Shot by Me, Cut by Me, Music by Me, Murder by Me, Now Watch Me!
I must start this review by saying that I am actually a fan of the found footage genre and the home invasion genre, I have seen many over the years and i'm glad I recieved this one to review as it's right up my shaky camera alley!
An intruder breaks into the home of an unsuspecting family in order to make a home made murder film. That right there is the basic premise of the movie, however it offers alot more in terms of originality and clever camera work than you would actually be led on to believe. When I first read the synopsis I was expecting a strange mixture of Funny Games, Paranormal Activity, The Blair Witch Project, The Purge and the like. and you would be forgiven for thinking the exact same thing. However this movie adds more creeps, tension, clever editing and back story than some of the others in the over crowded found footage genre.
I cannot delve too deeply into the plot of this movie without giving away alot of it's little surprises, but I will say that the story holds up, admittedly at times a little on the "how is that possible" or "how come they don't see him standing there" but then again alot of found footage movies have the exact same issues, it's just part and parcel of the making of these types of movies, by showing too much people insult it, by showing too little people insult it you can't win, but this movie does tend to hold up very strong without any gaping flaws.
A thing that may split opinion on this movie is the jump cuts back and forth through a selected time period, I personally believe it is effective, it adds alot more to the understanding of what is going on, I praise it for that and for doing something different to delve more into character development. The thing that stood out to me the most upon watching this movie is the very clever lighting and camera angles, the found footage genre is very unforgiving on artistic measures like this, but within this dark twisted world of The Black Tape Killer it really does work. I won't give it away but the way the sex scene is handled is a masterstroke of clever lighting genius.
The movie is shot from the point of view of the killer (they are making their own murder movie of course), and this is one of the things that makes this movie stand out above alot of others. The only time a main character picks up a camera (shaky of course, those pesky non-killer amateurs) is to give you a set up to not only a creepy nightvision sequence but also a jump that literally made me leap off my chair (even tho in hindsignt it was obvious it was coming but damn it was effective).
I am aware that my review of this movie sounds a bit kiss arsey in tone, and there is a reason for that, i frickin' loved it! It's hard for me to find fault with a movie that has entertained me, made me jump and added something new to an already over cluttered genre. It sparks a fresh breath of life into the found footage genre, and gives it a much needed kick up the butt. My worry is this movie will get buried beneath a pile of below par movies and won't be given it's chance to shine. If you are going in expecting the greatest movie ever made, the biggest budget, Oscar worthy performances, then you will be disappointed. However if you are a found footage fan and home invasion fan you could do a hell of alot worse (and trust me I know, i've seen them!)
So there we have it, a fun frolic through the darkest innermost thoughts and sights of The Black Tape Killer, a movie that I hope will get the attention it deserves and will be remembered for years to come. If there is one flaw I could find about the movie it's that it's too short! Well it's not short it's movie length (92 Minutes) but it speeds along nicely and before you know it it's all over, back to reality. I demand a sequel!