Dashcam

For those who are unaware, I adore found footage features and there are mainly two reasons behind my fondness for this sub-genre. For one, with its shaky, grainy footage; the whole set-up kind of gives you an unadulterated, authentic feel, a touch of realism that you typically are deprived of in the case of a conventional film. And two, with its POV perspective, these films effortlessly make you a part of their experience, they make you feel like you are in it, partaking like the actors on-screen.

Now, the only downside is that each one of those aforementioned characteristics can only shine to its brightest when they are properly supervised and under a controlled environment. There are certain limitations, and specific boundaries, as a filmmaker, needs to abide by. If somebody crosses that limit, the whole set-up could collapse at any given moment. And I'm afraid, that's exactly what happened in this case.

Too much grain and too much shake spoiled my scope for any enjoyment. Despite some intriguing ideas and a handful of shocks and surprises; Half the time, I found myself squinting my eyes hard to try to make some sense of what was happening. Believe me, I have seen plenty of found footage in my life, but none of them got on my nerves as this one did. The unsophisticatedness of the imageries just put me off and took me out of the experience.

And to add to my misery, there was barely any context, any backstory given for the supernatural things that takes place. As for the characters, one of the wackiest, unlikable sets of personalities I have ever withstood in a movie. I don't care if that was deliberate or not, I just couldn't care less for any of these individuals and that's a shame.

Is Annie Hardy like her character in the movie? If so, dearie me. One of the most repulsive characters i've witnessed, Dashcam is woeful and has no redeeming features whatsoever. Avoid at all costs.

The main female lead is so obnoxious, so selfish, so oblivious to anything else, so self-absorbed, and so damn American, that I wanted her to die in the first five minutes. This is why the world hates us. She also seemed to take to the role a little too easily. Is she like this in real life?

Let's start with the good: the special effects are really impressive.

The bad: literally everything else. This was EXCRUCIATING to get through due to the horrifically annoying main character. My god, what a terrible character. Also, I know you have to suspend belief especially in found footage horror, but there's absolutely no way her devices would have kept working, let alone stay open in the same app, after being smashed, dropped, thrown, and submerged in water.

From the director of Host comes a new found-footage horror once again set in the midst of the ongoing pandemic but this time is unable to duplicate the freshness & ingenuity of his previous outing. Dashcam conjures a few effective scares and is able to sustain its intensity once things escalate but the film as a whole is also consistently undermined by its insufferable protagonist.

Directed by Rob Savage, the problem with his latest feature is that it provides zero incentive to why any of us should care about what happens to the vile & vexatious mouthpiece it puts at its centre, plus her actions only has us wishing for the worst. It is a deliberate choice no doubt but not one that's thought through coz more could've been achieved with a character worth giving a damn about.

While the dramatic portions are weak, the film delivers on the horror front and features several chilling & unsettling moments with its clever setups & savage thrills. Once again, the jump scares are well-executed, plus there's ample gore in store. It also has a visceral, nightmarish quality yet lacks the immersive element to make it count. Lastly, Annie Hardy plays her own fictional version and easily gets on everyone's nerves.

Overall, Dashcam unleashes an unrelenting assault on the senses in both good & bad ways but the film's scare factor is also severely diminished by the problematic main character who remains an annoying, repulsive & grating presence at all times. Still, Savage's latest film isn't without its merits and even manages to be occasionally tense, thrilling & unsettling once things begin to go haywire. A missed opportunity of sorts but worth a shot anyway.