If there is one pet peeve I have over all others in found footage movies it’s when they suddenly switch narrative techniques. The movie will begin as found footage and then reach a point where it’s suddenly a traditionally shot film. It drives me CRAZY! Now, you can make a movie in whatever style you want, it’s your deal, but found footage, as a style of film, has certain rules and expectations and filmmakers use it for a reason, be it due to the story they want to tell, how they want to make the film, or just to save some money while making a movie.
You can do whatever you want, man.
Make your movie.
But if you are going to fool with found footage as a technique, only to drop it, is not only sloppy but feels lazy.
It feels like the filmmakers lost interest in the style, or forgot what they were doing.
That’s certainly the case with THE GHOST IN THE DARKNESS, a film that is three-quarters found footage and that last quarter is traditionally film.
And none of it makes a jot of sense.
THE GHOST focuses on two friends who are doing an investigative style video about a film that is found in the woods that seems to hint at someone being murdered by a cult in the woods. As they investigate, they begin to question whether what they found was really a gag, as the police think, or something far more sinister.
Oh, boy.
So, yeah, it starts out following the two girls as they film their vlog style investigation. The film jumps to other characters, in the same style, and then movie starts getting weird and supernatural, and BAM, we’re in a traditional narrative. That traditional style lasts for one section of the film and then moves back to found footage with a seemingly teenaged girl and her father investigating…a spooky place from earlier. The movie ends with a monologue telling us the wrap-up instead of dragging on the film any longer.
Phew, this is a mess.
The heck of this film is that there are moments that are good, as if in defiance of the rest of it. There is a sequence – that serves no narrative purpose whatsoever – in which one of the leads tells of a sexual assault she suffered and it’s great, and really powerful. The interaction between the two leads is very good, as is the acting of the boyfriend, who is great, the short time he’s in the film.
What this feels like is a film made by friends, and there is nothing wrong with that, but as a narrative film, it doesn’t hold together. The movie doesn’t quite know what style it wants to pursue, doesn’t really hold to the story it’s telling, and when we learn what happened, essentially, none of it makes much sense.
I never want to bag on anyone that can make a film because it’s hard. This just doesn’t work, and isn’t something you should bother with unless you are a die-hard and wanna see them all. I applaud everyone involved for completing the film, and for some interesting ideas, but just cannot recommend this one.
.75 out of 5
The Spooky World of Chris Ringler 