The Fear Footage (2018)-A Found Footage Horror Anthology That Sets Out To Be Truly Scary and Succeeds- Fitz of Horror Review

Written by Bryan Fitzgerald (Fitz of Horror) May 28, 2018

Synopsis- On April 19th, 2016, Deputy Leo Cole of the Darkbluff, Maryland Sheriff’s Department vanished after being dispatched to 11628 Hangmanor Rd. The next morning his body camera was found.

From the moment I received the first email from writer/director Ricky Umberger up to this moment that I am writing this review, I have felt like every step of this process has all been part of the experience that he intended for me to have.

A simple email stating that he made a movie and wanted me to review it for him was strange enough because people usually message me directly through my Facebook page but it seemed like just another review request….until it showed up in the mail at my work.

As I opened the package with a few co-workers around I removed a very plain blu ray with super simplistic cover art and very minimal description about the film on the back. What stood out was the warning, “This video contains imagery that may psychologically affect you. Watch at your own risk”.

When I opened the case I found a neatly folded handwritten letter from the director with bloody fingerprints and very specific viewing instructions “Turn the lights off, Turn the volume up and expect nightmares”. Having seen countless horror movies it’s a rarity to actually be scared but this experience started to make me feel like I was IN one and that if I watched this movie I would die in seven days or some weird shit. Nonetheless, I followed his instructions and pressed PLAY.

First off, I wasn’t expecting an anthology so that was a bonus to start. The police officer’s body cam story is the wrap around story but also plays as its own distinct tale. As he is called to a house that just recently was demolished but has mysteriously reappeared out of nowhere, he enters the dark and creepy house and stumbles upon a VCR with a tape labeled “The Fear Footage”, of course he inserts the tape and presses play which leads to the first of five segments related to the VHS tape:

Birthday Party– A young boy and his video camera start to capture eerie footage of clowns outside of his home, and then inside.

Megan’s Bedroom– Actually takes place within the wraparound with the police officer reading a little girl’s very ominous diary and the warnings it contains.

Storm Chasers– When a team heads out to chase a storm, their night takes a very unexpected turn for the worse….Much worse.

Downstairs– Also taking place within the wrap around story, the officer begins to realize that something is very wrong with this house.

Speak No Evil– After hearing strange noises in the woods behind his home, a man sets out to prove to his girlfriend that he’s not crazy or on drugs, by documenting the strange sounds night after night. Day by day he discovers dark secrets about the woods making each night scarier than the last but when he hears a familiar voice in the woods he decides to take his flashlight and investigate, leading him to the shocking answer to what’s in the forest.

Fear Finale– The wraparound is expertly brought to a chilling conclusion with the officer facing his ultimate demise after finding himself trapped inside the house no matter how hard he tries to escape.

I feel like the director took a course on how to scare people and utilized everything he learned to unleash serious and well done fear on his viewers. He clearly set out to make a truly scary film and he succeeded on every level. The film is shot predominantly at night or in the dark adding to his expertly timed and perfectly executed scares. While he plays on our senses with some genuinely creepy jump scares he also caters to jaded horror fans by building to each moment via smartly crafted and well told stories.

As a horror fan that has seen hundreds of “scary” movies, THIS is the kind of film you look for, something unique, memorable and actually scary. “The Fear Footage” clearly didn’t have a big budget to work with but proves that you don’t need a huge budget to make a great horror movie. Rickey Umberger reminds me a lot of James Wan (Insidious, The Conjuring) whereas he knows exactly how to scare us and does so using unorthodox methods like seemingly innocent music, darkness and our own weaknesses against us to do so. I jumped a few times and I loved it!

I think a large part of the mystique of this film is that it’s very hard to find anything about it. No Facebook page, no IMDb page, no results in a Google search and absolutely nowhere to find a physical copy. It carries an heir of mystery that adds to the experience so if you can find a copy to watch be sure to follow the instructions and “turn the lights off, turn the volume up” and expect to be scared!

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