Director: Marcus Harben
Year: 2021
Country: United Kingdom
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Ghosts; Horror/Comedy
Plot:
Moving into a new dorm, a social media star trying to get past a scandal finds a potential avenue to fix everything by documenting a series of hauntings within the house, but when they realize that something far more dangerous is at stake they set out to stop the hauntings before they continue.
Review:
This was a rather fun and likable if still flawed genre effort. One of the better features of this one involves the strong setup that provides a strong touch to modern influencer culture. Going into detail on how the build-up and eventual downfall of his social media career have gotten to him while also causing the introduction of the friends at school as he goes on the redemption angle, gives this a great start. This constant influx of his life and career through his videos and social media presence instigates his numerous attempts at generating fame with his antics either building or downgrading his presence which gives everything the touch of the modern flair that’s required for this type of film.
That goes a long way toward making the initial encounters and ghostly circumstances feel legitimately creepy and chilling. After starting off with the moving furniture or slamming doors which are all caught on camera, the shift into more overt danger as the scenes start to involve physical manifestations that others can feel or comment on brings a different tone and feel to everything. As the encounters continue and the events start to interfere with their personal relationships, this comes off quite fun as it starts to introduce all manner of extra personal into what’s going on as the obsessed friend, the paranormal medium, and the finally observed truth about the helper who knows the truth who just wants to help. This is based quite heavily on the finale where it generates some intriguing twists that lead to a highly enjoyable finish for its good points.
There are some big issues here to hold this down. Among its bigger factors is the seemingly bizarre lack of urgency throughout here as if the desire to prove ghosts are real isn’t that big of a priority. Since most of the film is built off an undeserving and banal romance angle that no one wants and is so cliched it doesn’t really register that much, it all comes off incredibly bland and lifeless while also failing so many found-footage rules due to who would film these scenes. It also makes so much of the adulation he receives for these antics feel so hollow as if that’s the way the story is supposed to go without earning it so the jarring nature of the film is directly responsible for the approach featured. Even with nothing much in the way of action here, it still isn’t very funny either which perhaps knocks this one down the most.
Overview: **.5/5
A solid enough if flawed found footage effort, this one comes off as likable enough even though some of the issues here do come off as quite detrimental in the long run. Those who appreciate this type of genre effort or are a fan of found footage films should be the most likely ones for this one while most others who don’t appreciate this type of film should heed caution here.
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