Godforsaken

After hearing reports of religious phenomenon, a man and his friends head to the small-town at the center of the reports to investigate the incidents, but the more they investigate the claims for their documentary the more they uncover a deadly secret is about to be unleashed putting them in jeopardy.

This here was a decent enough found-footage effort. Among the big parts to like here is the fun setup that gets this going, focusing on the resurrection of the body at the funeral which suitably and realistically sends everyone screaming in a hysteria over what's going on. That this is treated as a mystical and truly unexpected sequence with the screaming and chaos at the scene is a rather unique touch which is pulled off well. The desire to document this and explore what's going on brings them into the town where they begin to witness other bizarre features including people who were paralyzed suddenly able to walk or behave in completely unexpected manners than how they were behaving before. This all creates a fantastic setup that's highly enjoyable and rather ominous in terms of religious fervor. However, in the second half this one takes a nice turn and shifts away from the kind of expected setups to turn into a rather fun cult/zombie film hybrid. The setup of the worshippers looking forward to her every movement and reaction with a rabid fanaticism isn't that new and feels entirely believable, the fun starts when this shows off the fact that their members are turned into ravenous zombie-like beings that try to convert more into their ranks which carries on the cult-like mentality on display from before. This leads into a highly enjoyable and likable series of chases throughout the community which is made all the more tense and vicious for the use of the found-footage style here that makes it all up close and visceral to match the bloodshed and gore on display. These are what make this one so enjoyable. There are some minor drawbacks to be had with this one. Like most found-footage films, the pacing to this one is set up to the point where the action is mainly relegated to the final half which can make the beginning to this one somewhat taxing to get through. As the focus comes off more on the build-up of their relationship together and getting to the point of the religious incidents that hardly anything thrilling happens. Being that all of this is cliched and uninvolved carries on throughout the rest of this one as the majority of the time it comes off with that feeling. A lot of this comes from the decision to do the shaky-camera style from found-footage in the overall setup so it's not that big of an issue but does stand out somewhat holding this down.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.

Promising in the beginning. The premise was good but the acting & the execution was done horribly. I feel if the budget was bigger it would have came out a lot better. The actors weren't good. There was times when I thought it just looked horrible. I feel it could be a good book. I was suggested this one & was not expecting what I got honestly.

While it's true found footage has been done to death (pun intended) this latecomer has to be one of the scariest I've ever seen, and I've seen 'em all. "Godforsaken" is a terrifying little gem out of the Great White North, and proof Canada can produce some scary stuff. After a delightfully disturbing start, it heads out in a completely unexpected direction, gradually building up to a terrifying final 20 minutes or so that is absolutely relentless and had me muting my television and (I'll admit it) covering my eyes more than once. After "28 Days Later" rewrote the rules, I'm completely surprised someone was able to add yet another layer to zombie lore. The writing was a very good, though sometimes the characters would do something that left me wondering if in their particular universe zombie movies don't exist. But anyway, the acting was substantially better than something with a budget this small had any right to be - no little thing when it comes to "watch-ability," if that's a word. Anyway - definitely worth a look if you're in the market for something different that just might scare the pants off of you.

GODFORSAKEN is a found footage horror movie which during its first few minutes begins like many others in terms of exposition, but then takes a sharp left turn. A woman resurrects at her own funeral, but she seems menacing and growling and then runs away. A few days later, a documentary crew arrives in town to make a film about this event, while ever stranger things keep happening in the locale.

The movie can be fairly divided into two halves: the first plays like a mystery movie, whereas the second is straight-up horror. Actually, this kind of structure is not that uncommon in the horror genre, and especially found footage horror: a "quiet" first half kind of gets us settled down before we are jolted up by the shock of the events in the second. The first movie I saw for which I became aware of this sort of dichotomous quiet-intense structure is Takashi Miike's excellent AUDITION (1999). Also, all of Eli Roth's movies follow it.

So while this kind of structure is not new, rarely has the first half of a horror movie been so nicely constructed as a mystery story. I was genuinely wondering where the movie was going with it. Once the mystery is basically cleared up, the second half begins. It turns out that it also delivers strongly on what it is supposed to do. It contains some of the most intense found footage horror sequences this side of REC (2007), which is in my opinion still the best found footage horror movie around.

Here comes now a major spoiler:

I loved the novel twist on the Zombie genre. There are probably thousands of zombie movies around, and after this story, I am left to wonder why this type of idea had not been realized before (to my knowledge). There have been occasional innovations in the Zombie genre, most prominently the "running zombies" of the RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (1985) franchise, which ended up being practically universally adopted. Others, like the surprisingly creepy "silent" zombies in the found footage film THE NIGHT EATS THE WORLD (2018) were not widely copied. The innovation in GODFORSAKEN has to do with the religiously-themed way that townsfolk initially become victims. Why can people not come up with interesting variations on a well-worn concept more often?

Be that as it may, almost all the actors did a good job, and since most of the characters came across as likable, we care about them when they are in danger. There were some moments that strained credulity in terms of a character in severe danger who still bothers to film, but really not any more than most other found footage horror films.

My only real criticism is that the movie ends in a cliched way. Just before watching this movie, I had seen the found footage movie, M. O. M (2020), a really good take on the topic of psychopathic kids, and one of its greatest strengths was that the ending defied expectations. I suspect that a more innovative ending in GODFORSAKEN would have left the audience with a better impression of what is really a very good horror movie.

This movie is amazing for what it is. It was made on a small budget and filmed in a small town, which gives it a unique charm. Many people can't appreciate it because they're brainwashed by CGI and big-budget films. The acting was okay, reminding me of a theatre production, which isn't a bad thing at all. The actors brought a raw, authentic feel to their performances, making the story more relatable and grounded. The film's simplicity is its strength, showcasing creativity and passion. It's a refreshing break from the high-tech, expensive spectacles we're used to. This movie should have a higher rating than it does.