There’s a lot going on in Max Tzannes’ Found Footage: The Making of the Patterson Project. A faux-documentary comedy about an indie film crew shooting a found footage movie becomes a “real” supernatural horror setup (an early surprise, no spoilers). It’s a meta-horror Gobstopper, but the transition between layers can be jarring. With minimal resources and a tight ninety minutes, Found Footage tries to be an all-encompassing and scary industry satire—it’s just soft, safe, and baseline amusing.
Brennan Keel Cook stars as an uber-confident filmmaker (Chase) with dreams of producing the world’s greatest found footage horror novelty. The subtitle “Patterson Project” references Roger Patterson’s now-infamous footage of Bigfoot, also known as the Patterson-Gimlin tape. Chase’s foolproof idea is to shoot a handheld-style Bigfoot movie and get noticed by Blumhouse, as many indie horror filmmakers have foolishly fantasized. Instead, Chase’s crew unknowingly unleashes a haunting in his partner Natalie’s (Erika Vetter) family timeshare that threatens to derail his ambitious seven-day shoot.
Oh, and it’s all being filmed by a European documentary crew.
The comedy of Chase’s confidence—nay, delusion—is in his creative spirit. Chase brags about his made-at-home shorts impressing “raw, untainted” festival crowds (read: small potatoes), while disciples like collaborator Mitchell (Chen Tang) treat his professional enthusiasm like it’s biblical. Chase hasn’t proven himself but thinks he’s the next “Quinton Tarantini” (as pronounced by moneyman Frank, played by Dean Cameron). You’re supposed to laugh at Chase’s hipster film bro personality and the ensuing microbudget follies, yet Found Footage still retains a good-natured and respectful spirit about the process itself.
Chase’s insinuation that genre filmmakers overlook Bigfoot is somewhat factual, but there have been multiple found footage Bigfoot releases. Exists, The Legend of Boggy Creek (basically), Willow Creek (off the top of my head). Additionally, titles like Found Footage 3D and the yet-to-be-released Do Not Watch have similarly summoned paranormal presences on film sets. The comparison becomes “What does Found Footage have to say that prior titles haven’t already,” and the answer is not much. All the yucks are familiar—scamming an old woman for money, casting “Danielle Radcliffe” by accident—because Tzannes and co-writer David San Miguel are skimming the comedic surface.
Problems arise in a balance between movie-making jokes and outright horror. The ratio of humor to fear factors is disproportionate, leaving bloodshed and underbaked consequences until the very end. There’s hardly any peppering in of frights and freakouts, which puts an unfortunate emphasis on laughs that aren’t always there. Chen Tang gets to flex his chops as a possessed victim one night, and there’s a “face in the window” gag once, but Tzannes struggles to fulfill genre expectations until it’s too little too late. The terror feels oddly sectioned off, as if it’s not allowed to interact with the other scenes.
That said, once the chaos ensues—as we know it will—it’s a juicy massacre that dispatches characters who’ve been begging for punishment all movie. The demonic angle is first played for smirks when the film’s elderly investor thinks she’s meeting Alan Rickman on set and instead becomes a vessel for evil, but then heads are smashed by furniture, and monsters reveal their otherworldly forms. It’s a blast of genre intensity that’s captured in the first person, but is served as a side dish rather than our main course. There’s a mercilessness about the inevitable fatalities that come with the finale; it’s not playing safe, yet I’m left with frustrated feelings because where was this the previous eighty or so minutes? Found Footage had the potential to be a memorable blend of silliness and scares, judging by the final minutes that are too little, too late.
Your enjoyment of Found Footage: The Making of the Patterson Project depends on whether you find the core joke amusing or not. Those who’ve tried to scrape together an independent feature may enjoy Tzannes’ chaotic and calamitous mockumentary more than general audiences. Viewers should also temper their expectations on the horror front, since the film hardly dips into genre territory until the grand finale. Found Footage isn’t properly calibrated, and the pacing is mismanaged—but that’s my opinion. If you don’t mind genre films that withhold hardcore excitement until the very end, this’ll be more your speed. Tzannes is no slouch, and there’s enjoyment to be had. I just wish there had been a stronger focus on the horrors of malevolent entities, rather than a ho-hum dissection of no-budget filmmaking.
Movie Score: 2.5/5