Found

Let me start by saying I respect the hell out of this movie. I had heard good things about this movie, and it seemed right up my alley, so my expectations were set mildly high. I thought the story, character development, writing, and lead kid were all great. There were a few scenes with actors that played small roles that were almost cringe worthy because they weren't very good actors. Luckily for the film, most of the scenes took place between the 12-year old boy and his brother. My overall feeling with this movie is that I enjoyed it, but I wish there was just a liiiiittle bit more in the budget for the smaller roles. If you can get around a few scenes with bad acting, it is worth a watch.

This is a movie that will impress some and offend others much like some of the ground breaking horror classics of the past. Will this be the next classic? I think not, although it could be a springboard for the director as it does pack a wallop. It is very effective and well done with some very good acting, at least from the two leads. I haven't decided if the adult actors are incredibly bad or if they are deliberately staged that way to emphasize the viewpoint of the younger boy who narrates through some of the scenes. I will give the director the benefit of the doubt as it otherwise would be inconsistent with his other great choices. If you can handle the sick material, it is probably a good movie to watch again as you may underrate it. I can only give it a 6 for entertainment value but then maybe I have underrated it.

Based on the novel by Todd Rigney, "FOUND" is a refreshing addition to the horror genre. A familiar yet grim coming of age drama wrapped in a very dark and horrific nightmarish shell. The story is told through the eye's of Marty, a typical twelve year old boy who like most of you reading this can probably relate to, tends to escape the turmoil of his daily life by taking refuge in horror films. From early on in the film we learn that Marty (Gavin Brown) is from an average American family with the usual facade of "normalcy" hiding a plethora of underlying social problems. His fathers overt racism and inability to relate to or get along with his older son. His mothers inability to mediate or intervene in the situation, and his brothers (Ethan Philbeck) worsening antisocial behavior. Marty has discovered personal secrets of his family members. His dad's porn stash, mother's love letters to an old boyfriend and the biggest one yet, a bowling bag containing a severed head in his brothers closet. Marty discovers the brother that he loves and looks up to is a serial killer. "My brother keeps a human head in his closet. Every few days it's a new head", "My life is starting to turn into a horror movie." Let me just say that I found this film intriguing and truly disturbing. Director Scott Schirmer has done a truly amazing job on a shoestring budget of a reported $8000.00 dollars, managing to tell a great story and do what most big budget horror films seem to fail at, making you care about the characters. The only drawback of the film for me was the talent level of some of the supporting cast. While Gavin Brown and Ethan Filbeck gave outstanding performances for their first outing, the mother (Phyllis Munro) and several of the supporting members, most notably the father (Louie Lawless) seemed to lack the ability to convincingly pull off any dramatic moments. But this is a relatively minor complaint and hardly a drawback in the ability to enjoy this film. Other indi film makers and directors should pay attention and take notes. This is how it's done, with an engaging story and a lot of heart. With all that said, I highly recommend this film. In the end I was left almost speechless. This film manages to tell a sympathetic yet engaging horrific story. It is severely brutal and gory at times and not for the faint of heart. Four out of five stars!

I'm going to dive straight into a simple fact about this movie. It will mess with you. At the deep emotional level, this movie will be extremely disturbing to anyone that gives it a chance. This is the type of movie that will stick with you for days, if not weeks. You will be driving to work days after watching it, see a Family walking down the street and wonder what secrets and personal issues they have solely because of this movie. I watched this movie almost 3 weeks ago, and I still find myself disturbed by it. It's not due to gore however.

Although I am confident in saying that even self-proclaimed horror/slasher film buffs will find a few scenes within "Found" extremely hard to watch. The gore isn't overdone or even a focus of the movie at all. When it is done, it is done very very well and is very very disturbing. I never personally get grossed out by film gore. Ever. However in one scene in particular, I seriously paused the film and sat there by myself wondering if I even wanted to continue watching the movie at all. The scenes in which gore isn't involved at all are just as, if not more disturbing than the gory scenes. Watching a 12 year old boy having to face such horrific realizations, all the while dealing with being bullied and having absent parents is disturbing in and of itself.

The acting would be the only reason this film didn't receive a perfect score of 10 from me. As much as I loved this movie and wish this wasn't the case, the acting by the Father is horrible. Luckily for us he doesn't spend more than 2 minutes on screen at a time, and only has a few lines of dialogue throughout the movie.

To sum this up, I'm going to talk about the final 8 or so minutes of this movie(Without spoilers of course). The final 8 minutes of this movie is by far the single most disturbing piece of film I have ever seen, and hope to never see again. Don't get me wrong, I love this movie. The final scene is just... It's indescribably horrific and dark. I genuinely hope I don't watch a movie with a scene that dark in it again for as long as I live.

Go watch it, it's an amazing accomplishment in the World of film. However, consider this review a warning.

Found is a refreshing intelligently written horror movie with a prominent coming of age theme.

There is no delay in finding out that Marty's older brother is a serial killer. I quickly identified with the 12 year old's obsession with finding his family members' hidden secrets, like his mom's love notes from an ex-boyfriend, his dad's typical porn stash, and of course, his brother's non-typical rotating selection of heads in the closet.

The acting was incredible, and I often felt like I was intruding on private affairs as opposed to just watching a movie. Gavin Brown does an excellent job as Marty. He often provides narration through the movie, which felt more genuine than most voice-overs, with real emotion and no over-acting.

Most of the movie really is about the relationship between the two brothers, and the horror elements are provided by the movies within the movie. Of note is the one called "Headless," which provides the older brother, Steve, with gruesome inspiration. Until the climax of Found, "Headless" is the part that will have you squirming in your seat.

And with the level of detail put into the special effects, you will squirm. The attention put into making everything realistic is evident. Right after seeing the premier, everyone was talking about particular scenes where the special effects really transmitted the feeling to the audience.

This is a story about the dynamic between older and younger brother, and how it changes as they get older, all wrapped up in a horror movie shell. The balance of drama, suspense, horror, and comedy, is perfect. It's the type of movie you'll find yourself still thinking about the next day.