Afflicted

We picked this movie to watch last night expecting to laugh at the usual hand held cam nonsense but wow what a surprise. Excellent acting and a truly ingenious script and premise for a movie, it was very good. You guy in to the characters from the start with one being afflicted by a life threatening illness and the other going with his friend around the world to ensure he is safe. Well their trip to Paris blows that out of the window as Derek goes off with the French girl Audrey. They let him have the hotel room to his self and try to prank him the next morning by rushing in to the room. They find a dazed, battered, bruised and bloodied Derek who has no recollection of the previous night. Derek and Cliff move on to Italy and that's when it starts going crazy. Funny, scary, unsettling and ultimately compelling it was a cool movie.

I saw the trailer for this movie and I was excited because I really love the found footage sub-genre. I was also a little hesitant to watch it because I heard some mixed reviews. I rented this at a Redbox and I was not disappointed. It was way creepier than I expected and the acting was much better than expected as well. It also had a TOTALLY different plot than what I had expected, but it was awesome so it's all good. :) Definitely check this out if you love found footage films or even horror film fans unfamiliar with the sub-genre will love it. This movie is pretty gory but no nudity just a few sexual references. There is some language but nothing too brutal. I'd say appropriate for ages 14+.

The found footage film experiment is a success when it is enacted with precision and the proper intensity and editing necessary to make the viewer suspend disbelief. I can remember when I saw the Blair Witch Project at the theater for the first time. I was genuinely terrified. Blair was a one-time wonder that really hit the mark perfectly, hammering our deepest, darkest fears of the unknown until we could barely breathe. In a way, this was akin to Alien, with the fear of the unknown and the uncertain magnified to the highest degree. Unfortunately, many drones and copiers followed, pretty much destroying the magic of the found footage genre. Cloverfield, REC and VHS pushed the genre to new limits, with great success, but other than that there wasn't much exciting in the way of found footage (though I must admit "The Last exorcism" was a guilty pleasure). One of the newest attempts, "The Afflicted" shows us all that the "found footage" genre isn't dead. While creating a heartfelt beginning backdrop, this film slowly feeds into the terror of contagion, disease and degradation in a fresh and newly charged way unique from its predecessors. I'm not saying it's a deal changer by any means, but it is a valiant attempt, and for that reason it deserves our respect and attention. So enjoy "The Afflicted" with all the amorous and diabolical intention it so readily justifies.

Let's face it... 'found footage' films have been pretty terrible of late. Yes, historically, there have been a few good ones. However, with so many wannabe film-makers trying their hand at the (cheap) genre, there are an awful lot of 'duds' out there in the 'straight-to-dvd' market.

I'll say right away that 'Afflicted' isn't anything THAT good. It's hardly revolutionary and most of it you'll feel like you've seen a hundred times before (I'm assuming you're familiar with the 'found footage' genre). The first third is all about introducing us to the characters. Basically, a – possibly – terminally-ill man decides to go on a trip around Europe and therefore his mate has to film every last second of it to put up on the internet.

Unfortunately, our heroes who like talking into the camera fall foul of a local when one gets bitten by... you'll see. Anyway, bad – supernatural – things start to happen. Expect plenty of the usual found footage stuff – running, screaming into camera, falling over, shaky camera-work and yet more screaming.

However, there are a few 'set pieces' which actually left me wondering how they do that. Well... probably with the help of computer–generated technology, but, just because I know how they did it, doesn't mean I wasn't impressed with the results.

There's just enough here to warrant a watch if you're (a) not totally bored of found footage films and (b) generally don't mind horror films in general. But, don't be fooled, it's hardly anything special. Much of it you can sort of have on in the background while you idly surf the internet and you'd still 'get' what's going on. Just be sure to be watching when the really cool stuff comes on.

I have seen an obscene amount of Horror films and a crazy amount that are Cam. I expected this film to be similar to Paranormal Activity - The Marked One which i found to be okay, nothing too special... But immediately from the start realised it was to take a much different tone, which not only was new and fresh for the Cam Horror genre but also to films in general. The film feels fun, fresh and upbeat from the start with a good use of SFX showing a real 'College Movie' vibe then quickly becomes engrossing and dark with plot twists and turns that offer something new to this over produced genre.

Would Recommend