The found footage film has pretty much become its own
genre. Now with directors finding new
ways to present them in a clever way on film, even the veterans are getting in
on the action. In the case of “The Bay”
Barry Levinson who had a great run in the 80’s with “Diner”, “The Natural”, “Good
Morning, Vietnam”, and his winner for best picture in 1988’s “Rain Man” tries
his hand at this sub-genre of horror. His
films in the 90’s all the way to the present never quite caught on, except for
the underrated “Sleepers” in 1996. Now he’s
dipping his foot in the latest craze of films that all seem to be shot on Best
Buy cameras and iphones.
“The Bay” is a faux documentary that plays as “What the government
doesn’t want you to see” that also severs as a “We are destroying our
environment” statement. In the film a
rookie news reporter played by Kether Donohue his an apparent survivor of an ecological
horror that took out a Chesapeake Bay town in a single day. Something in the water starts to infect the
townspeople on 4th of July in 2009. What
follows is a series of clips pulled together showing the aftermath of this
outbreak as it affects cops, reporters, the C.D.C. and locals who are unaware
of this mutated parasite that’s using humans as hosts.
Over all its pretty good, there are some good scares, and
some decent gross-out moments. Though
there are times where it takes a bit too long to get to the point of a scene, I
get it’s supposed to feel real, but it doesn’t, as most of these found footage
films, when you see something unbelievable while it doesn’t automatically pull
you out, but it does remind you that you are watching a movie. There are clever bits, with police dash-cams
and the horrifying images of a town that could be yours with dead bodies just
strewn about, it gives a creepiness vibe that it’s going for. In the end what it did make me wish I was
watching was a Barry Levinson drama, but I can deal with an ok horror on late
night TV.
--Robert L. Castillo
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