I originally had a different film planned for today, but when I saw that this was available on Shudder I knew I had to change my plans. After all, in what has turned out to be a week of looking at various found-footage films, it would be remiss of me not to cover the first 3D one, so here we go with Found Footage 3D.
(Just to note; yes, I watched the 2D version of this film. Partly because that's the only version currently available on Shudder, but also because of my inability to perceive the 3D in 3D films without severe migraines. So if you want to know if the 3D is any good, you'll have to wait for the 3D version to be released and see it yourself. Sorry.)
Filmmaker Derek is about to start production on his first film, Spectre of Death, a found-footage horror movie. He's written (most) of the script himself and is playing the lead role - Derek, a workaholic filmmaker on a vacation with his wife; he's hired a director and a sound man; he's "hired" a girl he met at a party to be the PA; and his brother Mark is filming the behind-the-scenes documentary. Oh, and his ex-wife Amy is acting alongside him as his character's long-suffering wife and their marriage is at the make-or-break point. Derek has also had an idea to make his film stand out from all the other found-footage movies that get released every year - his is going to be in 3D! Filming starts and tensions are soon running high on-set, between the love-hate relationship between Derek and Amy, Mark's obvious feelings for Amy, Derek's flirting with the PA and his constant micromanaging of the direction... Oh, and there's also the issue of the isolated cabin they're filming at being actually haunted by an angry spirit. Film and reality start to blur together as the spirit insists on having a role in the film as well, whether the cast and crew like it or not...
Going for a meta-narrative, especially so blatantly in a film, is always going to be a bit of a risky move. If all goes well, you've got your Blazing Saddles or your Peeping Tom. If it doesn't go well, you're getting something like Scream 3 instead. Thankfully, Found Footage 3D manages to pull things off successfully - an impressive feat when you consider that even the meta-narrative of "film crew finds that what they're faking is in fact real" is a common narrative in found-footage films in general.
Another thing that makes the film work is the amount of dark, tongue-in-cheek humour it has, as you would probably expect from a film that seems to be not-so-subtly poking fun at the found-footage and 3D fads. Mainly it comes in sly little digs at some of the most common plot devices or tropes of the found-footage subgenre, including Derek's complaints about not wanting shaky cam in his film and why everyone has to die at the end of a found-footage movie (because everyone usually does die). There's also the absurdity of shooting a found-footage film in 3D to begin with (I know I laughed when I first heard about it). There's also one wonderfully sneaky dig at a certain film that had a certain map that got kicked into a certain creek, and the Scott Weinberg cameo lends another level of dark, knowing humour to it all.
I will admit, when I first heard of Found Footage 3D I didn't think it was going to be a good film. I figured it was just going to try coasting on its 3D gimmick, but it surprised me by actually being entertaining. The filmmakers certainly know their genre, which helps, and it's well-made and doesn't look cheap. There's also little-to-no night vision, hurrah! I obviously can't speak as to how good the 3D effects are, but the 2D versions of them were perfectly fine - simple, yet effective.
There are a couple of scenes where the acting seems a bit forced, but really the only major problem I found I had with Found Footage 3D is that Amy didn't really feel like a fully-developed character; instead, she felt more like a plot device to create tension and move parts of the film forward, and for Derek and Mark to fight over. Derek treats her like crap, while Mark alternates between obviously pining for her and practically White Knighting her. It just didn't feel to me like she had much individual importance beyond that. But apart from that, Found Footage 3D was a surprisingly good - and fun - little film, and is worth checking out.
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