File this under – Movies that seem ‘real’ but aren’t.
This isn’t real.
There, that’s out of the way.
As I have mentioned before, there is a very subtle art to making ‘fauxumentary’ / ‘mockumentary’ films. You have two masters to serve, the documentary, and the fictional film. In the end, you are making a movie so you want to make sure you hit the markers that one expects, the intro, the escalation, the explosion, and the denouement. You want to hit the notes that one expects from a movie. If you want to make a successful fauxumentary though you need to serve that master too. You have to have a topic they are documenting, you have to have ‘the crew’ of filmmakers that are making it, and you have to follow what one expects from watching a doc, to a degree.
The good thing about the fake doc route though is that it gives the reason the camera is always running. You really are trying to document everything because you are trying to create a record of what is happening. That is one of the reasons BLAIR WITCH works for me is that she loses herself to the movie as a defense mechanism. The world through a lens seems controllable in the face of chaos and horror.
Some will buy that, some won’t, but having been behind the camera a few times, I do get it.
It’s the same thing as a kid getting under the covers, it isn’t REALLY gonna save you but it feels like it will at least protect you.
HOWARD’S MILL is a film set up as a documentary looking into the case of a woman who has gone missing mysteriously while out treasure hunting with her husband. The film is investigating the disappearance of the woman and her husband, who is the prime suspect. What we learn is that the two of them were on an old farm property that had been unoccupied for decades and were ‘treasure hunting’ with their metal detectors. They split up and search the land on their own and the wife just…disappears. As the filmmakers start to look into the disappearance they learn that there have been other, similar vanishings on that property and suddenly the mystery isn’t just about one woman, but about many people and what it all means. As the husband joins the crew as they make their film and investigate the disappearances they start to learn that what was once a simple missing persons case has now become something far stranger and far more chilling.
This is a REALLY good movie.
I have to admit that I was really surprised I haven’t heard about this one or seen anything about it. I get it, there are a LOT of films out now and this is a found footage movie on Tubi – with a DREADFUL movie poster, holy cow! – but this is WAY better than you would think. The documentary aspect is handled very well with believable interviews and a form that makes you think of the crime docs that people are watching of late. When things turn and we start to get into the bigger mystery we are given so many theories about what ELSE is going on in the area that, again, this is sort of the Everyone Is Nutty sort of part of docs. What they do though is slowly peel away the layers of this story so that you start to see that things are not at all what they seem.
The acting here is very good with believable characters, the story is creepy and credible enough that some are left asking – is this real? The documentary aspect is handled very well and the film sticks with it through the entirety. They stay in their lane with the movie and don’t try to make it be something it isn’t and don’t try to bite off too much.
The big knock I have on the film is that there are mysteries, a lot of them, that are left unsolved. It works, and I actually sort of like it, but if you start asking too many questions you will pull the strings that start to unravel things. For anyone expecting an action packed film well, you will be disappointed. This is a slow burn where the horror creeps up on you and as you think about it at the end, sinks its teeth in deep.
Watch the credits, or stay for them, as there’s one last thing which I am sure, if you are a seasoned film veteran, will be able to guess how it will come.
This really is a good movie. A very good movie. My wife and I were a little blown away at how good it was. It’s a shame no one is talking about it because it’s one of the more solid found footage films out there right now and shows you that there is still life in that old beast if done right.
Definitely worth seeking out if you are looking for some new found footage fun.
3.75 out of 5
(For those interested, the movie is on Tubi, as is a new faux docu-series about it that seems to expand the story with interviews. INTERESTING… https://tubitv.com/series/300013833/howard-s-mill-the-truth-revealed)
…c…
HEY! I review movies, write books, make movies, and podcast about movies, and culture. Check the links for all the fun!
The Spooky World of Chris Ringler 
I absolutely loved this film. I was looking for a nice scary movie and overlooked it in my movies section but actually went back to it. I AM SO GLAD THAT I DID!!!
It sucked me right into a great story. Then it wasn’t what I expected. It turned into a mysterious documentary. I was really into this story. This film was really really really well done! I am sooooooo glad that I watched it and went back to it. I Def give this a rating of 8 out of 10 stars! Great film
, kenny B
LikeLiked by 1 person
I found out about this movie while scrolling through comments on a YouTube creator’s missing child case video. I was led to believe this was an actual documentary by the commenter. I googled it and was happy to discover it was on tubi tv. I was drawn into it right off the bat. But along the way some things had me scratching my head, so I decided to Google it for more info on these eerily mysterious events. I felt like a fool after finding out that it was fictional. But still I have to admit it was an intriguing movie and kept me interested all the way through to the end.
LikeLike
Totally. Really well done and eerie. Cannot imagine going in thinking it was real.
Shiver.
LikeLike
I happen to know several of the people who were in the movie. The Furneral director that was interviewed Mr Bell I’ve actually known him for 16 years now and when I mentioned it to him he told me he said yep we don’t go out there cause we never know what’s going to happen. He told me that some of the things actually happened but were greatly exaggerated. Him and I laughed and every time I had to talk to someone from Springfield that I knew that was in it we’d all have to talk about it to take the edge off of them calling me to get a funeral director or ME dispatched during the night.
LikeLike
This movie caught me totally by surprise. It has great acting and a really cool story.
LikeLike
Absolutely. That’s the fun of looking off the beaten path for some of these films because there are some really good movies that folks don’t even know are out there.
LikeLike
I am with you on that Chris. I watch a lot of Scifi stuff on the streaming platforms with 2-3 star reviews. You can find some gems with low budgets but great scripts and story telling. People often give low ratings when they actually have to use their imaginations and dont have multi dollar cgi to entertain them.
LikeLike
Absolutely
Fans can forgive so much if it engages them. Give me a good story and I am with ya.
LikeLike
Totally fake. Native TN and grew up in the area of middle and east TN. My family settled the region before it was a state. 1st give away for those who have been here at least 60 yrs and family even here for over 211 yrs there were NO Latinos at all in TN in the 1970s. We had Puerto Ricans who came here due to PR being a US territory. And, we had European Spanish and Portugal citizens only that could possibly be tied to any Spanish speaking or sounding language.
The only so called migrants would be poor NAs, poor whites and poor blacks. That part of TN near KY in the 1970s and 1980s were pretty hard-core people and did not accept folks into the area like they do now. Tennessee prior to 1992 was a totally different state and not open to change in their mountain towns including those on the Cumberland. So, that is the 1st dead give away.
2nd, internet and courthouse records together don’t hide lies when brought together. So big give away. Nice touch though using a teenage girl’s name who disappeared in the 1890s as the girl from 1994. And, video from 1994 was way too clear plus missing the old date and time stamp that the old videos loved slapping on the non professional i.e. consumer videos then.
I would at least give Kudos to the team who pulled this together.
The actor who played Dwight is a great actor as he really pulled me into the movie. Hope to see him in more films.
LikeLike
The part about the “diatoms” in the bone marrow proving she drown actually made me chuckle. Rink if there was water in the lungs she was alive and drowned. Breathing the water in. No water in the lungs she would have been dead before going in the water. Dead=not breathing in water. If there was something growing in her bone marrow, doubtful it would care how she died. It’s just looking for a host. Another part that had me laughing was the dead body in the basement. I guess Deputy Barney Fife missed that during investigation. Bad movie. Looked and felt fake after 10 minutes.
LikeLike