THE UPPER FOOTAGE — HORROR OR NOT?!
The Upper Footage is a found footage film written and directed by Justin Cole and released January 31, 2013.
The film revolves around a group of spoiled, rich, New York City kids who bring home a girl their age from a club who subsequently dies of an overdose in their apartment. The main focus of the film is the reaction of these kids to the death of a peer. At least two of kids want to go to the police and the other two are only concerned with getting rid of the girl’s body and not being sent to jail. What ensues is the total breakdown of all relationships involved.
By the end of the film another of the kids will be dead. The first half of the film is a little slow and we probably didn’t need as much build up but once Jackie dies things start moving. The characters were all despicable and the victim is completely pathetic. They spent the entire first half of the film being just as awful to one another as they are to Jackie. It is as if she is their play toy and not a person. These kids were a bunch of selfish, cruel, cokeheads who had too much money and time in their hands.
The film had a very 80s vibe to it and the kids honestly reminded me of the characters out of a Brett Easton Ellis novel. The Blake character specifically reminded me of James Spader‘s character in Less Than Zero. The film held my attention and I was eager to see how things wrapped up. I did enjoy the film and felt the story in combination with the found footage did have originality.
So is this film a horror film? I believe it is. I imagined myself in the place of one of the more sympathetic characters and when you do that this film becomes terrifying. And yes, this could happen and likely happens every day (Ed Note: Another peak in the world of LMHN). As for the marketing campaign that had people believing this was a real case that is nothing new. People thought The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity were real too (Ed Note: Never overestimate the intelligence of the average American audience). I am not sure if it is the found footage element or that people are just gullible. This film had one boob shot and no gore. This is more psychological horror– that is, if you think it is horror at all.
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