Director – Max Tzannes (12 Mill Road, Two Niner)
Starring – Brennan Keel Cook (Take the Night, Snowfall), Chen Tang (Mulan, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), and Erika Vetter (Stay Awhile, Only Murders in the Building)
Release Date – 2025
Rating – 3/5
A week or so ago I received the press release for the horror comedy Found Footage: The Making of the Patterson Project. I’m a huge fan of cryptids and I’m very familiar with the Patterson-Gimlin footage so I was very interested in the film. I was hesitant about requesting a screener link due to the fact that I typically don’t enjoy found footage flicks. However, after watching the trailer for the film I realized that it wasn’t going to be a found footage film. At least one in the traditional sense. I’m glad I took the chance because it was a lot of fun and one I was not expecting.
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows a documentary film crew that is following a low budget film crew as they make a found footage horror film inspired by the Patterson-Gimlin Footage. As the crew moves through securing the miniscule budget, casting mishaps, and location issues, they soon discover that the place they are filming their film is home to a dark presence that is unleashed when they opened the door to the room is was locked in. Small mishaps grow to disappearances and possession forcing them to fight for their lives. **Spoiler Alert**
Found Footage: The Making of the Patterson Project is not the film I was expecting and I’m honestly grateful for it. The movie starts out very slow and makes you wonder what the point of it is then it pick up the speed and delivers. While it will not be making the top of any year end lists, it was still fun for a first time watch.
The acting in this one is great and very consistent. The characters are not that memorable and are rather cliche but they deliver fantastic performances. With that being said, the film really needed a comedic character that carried the film especially during the first portion where the film is establishing itself. The story for this one starts out painfully slow, so much slow that it will deter many from finishing the film. It’s painfully mundane and dull. However, once the the film hits the last 30 minutes or so it becomes very interesting. Personally, I would have loved a bit more time spent on the characters so the slow leg of the film wouldn’t have been so dull.
Finally, the film has some fun make-up effects and a bigfoot costume that looks better than 90% of the horror films I’ve seen that features the cryptid. Sadly, it’s not a bloody or violent film so those of us looking for a lot of the red stuff will be very disappointed. Overall, Found Footage: The Making of the Patterson Project is a decent late act Evil Dead inspired horror flick that kind of misses the mark with the comedy. While I did enjoy it for what it was, it does fall short in a few categories. Regardless, it deserves a watch especially if you dig occult horror flicks.
