The Black Water Vampire

Found footage film borrows a bit from The Blair Witch Project and just about every other in the woods film. Standard characters with requisite annoyance and singular focus on "the project" without regard to common sense. The creatures have a certain creepiness to them, but that doesn't make a film. Townsfolk bring a minor element that adds something different to the mix, but it isn't enough to save the film. Okay enough if you like this type of film, but it's nothing new or great.

This is a snore fest. If you loved the Blair Witch (I didn't) then you'll probably be pretty mad that the guys who saw this said..."Say, let's remake the Blair Witch but rename it Blackwater Vampire or whatever the sodding title is. Chick decides to do a documentary about a murder she thinks is fishy, blah, blah, blah, blah, and then blah. The vampire was a pretty good design. The vampire screaming was okay but needed to be toned down a bit. The rest is rubbish. A slow, trek through a woodlands in search of an answer to something troubling the filmmaker...but this time with SNOW! The ending...oh my dear god...was just STUPID. There I said it. I'm sorry...but guys you gotta do better. Where's the originality?

This movie is exactly like The Blair Witch Project in the snow for about 9/10 of it. The acting is okay. The story is okay. Because it's literally TBWP. Then it takes a sharp turn into vampire territory. I wouldn't have minded that if it was a surprise. But, when the title of your movie has the word Vampire in it, it's hard to overlook. I kinda liked it. The vampire is creepy as hell and the ending nods to some other cult movies.

Paid 5 bucks to see this because I'm a huge fan of found footage. Also, because a reviewer on one of my favorite horror sites called it a "hidden gem."

After seeing it, I have no idea what the actual frack that reviewer was thinking.

The movie is exactly what everyone else is saying: A terrible rip-off of Blair Witch. And no, I do not mean an homage. It's literally Blair Witch, but with poor acting, dull, repetitive dialogue, and a rubber vampire costume.

The first two-thirds of the movie was tolerable, if boring. But the final third devolved into nothing but screams and running. Ended with zero explanation of the questions raised by the story.

And the final scene? Laughable.

Waste of time and money...both on my part AND on the part of the movie-makers.

I have to say, after reading some reviews I wasn't expecting much, but I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn't great, for sure, it took from pretty much every backwoods horror/Blair Witch Project type movie, but at the end of the day, I really like those kind of movies.

I was most impressed by the monster. The makeup was actually quite spectacular and creepy, it looked great. There were only a few jump scares but they weren't cheap, there were genuine jump scares without that annoying loud "bwong" sound. (You know what I'm talking about.)

It starts out kinda shaky, the beginning of the film builds and loses atmosphere and it feels kind of awkward, the acting isn't anything special; but the last 40 minutes were great. The ending was kind of darkly comedic and a little goofy, but it tied everything up very well without just coming out and explaining the movie.

Overall nothing new or innovative, just another entry in the ever growing library of found footage movies, but entertaining at the very least.