I'd also be lying if I said I hadn't been watching a lot of the current impeachment inquiry, as we all have a lot at stake with what's been going on. It may well be the defining moment in my lifetime. If 9/11 struck at the heart of America, then what's been going on is no less than a battle for its soul. I'd like to think the citizens of America will do the right thing when it comes down to it- i.e. when it comes time to vote in 2020- but will Congress? Hard to say, but with what I'm seeing, it seems unlikely.
With that said, you came here for Thanksgiving terror, not politics, so on with the show...
So, as a matter of full disclosure, this isn't so much a Thanksgiving-themed horror flick as it is a brief period in the lives of a family occurring over the course of Halloween, Christmas, New Year's, Valentine's Day and the even-more-elusive horror holiday, Easter; as well as, yes, Thanksgiving.
So, technically, it's actually more of a general holiday horror flick that hits most of the biggies in one fell swoop. But given the dearth of Thanksgiving-themed horror out there, I'm going to allow it for our purposes. Besides, I've been wanting to write about it for some time now, so any excuse to bring this flick to people's attention is a good one, as far as I'm concerned.
In my humble opinion, Home Video may well be the most underrated "found footage" flick of all of them. I rarely hear it mentioned, unless it's within the context of someone putting together a list of the best Found Footage films, which I did myself once upon a time. (I'll try to reprint it here some time in the future, as that web site's domain has since expired.) I'll allow that may not be saying much insofar as some people are concerned, as it remains a pseudo-controversial subgenre that most consider an acquired taste.
This one, though, succeeds where most fail in that it tends to avoid a lot of the typical pitfalls of the subgenre. In this case, people actually do put down the camera at times, and yes, even stop filming here and there when something crazy happens. Yes, there a still a few scenes in which people continue to film where most sane people wouldn't, and a few questionable ones where, for no real good reason, characters film themselves doing "confessional"-style bits, a la Blair Witch Project.
But nonetheless, a genuine effort is made to shoot things in a way that is believable. Sometimes this is a bad thing, as it cuts off things abruptly just when they're starting to get interesting, but in most cases, it works like a charm, showing just enough to get the point across in a disturbing way without lingering longer than any sane person would. In others, the camera could have held on things for perhaps a few more moments to let things sink in a bit better. I'll allow that I occasionally had to rewind to catch things that were only seen in fleeting glimpses.
But once again, this is clearly done in a way that means to capture things in a realistic fashion, the same way one might perhaps do something like this if it were actually happening IRL. We can quibble all we want about whether or not the camera should have kept rolling a beat longer in some scenes, and less so in others, but such is the case with most Found Footage films, which is why it continues to divide a lot of audiences on whether it's truly effective or a particularly realistic way to tell a story.
Be that as it may, I maintain that this particular film is far and away one of the best examples of the oft-derided subgenre I've ever seen, bar none, and that, if you've never seen it, whether you're a fan of this sort of thing or not, it may well be one of the exceptions to the rule that Found Footage can still work, if adopted in the right way and applied logically to a particular kind of story.
In this case, it's just what the title Home Video implies: a home video recording of a family, which, this being a horror film, is in disarray at this particular moment in time. Basically, the premise is that there is something really off about the main married couple's kids, something so off that they purposefully moved out of the city to the country to address it privately. Unfortunately, keeping such things under wraps can be a tricky bit of business. Kids will be kids- but none of them are quite like these kids, that's for sure.
From damn near the jump, a sense of dread pervades the scenario, which writer-director Christopher Denham artfully manages to maintain throughout the entire film, while, at the same time, ramping up the tension as things inevitably get worse. And, boy, do they ever get worse. Fair warning: if you're a animal lover, this may not be the film for you. Animals do NOT fare well in this movie, to say the least.
