Director(s) – Dann Eudy, Jack Hunter II (Paranoia Tapes, Get Masked!), and Jeff Roberts
Starring – Jeff Kirkendall (Bigfoot vs. Zombies, Sharkenstein), Jack Hunter II, and Jeff Roberts (Camp Ground, The Elp: A Creature of Legend)
Release Date – 2022
Rating – 1.5/5
I always feel the need to lead every review with a disclaimer that found footage flicks are not my cup of tea. I’ve seen a handful that I actually liked but most of the time they are a serious struggle to finish. The dialogue, the shaky camera effect, the lack of visibility, and most situations just don’t work for me. They feel like movies made on the fly with no real thought or imagination put into it. I get the appeal the sub-genre has on people but I’m a fan of trash cinema and oddball horror. As much as I want to like found footage I can’t.
A few weeks ago Jack Hunter emailed me to review his newest film Blamed which happened to be a found footage flick. While I’m not a big fan of found footage flicks I’ve still found a few that was a lot of fun and had hopes this one would be another one to add to the list. I had never seen one of his films before, so I was actually very curious about it. I agreed to check it out and I want to thank him for allowing Horror Society the opportunity to check it out.
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows a man who is suspected of murdering several children in the area. However, due to a technicality he is able to walk away from the heinous crimes. While another child is currently missing, someone has taken the law into their own hands. They abduct the suspected killer and his lawyer with plans to torture them live on camera. **Spoiler Alert**
I went into Blamed with an open mind in hopes that my first Jack Hunter flick would be another decent found footage films that I could recommend to genre fans. Sadly, this one reminded me of so many other found footage films that I’ve seen over the decades. I can see dedicate fans of found footage getting into this one, especially with the story we are given, but for those that are on the fence about the sub-genre will not find the entertainment they are looking for.
The acting in this one is exactly as you would expect from an indie found footage film. The performances feel forced at times and during the torture scenes I found their reactions to be unnatural. If someone had me tied to a chair and wishing to do me harm I could damn sure bet I wouldn’t be acting as calm as they were. I don’t feel the fear, pain, and desperation that you normally would when watching a film with similar stories.
The story for this one is made for found footage. It is a wonderful set up for what could be one hell of a brutal found footage film. Almost like Dexter but for a modern age where streaming and going live on social media is so wildly popular. However, the film fails to really gain any traction with the story. It focuses way too much attention on faux news coverage and the random footage of the crime scenes that doesn’t really progress the story further. It’s a way to extent the films run time but is a waste of time. We then make it the meat and potatoes of the film but you are so ready to turn off by this point that you don’t really have the patience to enjoy it. The child murderers getting their just does should have been the high point of the film with a lot of emotion, violence, and action.
Finally, the film has some blood but these scenes are not as affective as they should have been. The lack of emotion and memorable effects makes it feel like it was not meant to be a feature length film. Overall, Blamed is not for me but I do like the premise it has. I could really get behind a film that fully explored this set up but it just doesn’t work for me as a found footage film.
