Howard's Mill

HOWARD'S MILL is a mockumentary (fake documentary) which starts off as being about the mysterious disappearance of a woman whose husband police initially suspect of having murdered, and then goes down the rabbit's hole of a series of disappearances spanning decades but all associated with the eponymous property.

Plotwise, this film treads similar ground as the mockumentaries LAKE MUNGO (2008) and SAVAGELAND (2015), where every so often a new twist throws the entire story line into a new direction. However, what the film ends up suggesting is the ultimate explanation for these disappearances can be inferred fairly early on. Also, HOWARD'S MILL is unfortunately not as entertaining as its spiritual predecessors.

The production values for this kind of film were okay, there were some nice drone shots and a fairly large cast, but the proceedings just humdrum. Because we can guess early on where the story is going, and the characters are never in any kind of real danger, there is practically no tension.

The convoluted plot ends up being complicated by some extra dead-end plot lines which seem fairly obviously just devices to confuse the audience further, and comparatively little is definitely resolved by the end of the movie.

I think fans of mystery mockumentaries will still like this, but the movie is probably too unexciting and anticlimactic for a wider mass appeal.

I really like this genre of film just as much as I enjoy found footage horrors and some as comedies. This was so believable I'm embarrassed to say I had to look it up to make sure if it was or not. Keep them coming!

Seems like a lot of reviewers got angry because somebody tricked them this is a real documentary, when in reality, it isn't. I don't know the context and who is to blame, a network or the creators of this movie, but i watched it knowing this is a mockumentary and i enjoyed it.

This is a good (not very good) mystery movie. It's not scary, so if you're looking for a pure horror movie, that's not it. This movie wanted to be mind-bending, something like a puzzle, in order for the viewer to got lost in its labyrinths. I think it succeeded. It made me think, it was enigmatic enough to excite me and not too vague so it would make me lose my interest.

Slow to start and not that interesting, but as i was progressing, it got better. Last 30 minutes were much better than the previous part. Not everything was answered but it was not annoyingly ambiguous.

Creepy, intense in the second part and not that unrealistic for a mystery movie. If you're looking for something like this, you will like it. Remember though, it's almost a no budget production.

If you can stomach the acting of any given LIFETIME movie, you can handle this movie.

It may not be what you were expecting based on the description, but if you stick with it, it gets better & better. If you go into this faux-documentary thinking "Missing 411", you're more equipt for the eventual storyline. And if you've never heard of the "Missing 411" stories, check them out. They're unsolved mysteries of people suddenly going missing, with clues of what happened to them that never seem to add up. Sometimes people are found alive weeks later with no memory of having been gone for vast amounts of time, some are found dead, and some are never found.

I think what turns viewers away from this movie is that it's bringing in the wrong crowd. Most start watching this for the documentary aspect of a crime/mystery/thriller and their expectations are poorly met. But if this was marketed towards supernatural, unexplained mysteries, "Missing 411" type of genre, it would fare far better with the viewing audience.

You wouldn't label a "Romantic" movie a "Thriller". Generally, women like romance and men like thrillers. What would you expect when you lure the wrong audience in for a thriller and they're stuck watching a romance? Very bad reviews and a low rating. Imo, that's what's happening with this movie, "Howard's Mill".

If you like the "Missing 411" series, supernatural phenomenon, and unsolved mysteries, then this movie is for you. And I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy it too.

Great story the acting by the ancillary characters was strong but the leads were not believable, which helps to blow the illusion. The lead male did not act like a man under very real and ongoing suspicion of his wife's disappearance which took place less than a month earlier. It was creepy and if the story was adapted to a full on horror movie it could be entertaining.