Found footage is a sub genre of horror that I really enjoy, but recognise it has a lot of quality issues. Chupacabra Territory was one of many weak efforts in the category. It's certainly not alone, nor the worst example, but it contributes to the bad name that found footage has created for itself.
The writing and the characters had very little focus and consistency. One minute a character would be a serious and scientifically-minded documentarian, and the next minute the same character was a crude, frat-boy-esque prankster.
Dialogue was also very patchy. Occasionally conversations would be surprisingly authentic sounding but often they were nonsensical. Character motivations were confusing and inconsistent. Why the comic relief sidekick was even on this trip was a mystery, given his aggressive and vocal disinterest in every aspect.
There was a heavy dose of repetitiveness. For a long stretch of the film, characters seemingly took turns rushing off into the forest for contrived reasons only to get spooked and rush back to their camp.
The chupacabra itself was thankfully kept at a distance from the audience which was a good choice. Less is more always works best with found footage in my opinion. But it's methods didn't really seem to match up with the legend explained at the films outset, and came across as an all-purpose, off-the-shelf monster.
It is worth bearing in mind that Chupacabra Territory was made in 2016. By no means a pioneer in the genre but it is to its credit that it is probably came just before the wave of cheap derivative found footage being routinely churned out in the 2020s.