We first meet the Poes around Halloween-time. At first glance they seem like they could be any typical family, but, in time, we see that they're actually quite unique. Patriarch David (Adrian Pasdar, Heroes, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) is, in fact, a father in more ways than one- in addition to being the father of two young children, he's also a Lutheran priest. Even more interestingly, he's married to a non-believer, psychologist Clare (soap regular Cady McClain, of All My Children and The Young & the Restless, which could both double as alternate titles for this film, lol).
The two are parents to oddball twins- okay, the "oddball" part almost goes without saying for most twins, but these particular twins are next level odd, let me tell you. There's Emily (Amber Joy Williams, The Perfect Holiday), a blonde sprite with a disarmingly coy smile, when she's not staring at you with a blank expression, and Jack (Austin Williams, also of the equally-unnerving The Girl Next Door, as well as The Good Shepherd and Michael Clayton), an equally innocent-looking child that is definitely up to something whenever someone's back is turned.
As with a lot of twins, the two are well-nigh inseparable, and, indeed, share the same bedroom- and sometimes even the same bed. They also often speak in tongues- a phenomenon sometimes known as "twinspeak," aka cryptophasia, which, despite all the jokes you may have heard about it, is really a thing. Basically, it boils down to speaking in a language outsiders- even their parents- can't understand, but which they themselves understand perfectly. While mostly perfectly innocent, here, it's clearly used for more nefarious purposes- these kids are clearly up to something, and they don't want anyone to know what it is.
Indeed, as we discover, what they are up to is elaborate, well-plotted and executed with cold, dispassionate effort, even when it seems like the kids are "getting better." As you might expect, the parents notice all of this, and like most parents, try and do something about it, albeit coming at it in completely different directions. Clare, naturally, thinks that prescribing the correct medication will be the cure-all to what ails them, while David turns to God, and, at one point, even attempts an exorcism, in spite of that not being a thing in the Lutheran church, as he himself acknowledges.
While both Clare and David undeniably believe that their respective approaches work, as their kids do indeed start acting "normal" after a certain point, even befriending a boy in school they previously bullied, at one point corralling the poor kid into a bathroom and aggressively biting him! It was this incident, along with several instances of violence towards animals, as aforementioned, that ultimately lead the parents towards their respective remedies.
Lo and behold, Jack and Emily start acting like normal kids directly afterwards- smiling, laughing and doing the things kids seem to typically do under normal circumstances. But is it all an act? Well, it is a horror movie, so you can probably figure out the answer to that question on your own, but suffice it to say, things do get better before they get a whole lot worse, coming to a head around Easter, in which the egg hunt with the twins' newly-minted pal/former victim does NOT go well, to put it mildly.
I don't want to say much more than that, except to say that eventually the tables are turned, and what once was the camera subjects become the ones doing the filming, and what they end up filming is hella disturbing. I honestly can't think of another Found Footage film that unnerved me more, though the first two [Rec] films certainly came close. However, where those films were firmly within the realm of horror-fantasy, this one is grounded in reality and something that could conceivably happen for real.
I mean, granted, this particular instance is heightened, to say the least, but such is the case with most horror films. My point is that it most certainly COULD happen, which is more than what one could say about a lot of horror flicks. Yes, certain things happen which are a bit hard to swallow here and there, but overall, I had no problem buying what this film was selling. At the very least, it made me think twice about becoming a father, lol. (Note to self if I do: NEVER teach kids how to pick locks or tie "unescapable" knots.)
The truth is, the reason that creepy kid movies- a la The Omen, The Bad Seed, Village of the Damned and The Brood- are so effective is that kids can be pretty freaky at times, especially the way they go about some things when they're still learning how to be their own people and how the world works. Also, the simple truth is that some kids can be total assholes. This film gets that, and goes forward with the premise that some people have adopted that some kids are just simply "born bad," in spite of their upbringing.
Here, we have what should be an ideal scenario: a realist parent (Clare) married to an idealist, religious parent (David), that have somehow, despite their differences, managed to make it work. The two may have their own individual approaches to parenting, but no one can say that they don't support each other and take raising their kids the right way seriously. But what do you do when no approach seems to work? Here, they turn to both spiritual and medical remedies, but neither of them does the trick- the reason being that, of course, some things just don't have easy solutions.
