JUNE 9 is the date five high school kids disappeared in Boston Mills, Ohio, a place also known as "Helltown". The movie chronicles, in the form of found footage, the few days leading up that date, when the group repeatedly visited the locale to carry out vandalism and other shenanigans, and the aftermath.
I can understand the allure of using a plot device where a group of losers led by a budding sociopath eventually get their comeuppance for all their stupid pranks.
It is actually quite a clever concept:
we may feel some catharsis at their fate, but at the same time, the punishment is so out of proportion, and those who mete it out so nonchalant about their evil, that we cannot allow ourselves to feel catharsis. Thus, the movie leaves the viewer with mixed emotions, a perfect state for the story to remain with us, uneasy and unforgotten, reinforced by the creepy aftermath footage.
The granddaddy of found footage horror, CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (1980) operated on a similar concept (except that the group of main characters there did much more evil things) and implemented it much more successfully than this film.
Unfortunately, the execution in this film was lacking. The camerawork was not great. It was difficult for me to relate to the characters and thus care for them. The movie spent way too much time on their dumb antics, which only increased my annoyance with these characters and made them less relatable. Instead of starting out on June 4th, and giving us a daily log of their visits until the final date, it should have started later. That they visited the same place 6 times in a row stretched a bit of credibility and was simply too much, plotwise. The ending was swift and anticlimactic, trading protracted suspense and horror in the final moments for eeriness of the aftermath.
Hardcore found footage horror fans may still find this enjoyable because it does give a vicarious experience of a group of wayward high school kids that feels authentic, and the liveliness of the group stands in stark contrast to the quietness of the aftermath. But I think most others will be turned off by how much time the movie spends on documenting their inane stunts.
I can understand the allure of using a plot device where a group of losers led by a budding sociopath eventually get their comeuppance for all their stupid pranks.
It is actually quite a clever concept:
we may feel some catharsis at their fate, but at the same time, the punishment is so out of proportion, and those who mete it out so nonchalant about their evil, that we cannot allow ourselves to feel catharsis. Thus, the movie leaves the viewer with mixed emotions, a perfect state for the story to remain with us, uneasy and unforgotten, reinforced by the creepy aftermath footage.
The granddaddy of found footage horror, CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (1980) operated on a similar concept (except that the group of main characters there did much more evil things) and implemented it much more successfully than this film.
Unfortunately, the execution in this film was lacking. The camerawork was not great. It was difficult for me to relate to the characters and thus care for them. The movie spent way too much time on their dumb antics, which only increased my annoyance with these characters and made them less relatable. Instead of starting out on June 4th, and giving us a daily log of their visits until the final date, it should have started later. That they visited the same place 6 times in a row stretched a bit of credibility and was simply too much, plotwise. The ending was swift and anticlimactic, trading protracted suspense and horror in the final moments for eeriness of the aftermath.
Hardcore found footage horror fans may still find this enjoyable because it does give a vicarious experience of a group of wayward high school kids that feels authentic, and the liveliness of the group stands in stark contrast to the quietness of the aftermath. But I think most others will be turned off by how much time the movie spends on documenting their inane stunts.