize a lot of myself in Marty from when I was around that age. Finally a normal 12-year-old who loves watching gory horror movies without hinting that he's abnormal, disturbed or potentially dangerous. Marty says early in the film: "I like watching violence, but I'm not a violent person myself". That's exactly what I'm forced to repeat to people over and over again when I tell them about my passion for extreme cinema. I have been intrigued with sick and sadist violence for as long as I can remember, and – like with Marty - my parents never made a big deal out of it, but I never felt the urge to hurt another living creature or was unable to function in society. I consider "Found" as one of the best horror stories of the last 10-15 years if it were only for the verity of Marty's character. And the same actually goes for his parents as well. They actually come across as good people and decent parents; not like the clichéd type of abusive and alcoholic parents who are generally responsible for the later failures of their children. Of course, I didn't have an older brother who was a serial killer and kept severed heads in his closet, but obviously Todd Rigney needed at least one extraordinary lead character, otherwise his novel and screenplay would have been quite boring.

So, Marty discovered that his older brother Steve is a murdering psychopath and he's terrified of him. Marty desperately tries to hide from Steve that he knows his dark secret, but also can't resist snooping around in his brother's horror closet and impressive VHS horror collection. Marty has very few friends and gets bullied at school, but the evil hobby of his brother and also Steve's increasingly protective behavior give Marty more confidence and strength to stand up for himself. "Found" is film of extreme opposites. The atmosphere of the main story is foreboding and the pacing is rather slow. There practically isn't any action and even the intense climax is suggestive and unsettling rather than explicit and confronting. In sheer contrast to all this, however, there's a large portion of film-within-film footage that is utterly violent, sickening and gratuitous. The supposedly lost horror movie is called "Headless" and follows a deranged killer wearing an eerie skull-mask as he's ruthlessly butchering young women and sodomizing their mutilated corpses. If it weren't for the "Headless" footage, and perhaps 2 or 3 human heads in a bowling bag, "Found" would only be a talkative and atmospheric coming-of-age story (albeit a very good one)

Based on popular demand, "Headless" got turned into a full-length separate film, directed by make-up wizard Arthur Cullipher and starring Shane Beasley as the deranged killer. According to many people whose opinions I trust, it's just as vile and uncompromising as the footage shown in "Found". Needless to say I will do whatever I can to see it as soon as possible.

Let me start by saying I respect the hell out of this movie. I had heard good things about this movie, and it seemed right up my alley, so my expectations were set mildly high. I thought the story, character development, writing, and lead kid were all great. There were a few scenes with actors that played small roles that were almost cringe worthy because they weren't very good actors. Luckily for the film, most of the scenes took place between the 12-year old boy and his brother. My overall feeling with this movie is that I enjoyed it, but I wish there was just a liiiiittle bit more in the budget for the smaller roles. If you can get around a few scenes with bad acting, it is worth a watch.

Been needing to see this movie for a while now. bought myself a copy. ended disappointed

This thing had so much potential. the story is great. the execution not so much.

This is a drama not really horror at all. There are some graphic parts(decapitated heads) but the acts of violence all take place offscreen. I was never scared by the film. Sure Marty's situation is horrifying but make no mistake this movie is not scary.

Acting was pretty shoddy by everyone except Marty. Poor lighting design, poor audio mixing. Really was expecting a horror movie but it didn't pan out.

For all the hype this movie had, it just didn't live up. However the director definitely has great potential.

Found is a refreshing intelligently written horror movie with a prominent coming of age theme.

There is no delay in finding out that Marty's older brother is a serial killer. I quickly identified with the 12 year old's obsession with finding his family members' hidden secrets, like his mom's love notes from an ex-boyfriend, his dad's typical porn stash, and of course, his brother's non-typical rotating selection of heads in the closet.

The acting was incredible, and I often felt like I was intruding on private affairs as opposed to just watching a movie. Gavin Brown does an excellent job as Marty. He often provides narration through the movie, which felt more genuine than most voice-overs, with real emotion and no over-acting.

Most of the movie really is about the relationship between the two brothers, and the horror elements are provided by the movies within the movie. Of note is the one called "Headless," which provides the older brother, Steve, with gruesome inspiration. Until the climax of Found, "Headless" is the part that will have you squirming in your seat.

And with the level of detail put into the special effects, you will squirm. The attention put into making everything realistic is evident. Right after seeing the premier, everyone was talking about particular scenes where the special effects really transmitted the feeling to the audience.

This is a story about the dynamic between older and younger brother, and how it changes as they get older, all wrapped up in a horror movie shell. The balance of drama, suspense, horror, and comedy, is perfect. It's the type of movie you'll find yourself still thinking about the next day.