2012
80 minutes
rated R
It is popular to bag on the 'found footage genre' as a whole while ignoring that it's not really a genre. For better or worse, 2012 is the year that found footage truly became a tool that could be used to tell a wealth of stories in a different fashion. Found footage, by which the story is told from the point of view of someone videotaping 'as it happens' events, is neither good nor bad. It is a filmmaking choice that can be applied for good (Chronicle) or evil (The Devil Inside). But one thing a found footage film must do above all else is present the idea of seeing something interesting. The low-tech intimacy of video footage filmed as if it were a home movie presents a certain authenticity, as anyone who jumped at the fleeting glimpse of an alien figure stalking a random kid's birthday party in Signs can tell you. But you have to be in a position to actually deliver on something worth seeing.
