Decided the cure to the endless ”which movie should I watch?” scroll was to come up with themes. So first up, it’s a found footage tour of the UK!!
Wales - Foxhollow
A freelance videographer is hired by an eccentric trapper to search the woods for Bigfoot. Probably the weakest of the four but still had its moments. The trapper is the most fun (and scariest) part of the whole thing, which would’ve maybe been an interesting point had the creatures turned out to be simple and/or peaceful animals. But no, it’s pretty much goes the way 95% of all Bigfoot movies go. ⭐️⭐️/4
Northern Ireland - The Glenarma Tapes
Maybe I‘m a sucker for the island of me forebears, but this was an enjoyable ride. FF can sometimes be too slow of a burn, with all the scares happening in the last ten minutes, or it can spend so little time on the characters you don’t really care who gets offed. This gem jumps in with the action surprisingly early, while still doing a solid job building a world with 3D characters with backgrounds, interpersonal relationship, and motivations that drive their actions and choices. The movie isn’t reinventing the genre or anything, nor it super scary, but it has some fun twists and is very well written and fleshed out (no pun intended 🫠) ⭐️⭐️⭐️/4
Scotland - Hostile Dimensions
I should say here that I only watched movies I hadn’t already seen - and I’d already watched Death of a Vlogger and Incident at Loch Ness ages ago. So on to this obscure bit of sci-fi, and I gotta tell ya, it scratched right where I itched. I had to get out of the woods after the first two films, and I‘m a sucker for FF that isn’t about haunted places, cults, or murder. Filmmakers find a door that reveals a new dimension each time they open it. What’s on the other side is usually bad. Can they avoid getting stuck in one of these dimensions, and can they keep what’s on the other side from getting into ours? Fun stuff, doesn’t overstay its welcome. ⭐️⭐️⭐️/4
England - Exhibit A
Let’s face it, this movie is all about the journey and not the destination, because we pretty much know what the destination is going to be from the first five minutes. But this pops up on recommendation lists all the time for a reason. It’s very well acted. This is totally believable as a real family in a real neighborhood. The film is shot and sound edited in such a way that it feels like legitimate home video. There’s a very clever POV trick at about the midway point, and it adds to the visceral disquietude as we get to the climax. The subject material isn’t really my cuppa, but there’s no denying that this is a quality picture that stays with you afterwards. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/4
And that’s my Found Footage Tour of the UK! If you’ve seen any of these or have other recommendations, I’d love to hear your thoughts. I think I may head to the rest of Europe or maybe Asia next, so if you have any suggestions I’m all ears! Thanks for reading!