Unaware

I have been going through a "found footage" binge recently devouring everything in my way. I can look past all the petty issues people have with the genre. I've seen tons of movies with terrible reviews that I thought deserved 8 or 9 ratings. But this movie is one of the worst,and believe me I've seen some stinkers.

It is basically a really lame version of the "McPherson tapes" but lacking any of its charm. The characters are unlikable,and do unbelievable things(even by found footage standards).The basic formula for a good film with no budget is good character development , tension building,and strategically placed scares,this film does NOT deliver.

UNAWARE is another found footage style movie with a sci-fi rather than horror angle. Another reviewer was right on the money when he said that ALIEN ABDUCTION: THE MCPHERSON TAPE which was ten times the film this is; not a perfect film by any means, but one which had plenty of incident and creepy stuff going on throughout to recommend it.

By comparison, UNAWARE is very dull and threadbare. At least half of the running time has nothing going on apart from the dull two protagonists wandering around and chatting. There's supposed to be mystery here, and a sense of pervading horror at something nasty in the garage, but it doesn't really work. It feels instead like the characters are just treading water and waiting for the good stuff, which never arrives anyway (the budget is so cheap that we just see a couple of things in the distance and that's it). Despite being beautifully shot - the camera-work is refreshingly non-shaky and the locations are great - the lack of incident and narrative makes this a very tedious watch.

I was first introduced to this amazing found footage film "UNAWARE" when submitted to the 2011 Indie Horror Film Festival where if won Best Feature & Best Special Effects. When I first started screening the film I was a bit skeptical of the quality, but it is indeed a found footage film so I gave it some time. The first 30 minutes had me convinced it wouldn't amount to much, but then the creepy clues of something so much bigger started to appear. These quick peeks and clues certainly captured my interest and built much suspense along with the couple in the film. I don't want to spoil it, but the pay off is great! In this film you get compassion, you get anger, you get suspense, you get shock, you get scare and you get satisfied!

"One of the best found footage films to ever cross my desk" ~ Willy Adkins / Breaking Fate Entertainment

The "fragile" structure of the UFO... hahaha, the military report didn't fully convey the magnitude of the spacecraft; the "Saucer" was something else... a fantastic film, with incredible production design. The film explodes with breathtaking speed. Oren Peli's participation is very important, leaving an indelible mark with his atmosphere of psychological tension, so characteristic of him, making the work of these young directors stand out. Let's remember that the incredible, the unimaginable, and beyond all logic arrives unannounced on any ordinary, boring day. Highly recommended. Don't take too seriously the opinions of people here who don't break away from their traditional movie-watching schemes. See it!

A couple decides to drive out the country to surprise visit the boyfriend's grandparents. He decides to bring his camcorder to film the trip. Once they get there they find that the grandparents are away for the weekend, but decide to spend their trip there anyways.

They get bored and the boyfriend decides to explore the barn, a place he has never been allowed to enter since childhood. Once inside they discover a secret, which other reviewers have revealed by I will not.

I enjoyed the first half hour of this as most found footage films of this type have some build-up and this one looked like it would be heading in an entertaining direction. However nothing much happens until the last 20 minutes or so and that is not very entertaining, and not as scary as the filmmakers intended it to be.

The leads were likable and their conversation flowed and did not seem forced. However their actions near the end didn't make very much sense. The end itself was very abrupt and did seem forced.

I have seen worse found footage movies, but this one could have done with more and better scares, and a more well developed ending.