The Upper Footage (UPPER)

Blake, Taylor, Devin, and Vlogger Will drive around New York City looking for cocaine and women. Devin finds a young woman, Jackie and all five of them go back to Blake's apartment and an accident happens.

I know this is a very brief overview on the film, because I think it is far better to know as little as possible going in and then after the film look on the internet at the marketing and recent issues. If you wish to know more a quick Google search should give you a wealth of information.

I first saw an article about Upper on Bloody-Disgusting almost two years ago and was intrigued. The marketing campaign was top notch and left me wanting more. I finally have got to see the movie and I was really not sure what to expect. The first half of the movie is a little on slowish side, plus I knew what ultimately was going to happen because of the marketing, but it does a fine job in establishing the young adults for what they are, rich and only worried about drugs, hooking up and themselves. After watching the movie the next day I talked about it with co-workers and wanted to talk even more but I did not want to give anything away so I just encouraged them to view it. It has been two days since I saw the film and I am still thinking about it, which as far as I am concerned is the definition of a good film, to make you think and keep thinking after the film is over. Upper is not an easy movie to watch nor is it an easy movie to review. The best bet is to watch it and decide for yourself. The ending of the film left me angry over what had transpired because these rich spoiled young adults had not taken responsibility for their actions. The film is a commentary on the socialite/"Upper" society and media. It might be a love it or hate it film, but love it or hate it the film should spark some great discussions.

The Upper footage is a movie that blurs reality and fiction. It reminds us the monsters are not always scary men lurking in dark shadows, nor are they the creatures of childhood nightmares, more likely they are the people we may think we aspire to, who maybe we all could too easily become. It is a riveting story of an all too familiar reality, that is so believable director Justin Cole was able to use the real media to help further blur the lines we cling to in order to feel safe as we sit back and get our fill of our favorite genre.

The film is billed as being an edited 90 version of 393 minutes of found footage covering the events of one night in the lives of a group of affluent young socialites. It is a story of privilege, money and affluence gone horribly wrong. We watch as this group shows their colors, in overindulgent petty behaviors that eventually lead to an accidental death and that's where things get really interesting.

So many things about The Upper Footage are done incredibly right. Justin Cole starts with a story that we have all heard, and gives us an all access pass to the entire event. That in itself wouldn't mean much if the acting was flat, or if the dialogue felt scripted. Somehow, everyone comes together to make this feel very organic, lending incredible believability to the film. The marketing is another point that needs to be mentioned as Justin Cole effectively used our ceaseless desire for dirty news via tabloid TV, getting shows like Entertainment Tonight to bite on the "leaked footage" resulting in a blurring of the lines between art and reality. He further plays into that gray area, by not naming any of the actors involved in the film and has even pixilated his own image on the net, giving a true air of mystery to the entire production, and leaving you questioning what you just watched.

I found that all of this played together beautifully well. I was beyond impressed with The Upper Footage and would highly recommend you take the time to check this film out. The film shows how effective the found footage genre can be. It pushes boundaries, and our sensibilities by taking it to the ugly but real conclusion. This film had me literally shaking with anxiety for a moment at the end, I have never before had such a reaction to any film I have watched and I promise there have been a lot. I am already looking forward to what Mr. Justin Cole has in store for us next!

The best thing you can say about this film is that, like the Blair Witch and Paranormal Activity, the creators managed to create a very real sense of 'this is real; this all actually happened' around it and those comparisons seem to have been made across many reviews I've read.

However, that is where any similarities end.

I've read time and again that the 'found footage' genre is stuck in a rut and that it's all been done to death and should be laid to rest for our own good. On the contrary, I'm one of those heathens that actually thinks that, when done well, it still has bags to offer and can be very effective and often terrifying.

The Blair Witch and Paranormal Activity were nothing new - they just perfected the use of the 'shaky cam' and discovered footage techniques to create very subtle scares and truly play on the 'what you can't see is always scarier than what you can' and Paranormal Activity was so effective at this that it actually had my then girlfriend - now wife - in tears on the couch watching this.

Watching 'The Upper Footage' could well also have you in tears but not for the right reasons, as it's an incredibly slow, boring movie. Classed as a 'horror' (depending where you look), the only thing horrible about the movie is how the main characters treat other human beings.

I found this aspect very realistic, having spent time at university with a number of 'privileged' individuals who didn't care in the slightest about how their actions affected other people.

This appears to be the driving point of the whole movie - how young, rich socialites will - and can - get away with murder, literally, as a direct result of their actions and how they will go to real lengths to cover this up. All in all, this could've made for a real interesting movie but little happens for the first 65-70 minutes. Even when we reach the point where the movie should pick up, it still feels very underwhelming.

Not even the girl that gets picked up near the beginning gets any sympathy from me, as she allows herself to be the entertainment for the rich kids, and as her face is pixelated the entire time she's on camera, it's even more difficult to relate to her in any way.

All-in-all, a pretty poor attempt at a different sort of 'found footage' movie, with little to recommend it.