I just love this film. It's simple, effective, and doesn't overstay its welcome. Hell, if anything, given that it clocks in at a mere 77 minutes, I could have stood a bit more of it, if only a post-script that sheds a little light on what happens next. I mean, granted, it doesn't look like anything good, that's for sure, but that's my point- I wanted more. This is definitely a film I could see easily getting a sequel, though I suppose it would almost certainly have to delve into something like August Underground territory, which, granted, is a numbing type of thing to watch, like watching a serial killer's home movies- which is, of course, exactly what that film series purports to be.
What we get here is the equivalent of watching two young, budding, likely future serial killers' home videos, which- to me, at least- is far more interesting. For instance, compare and contrast this film's approach to, say, Rob Zombie's approach to his Halloween film. Both contend with similar circumstances, but both deal with it in completely different and unique ways. I'll leave it to you to determine which film is better- I've already spoken my piece on Zombie's film here- but I kind of prefer the more subtle approach taken here.
I can see where some might be a little disappointed that the filmmakers pull their punches at times, not truly going for the throat when they could have, but sometimes less is more. Which you prefer likely depends on whether you like the whole bludgeoning approach (a la Zombie's films) or the more subtle approach taken here. Either way, I'd have to say I was much more unnerved by this than any given entry in the whole August Underground series, much less any given Zombie flick, where shock value reigns.
Anyone can gross someone out with the right special effects- it takes skill to actually scare people for real. And I'm not talking about "jump scares," which I've long since recognized as a bit of a cheat. Of course you're going to jump at a loud noise or the like, especially if you're watching a horror flick. But sustaining a genuine sense of dread- that's a trickier bit of business. And Home Video totally nails it, in my estimation. It may not make you jump, but it sure as hell sticks with you, and mind you, I don't even have kids. I can only imagine how this would affect me if I actually did.
Kudos to actor-turned-director Denham, who some of you might know better from his roles in such films as Argo, Shutter Island and The Sound of my Voice (which is unnerving in its own right, in its own way) and TV shows like Manhattan and Billions. I haven't seen any of his other directorial work to date, which includes a joining of found footage forces with Paranormal Activity creator Oren Peli for the alien-themed Area 51 and another horror flick, Preservation, but re-watching this makes me want to rectify that ASAP.
Likewise, the cast is excellent, with Pasdar nailing the whole randy priest/purveyor of dad jokes to great effect, while McClain also delivers on the science-over-religion inclined psychologist role. Note how the film doesn't ever stoop to saying which approach is "right," but leaves leeway for both when it seems the kids are now, in fact, alright. But it's little Amber Joy and Austin Williams that really steal the show here. They are just plain flat-out shiver-inducing throughout the movie, even when they're supposed to be "cured."
If you haven't seen this and you love Found Footage, it's an absolute must, but even if you don't typically care for it, it might well end up being your exception to the rule. It may be a stretch to call it a "Thanksgiving Thriller," but whatever the case, it's certainly a must-see if you're looking for something off the beaten path or you just like movies about creepy kids. For my money, these two certainly rank among the creepiest ever, that's for sure.
The film is readily available on DVD, though it's a bit tricky to find, given that generic title. As of this writing, it's also available on YouTube, albeit in somewhat iffy quality. Still, beggars can't be choosers, and as with Alien Abduction, the other found footage flick I reviewed recently, it actually kind of lends itself to poor quality, on account of its approach.
That said, the worth of the film itself is anything but low-quality. In fact, I dare say it ranks as one of my all-time fave Found Footage horror flicks, and I say that as an admitted fan of the oft-ridiculed subgenre. Even if you don't typically like these sorts of films, I say check it out- it's worth every one of the 77 minutes you'll spend watching it, IMHO. 😀
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