I have been let down by found-footage horror lately. What started as fun has become a serious market in the horror genre. I guess maybe I am worn out from them and the entire craze they represent. However, I started out Day of Disappearance with high hopes. There was a big creep factor. It wasn't full of jump scares or screaming at an empty hallway. The main character, David Hall, is missing. There have been great lengths including a website to make this movie seem more realistic. It reminds me of the work they put into Blair Witch, however, this movie isn't someone out in the woods, the cast is 2 members wide. That's it. Two characters, and one or two filming locations.
At first I was totally involved in the story. I was also generally creeped out during the first hour (yes, this found-footage movie is almost two hours). Then, things got kind of tiring. The "reality" that David Hall maintained turned into a bunch of huffing and puffing, I guess it was to capture the moment of fear but FOR FUCKS SAKE! STOP BREATHING! OK.. now that it's out in the open, the dialogue went to complete shit. Nothing was making sense anymore. It went from a found footage about a demon, to a story about finding his father, which led to the discovery of a cassette tape that he just happened to have a tape player for. It went into the same old story of a doctor finding a mystical creature that can't be contained. I mean I can't even spoil that because it's so fucking common.
What I really wanted was the first hour back, where there was an OG Paranormal Activity feel. It had a lot of promise, and a budget well over what they needed, a fancy camera to make it look like a cell phone, maybe pay for filming locations, I mean... the one filming location that wasn't in a public place. This movie makes me grumpy because I was so into it and then they ripped everything away. Maybe the ending was also supposed to make it more real, I don't know. However, I do know I have seen a lot of these movies, they are a dime a dozen with the same effect. I guess I thought this was supposed to be different, and it was, at first.
Luckily you can find it free on Tubi, don't take my advice, go see it for yourself!
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