Rorschach

This definitely had potential, but ultimately it poops out and leaves you wishing you had written and directed it knowing you could've done better with an even lower budget.

At first, I was skeptical. I expected lame affects, cheap scares, and a run-of the mill story. I expected it to be poorly acted and boring... well...

Really, I'm giving props to this movie because it wants to be more realistic than to scare you, and that there's no real bullshit. I definitely wouldn't recommend this film for everyone, simply because it doesn't start to be scary until the last bit (of which I won't spoil). I don't watch many horror movies because of the jump scares and other such cheap manipulations - and I think that the found footage horror is all very dried out - this movie, for what it was (a no-budg youtube horror) wasn't stupid. They conveyed realism and the characters are likable, even. Believable. It felt like I was watching a doc made by two grad students with minimal filmmaking skills.

I feel like the two male leads are believable as skeptics and the mother believable as the victim of a haunting.

It's not a great movie - really, it's nothing too new - I, a terrible horror-movie watcher - was bored and comfortable throughout much of the film, but I'm personally, honestly okay with that. The payoff was good, and there's an actual emotional arc that the viewer has with the characters. For all the stupid things that happens in the big budges, I couldn't really come up with anything for this film. It's a solid watch in-between tasks. I don't think I'll be watching it again on my own anytime soon, but I commend it for what it on its own accomplished, and in today's world, that is so important for the independent filmmakers.

Giving it a 7 is more of a personal preference, because it's obviously not necessarily a film to be floored by, but in my opinion, does what it sets out to do well.

Found footage with a twist and what's the twist? That it's actually quite good.

Ever since The Blair Witch Project (1999) we've been awash with found footage movies. Primarily because they are cheap to make and this one as well was made on a budget of less than 10k.

Sadly they are almost always terrible, the low budget generally means that nothing happens and for the most part this is no different.

What Rorschach does differently is the tension, the creators knew what they were doing. They have created a well constucted genuinely creepy movie despite the lack of budget or the fact it's devoid of originality.

If you don't like the genre you won't like this, but if you have any faith left in found footage this little gem is worth your time and I'd happily watch a sequel.

The Good:

Very well made

Believable

Tension is built perfectly

The Bad:

No originality at all

Still just a cliched found footage film

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

This sub genre still has life in it

Saw this linked in a discussion on "Bloody Disgusting" so I thought I'd give it a watch and I have to say it's a pretty good movie in its own right, which is something of a surprise considering it's on YouTube! I will say without hesitation that it's better made and more entertaining than many theatrical release horror movies I've seen.

It features two skeptics who interview people who report paranormal occurrences in their home. This time around they travel out to the suburbs to meet a woman who feels there's something strange going on in her home, especially with respect to her young daughter. The skeptics are there to just document what she feels is happening, but as they do so and begin to witness events they also can't explain, they get pulled into the situation.

It's a bit rough around the edges but as a found-footage film that actually enhances its appeal. Remember though -- it's a *found footage paranormal horror film* so in order to be effective, it HAS to be slow burn. Don't watch it if that's not your thing -- it's pretty far from being non-stop action. But yeah, definitely watch it. I saw it on YouTube and that's where you'll find it too I assume.

By the way this is not one of those logrolling reviews by someone who knows the movie makers! I don't know these guys and this is my objective opinion.

I really liked it! The acting was really good. It was better than some movies with 3 times its budget. Spooky and creepy. Not super original but well done especially for a youtube independent film.