Cast:
Ethan Hawke as Ellison Oswalt
Juliet Rylance as Tracy
Victoria Leigh as Stephanie
Michael Hall D’Addario as Trevor
Fred Dalton Thompson as Sheriff
James Ransone as Deputy
Clare Foley as Ashley
Rob Riley as E.M.T.
Tavis Smiley as Anchor
Janet Zappala as Reporter
Victoria Leigh as Stephanie
Cameron Ocasio as BBQ Boy
Ethan Haberfield as Pool Party Boy
Danielle Kotch as Lawn Work Girl
Blake Mizrahi as Sleepy Time Boy
Nicholas King as Bughuul / Mr. Boogie
Directed by Scott Derickson
Story:
True crime novelist Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) has moved his family into a new home where he plans to write a book about the disappearance of a young girl after her entire family was murdered. What his wife (Juliet Rylance) and family don’t realize, is that the house they moved into was where those horrible murders took place. Soon after moving in, Ellison finds a box in the attic containing reels of Super 8 film, each one that may hold an answer to the murders and disappearance, while tying them into something much bigger.
Review:
The new movie from director Scott Derickson (“The Exorcism of Emily Rose”), was produced by the same people who made “Paranormal Activity,” and it once sported the unfortunately obvious title of “Found Footage.” Even so, it’s more than just another “Paranormal Activity” faux-doc rip-off like we’ve seen many times these past few years, turning the similarly overused horror premise of a family experiencing strange occurrences in their new home into something that feels more cinematic and unique than other similar films.
The film opens simply and silently with film footage of four people, their faces covered in hoods with ropes around their necks, attached to a tree limb high above. It’s an incredibly creepy sequence to watch and one we’ll see over and over throughout the movie as it’s used in a similar manner as the footage from “The Ring.” We’re obviously not going to give too much away beyond that, but the simple premise involves a man trying to solve a mystery that keeps returning him to this box of Super 8 films, which offers the only clues to solve it. The more Ellison watches these horrifying films, the more he can’t stop watching them, as he becomes obsessed with figuring out how they connect to the disappearance of a young girl.
You can read the rest of this review over on ShockTillYouDrop.com.
