Saw this at a free screening (but have no connections with anyone connected to the film) so I had no expectations at all which is always helpful.
The first half contained a (fictional) documentary explaining how a crew of young men mysteriously disappeared in the mountains surrounding Malibu. The second half concerned the crew making the documentary running into trouble as they uncover secrets in the cursed mountains that they should have left alone. If it sounds familiar it is--the hat-tip to Blair Witch is obvious as are nods to several other films, including The Exorcist, Poltergeist (1 and 2), Paranormal Activity, The Hangover, Project X and, oddly enough, The Brady Bunch in Hawaii TV movie. There are similarities to the recent no-budget film "Antrum" as well.
I choose to think the director is aware of these similarities (one of the main characters is even named "Josh" and another is named "Jake" Torrance). At any rate, this is a fun, efficient little thriller that doesn't try to be anything more than fun and scary with a little gore, some cool make-up and shock effects and gratuitous use of the "f" word.
The acting is really nice, the cast is good looking and charismatic even if one wishes we could have gotten to know them all a bit better, the direction is clean and the photography is lovely. Nice soundtrack as well.
The first half was probably my favorite--the news/documentary footage in the set-up was remarkably realistic and engaging, the mystery of what happened to the guys was interesting and I liked the found-footage of the guys in the mountains. If the end was (*semi-spoiler here) reduced to a bit of a predictable extended hunt-and-kill through dark cave passages it was certainly spooky enough. Again, the film didn't seem to seek more than to be entertaining and on that score did a fine job, great for streaming if you're in the mood.
The first half contained a (fictional) documentary explaining how a crew of young men mysteriously disappeared in the mountains surrounding Malibu. The second half concerned the crew making the documentary running into trouble as they uncover secrets in the cursed mountains that they should have left alone. If it sounds familiar it is--the hat-tip to Blair Witch is obvious as are nods to several other films, including The Exorcist, Poltergeist (1 and 2), Paranormal Activity, The Hangover, Project X and, oddly enough, The Brady Bunch in Hawaii TV movie. There are similarities to the recent no-budget film "Antrum" as well.
I choose to think the director is aware of these similarities (one of the main characters is even named "Josh" and another is named "Jake" Torrance). At any rate, this is a fun, efficient little thriller that doesn't try to be anything more than fun and scary with a little gore, some cool make-up and shock effects and gratuitous use of the "f" word.
The acting is really nice, the cast is good looking and charismatic even if one wishes we could have gotten to know them all a bit better, the direction is clean and the photography is lovely. Nice soundtrack as well.
The first half was probably my favorite--the news/documentary footage in the set-up was remarkably realistic and engaging, the mystery of what happened to the guys was interesting and I liked the found-footage of the guys in the mountains. If the end was (*semi-spoiler here) reduced to a bit of a predictable extended hunt-and-kill through dark cave passages it was certainly spooky enough. Again, the film didn't seem to seek more than to be entertaining and on that score did a fine job, great for streaming if you're in the mood.