A filmmaker puts together a bunch of old tapes he found in a basement that belonged to two students and does a documentary on them and their research on an urban legend called Peeping Tom.
Erik Kristopher Myers writes, directs, and takes to the next level a “found footage” horror on a story that we have watched before, but he is doing it his way. As the late Wes Craven did in 1996 with Scream, Myers puts under the microscope and questions the cinematic taboos that regulate the subgenre:
- Using handheld shots, he avoids and criticises the nauseous, shaky camera.
- He shows an understanding and endorses the public’s reaction towards something they don’t understand by doing what Doubting Thomas did in the Bible.
- He somehow manages to market his film on IMDb as a documentary/horror with certain characters portraying allegedly themselves.
- He adds extra layers and depth by jumping on board himself and making a film on a documentary that researches a documentary on a student project (very Inception).
- Last but not least, he interviews Matt Lake and Eduardo Sanchez, authors of Weird Maryland and writer/director of Blair Witch Project, respectively, deconstructing the “found footage” and urban legends.
Don’t try straight away to focus on or attack its originality. Romantic comedies (which I find appalling) are all more or less the same, but people watch them. “Slasher” horrors have been out there for many more decades than the “found footage” ones, yet people still watch them. And still, “alien” films dominate the sci-fi genre. Anyway, you get the gist.
Is Butterfly Kisses flawless? Definitely not. Has Myers utilised his nano-budget in the best possible way? Definitely yes. Also, “Blink Man” doesn’t make it to the level of other urban legends such as “Candyman”, “Boogeyman” or “Babadook” for example. All three of them have a decent budget and distribution, and we can only hope that Myers starts something that will get noticed by the right people who will hire him to scare the s%!% out of us in the future.
Orson Wells (on the radio), Dean Alioto, Eduardo Sanchez, and Oren Peli… all of them have offered and contributed to the “found footage” horror their way. Erik Kristopher Myers takes the torch now, and I, for one, look forward to watching his next film.
P.S. Panasonic DVX 100 was also the camera I used in 2005 as a cameraman.
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Solidarity for all the innocent lives who suffer the atrocities of war!
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