These days anyone with an iPhone and a laptop can make a movie, but how many filmmakers can claim to have created a phenomenon? It's happened twice in the found footage subgenre; firstly in 1999, with Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez's peerless no-budget chiller THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, and eight years later with Oren Peli's spiritual follow-up, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY. These are films that have had a profound impact not only on horror cinema, but on cinema itself, and their fingerprints can be found all over director Justin Cole's scary found footage exposé THE UPPER FOOTAGE. While the extent of the influence Cole's film will ultimately wield remains to be seen, there's no denying that it already represents a genuine postmodern pop culture phenomenon. A full account of the film's turbulent history, written by Cole, is available online (seek it out, it's fascinating), but it boils down to a desire by the filmmaker to perpetrate a convincing and self-perpetuating media hoax capable of transforming a found footage thriller into a real-life snuff movie sensation involving Hollywood celebrities. It's a fascinating conceit, and speaks to not only our fame-obsessed culture, but to the role both social and 'legitimate' media play in constructing our everyday reality. Cole's venture was a rousing success, and what started as an unsubstantiated rumour soon became urban legend, then established 'fact,' reported on by the likes of Entertainment Tonight. Cole was so successful, in fact, that he found himself the target of campaigners outraged (not unreasonably) at the notion of a young woman's death being exploited for commercial and artistic purposes, and a long and clandestine struggle against the powerful parents of one of the actresses in the film, who took umbrage at the content. The fact and fiction surrounding THE UPPER FOOTAGE have become so blurred that it's difficult to know what to take at face value, but it certainly appears that some kind of conspiracy is dedicated to hampering the film's prospects. So there you have it – a textbook example of how to make a movie that stands out from the crowd, one that so thoroughly transcends its own limited trappings that the actual film is almost irrelevant, it's the media ripples that count. But when you strip away the hype and subterfuge, the conspiracy theories and Chinese whispers, what's THE UPPER FOOTAGE actually like? Just as Cole has found himself a victim of his project's runaway success, so does his film. While most genre offerings are at least moderately predictable, dealing in familiar tropes and well-worn clichés, they also pride themselves on their twists and turns, the story elements we didn't see coming. THE UPPER FOOTAGE isn't like most films. There's barely a story to speak of, and, given the extensive media coverage it's received, you probably already know exactly what's going to happen. As such, it's hard to recommend THE UPPER FOOTAGE to anyone whose priority is an action-packed roller-coaster ride, or who's looking for a casual afternoon's viewing. But for anyone who takes their cinema seriously, or has an interest in either the film's history or the wider relationship between the media and 'real life,' it's a different story.

I've long lamented the preponderance of unlikeable cretins in horror films (for convenience of categorisation I'm calling THE UPPER FOOTAGE horror, although convincing claims could be made for a variety of genres). I don't think I've ever watched a movie populated by such irredeemable monsters as those in THE UPPER FOOTAGE. Again, however, the film is an exception; the fact that its characters are soulless, amoral abominations is very much the point. It's as damning an indictment of directionless, hedonistic, moneyed youth as you could possibly hope to see, a drug-fuelled collision of the best of Bret Easton Ellis with the worst of MY SUPER SWEET 16. Cruel, sneering and without a single saving grace, these are horror movie villains of the scariest kind – those that actually exist. Cole holds up a mirror to Hollywood society, and what it reflects is sickening.

As a rule, found footage fails to convince. Cole is as meticulous about his filmmaking as he is about creating a believable backstory, resulting in a finished product that's entirely persuasive. He avoids all the usual pitfalls – a reliance on rigid scripting, use of incidental music, too-good-to-be-true framing, multiple cameras, ostentatious editing – and even manages to circumvent the thorny question of why they continue to shoot after tragedy strikes. The dialogue is largely, maybe entirely, improvised, and the long takes and awkward angles cement the sense of verisimilitude. It's easy to see why so many industry professionals were fooled – THE UPPER FOOTAGE really does look like the real deal.

In the end, of course, it's impossible to strip away the hype and subterfuge, the conspiracy theories and Chinese whispers. Gone are the days when movies were just movies – now they're multimedia franchises, websites, twitter accounts, t-shirts and actions figures, fan fiction. No-budget horror films from unknown directors can't lay claim to such grandiose marketing strategies, but, as Cole has proved, with a bloody good idea, an insider's understanding of entertainment media, and balls the size of Godzilla's, even the most modest of found footage productions can be elevated to near-mythical status. It's impossible to divorce THE UPPER FOOTAGE from the furore surrounding it, nor should we try. It adds an extra dimension to the experience, a spice you just don't get from watching a common-or-garden horror movie. Slow, meticulous and grotesquely authentic, THE UPPER FOOTAGE is a glimpse into a morally vacuous world of excess and casual barbarism, a world where no one thinks of anyone but themselves, and celebrity is a licence to get away with murder. It's not an easy film to watch, and it was even harder for Cole to make, but nothing worthwhile is ever simple. Cole claims to have already planted the seeds of his next project, one he describes as 'a bit riskier.' The mind boggles...

when i first heard about the movie, i was immediately hooked to the idea and followed it all the way to the recent release. i followed the ups and downs with all the news on the film and to finally see it, there's a great sigh of relief and accomplishment the whole time, i was at the edge of my seat. it was definitely worth the wait, and the amount of publicity this movie gained was just awesome. I'm not going to lie, it had me going the whole time with the plot that bordered the line of fact and fiction. UPPER was like a mixture of The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield. it was great! hopefully one day, i can watch this one the big screen to better enjoy this movie to its full potential.