We're All Going to the World's Fair

 "We're All Going to the World's Fair" (2021, Jane Schoenbrun, Love In Winter LLC, Dweck Productions, Flies Collective) is a found footage/online footage, coming-of-age film.

Casey (Anna Cobb) is an awkward, lonely teenager who decides to complete an online viral creepypasta style challenge called "The World's Fair" on her video streaming channel. She carries out the ritual-like instructions and then continues to film her experiences to see what happens. Over the course of the film, a mysterious man going by the name JLB (Michael J. Rogers) contacts her apparently concerned for her well-being. We also see flashes of other streamers' experiences after doing the challenge. Primarily, we only really see the online content of the characters, which is clearly intentional as part of the narrative. We never truly meet 'