The premise: A couple of YouTubers making fake monster videos put out an ad to film and interview any REAL monsters in the area, without expecting to get exactly that. (The trailer gives all this away, so I'm not spoiling anything.)
The premise is great, but there really isn't much of a story. I guess that's the way a lot of found footage movies are if they're done well - they feel spontaneous. This didn't. It felt scripted.
The effects are great, and the performances of the people being interviewed are good, in my opinion. But the interviewing team's performances are terrible. A lot of overacting. And who ever heard of a cameraperson that won't shut up? Things get better as the movie progresses, but the beginning is very annoying. I think his character was supposed to be some sort of comic relief?
The story was periodically derailed by unnecessary drama among the crew - which they filmed and included in their "monster documentary" for some unknown reason.
The atmospheric sound effects and music were good, but WAY too heavy-handed and in some cases, just unnecessary.
Loved the special effects and makeup! They were so good that I didn't understand why they pulled the camera away from the action or lit things so you could barely see them. There were enough close ups to see that they didn't need to.
The ending caught me by surprise only because it seemed so inconsistent with the rest of the movie. It didn't make sense and felt like a last minute idea. If the rest of the movie would have supported the ending better, I think I may have liked the whole thing a lot more.
If you watch the first 10 minutes or so, then skip to about a quarter of the way in, you might have a better experience. If I ever watch this again, that's what I plan to do.
It's worth a watch, but this is too flawed to be called "good." It's just "okay."
I'm being generous in giving it 6/10.
