Sunday, February 16, 2014

THE BLACK WATER VAMPIRE (2014) Review

       Being a proponent of found footage films, I am always looking for that diamond in the rough, that one that you can shove into the faces of all the subgenre haters in hopes to sway their opinions. That’s exactly what I was hoping for when I sat down to watch The Black Water Vampire. Once again, my beloved found footage brethren have let me down. The first two thirds of the film are so tedious and drawn out, it’s like the writer had nothing written except for the ending, and just decided to wing it until then. That might make you believe that maybe the final third of the film was worth sitting through the prior right? Unfortunately you would be wrong.
     
       We start with the found footage clichés right from the beginning; we are shown police footage of a crime scene where a young girl’s body is found after she had been missing for two weeks. We soon find out that this is not a new incident for the town of Black Water, West Virginia. Over the last forty years, four women have been found dead in the woods, all of whom presumed murdered by a man named Raymond Banks.
     
       Documentarian Danielle Mason decides to investigate the killings and brings a crew of three to help her in her
journey. Danielle believes Banks is innocent and wants to prove that something more sinister is in the woods killing these young women.
     
       Usually when horror films like this start out slow, there are two general reasons: one is that the writer and director are looking to get their audience invested in their characters, or two, the writer is not very good and the director leans on the found footage aspect to carry the film to the climax. It’s pretty evident from the get-go that The Black Water Vampire falls victim to the second scenario. From the over-use of the classic jump scares, to the very familiar tent shaking and noises coming from just beyond eyesight, we aren't presented with anything new to the genre.
   
        Unfortunately it’s time to throw this lackluster found footage entry into the disappointing pile that horror fans are starting to watch grow at an overwhelming rate. Can someone please help save this dying subgenre that was once so unique and thrilling? Looks like we are going to have to wait until the next one with crossed fingers and pray that it’s not as poorly made and cliché ridden as The Black Water Vampire.

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