Are CDs really better than cassettes? As an ardent fan of mocumentary horror, I try to watch everything I find in this genre. It is clear that most of these films are shot at a fairly low level, but I am interested primarily in the plots. Therefore, film almanacs consisting of several stories are the most desirable spectacle for me. I could be wrong, but in my memory, the V/H/S franchise was for a long time the only collection of stories in the genre of “found film”. Fortunately, other similar collections, such as The Fear Cassette, have been published recently. And even though the quality of special effects in it is much worse than in the mentioned "V / H / S", but the plots themselves are just as original and interesting.
The film “Project Eerie” is also a collection of pseudo-documentaries, and from the director I mentioned “Cassettes of Fear”, which immediately suggests that in any case the spectacle will be interesting. In principle, it is. The film consists of four short stories. The main storyline tells the story of two brothers who from nothing to do climb to an abandoned secret base, steal the first disc there, then run away from security and watch it on a DVD player at home. This story is the shortest and the link between the other three. At the same time, it is the most illogical (I think that no one doubts that such bases are guarded so that even a mouse will not slip).
The first story tells about the father of the family, who together with his little daughter decides to take a ride to a forest camp with a lake. He records everything that happens on camera to show his wife, who is currently busy at work and can not be near them. The camp is somehow too deserted, and the road to the lake is blocked by a sign “The beach is closed for visiting”. I'd like to turn around and leave, but how can a loving father refuse a daughter who wants water so much? It’s about the importance of not breaking the rules. In fact, this is the most original plot of this collection, although there is a little less terrible than nothing. Well, it was very funny to watch the sweet relationship of the daughter and father, which is facilitated by a wonderful acting. The year of shooting is indicated as 1994, and the quality of the film is appropriate, therefore, the low quality of simple special effects, or rather makeup, is not so striking.
The following story tells about two hunters who, considering the recordings from the camera traps (special cameras that respond to movement, used to track animals) notice on one of them a dangerous criminal, who is wanted by the whole country. Without thinking twice, our heroes decide to rush to catch him, because for such prey surely relies on a good reward. To their trouble, in this forest there are things much worse than a fugitive criminal. The year of recording is 2004, and the quality of the film is much better than in the previous story. The acting here is good, but not the main point. The main focus here is on action and bloody scenes. The quality of special effects is quite weak, makeup is also not very good, and here it is more striking. In fact, the most dynamic plot, at the same time the most bloody. Despite the frankly weak special effects, in some moments you could even get a little scared. I liked this story more than the others.
The third story tells us about two guys who shoot videos with all sorts of paranormal for their show on YouTube. Usually they shoot all sorts of nonsense, but at one point they get a chance to capture something really creepy on film. The advantage of this plot is atmosphericity, which even catches up a little creepy. The downside, in addition to very bad makeup, there will be an insufficient explanation of what is happening. By the way, here the action takes place in 2014, and the quality of the video is close to modern.
In general, from the plot side, I liked this film collection. Maybe that’s because I’m an avid fan of this kind of painting. But the special effects and makeup here at a level below average, most likely, there is a lack of budget. Therefore, I cannot appreciate this film, although I will not call it very bad. By the way, there's another micro-episode about an umbrella killer that lasts 40 seconds at most, and I didn't know what it was or why. Maybe it's some kind of Easter egg or a reference to something.
5 out of 10