A young videographer gets his hands on some cheap video equipment and, although both of the items don’t work, they both contain SD cards with footage of two missing boys on it. The two lads were out making a documentary on a local urban legend and the videographer is shocked to find that he may have discovered proof that the two young men found what they were looking for (I have a hard time finding my phone on a good day but somehow every youthful dope with a camera manages to wander out into the woods and find whatever supernatural entity they’ve been hunting for for all of a day). Our narrator edited together the raw footage into a rough cut and has made it available for us, the viewer at home. Kurt and John are out searching for the Goat Man, a 7-foot tall half man and half goat who wields an axe. I, for one, would never go looking for such a thing but I am no longer a young idiot and I don’t have any access to camera equipment. “What about your phone?” You may ask. Well, you obviously weren’t paying attention because I already told you I can’t find the fucking thing. So, Kurt and John visit various local spots where the Goat Man has been seen (allegedly) and Kurt rambles on and lightly berates his cameraman. He also hates the town and their selfish mentality when it comes to crime and the homeless. He attempts to tie that into the Goat Man legend but it’s grasping at straws that are more non-existent than loose. The village is also trying to stop the building of a new film studio which further pisses off our host. That brief foray into teen angst finally ends and the duo head to the Goat Man’s underpass to light some candles and use a Ouija board. Nothing happens and when night falls they march their asses into the woods. Considering that the combined age of these two brave idiots involved is probably less that the age of your humble writer, this is a shockingly solid bit of found footage horror. It takes its time but the videographers defy the odds and manage to not be overly obnoxious knobs (they’re teenage boys so they’re going to be obnoxious anyways) as they sink into dark waters they are vastly unprepared to tread. Same goes for the poor sap who found the footage because he learns nothing from the exploits of the two dopes he just watched come into contact with something malicious. A smart use of audio scares add a level of tension you don’t find in a large amount of micro-budget shaky-cam terrors and considering how early we are in the career of H. Owen Richardson I have some high hopes. There’s more to check out and I’m looking forward to jumping into his filmography.
No comments:
Post a Comment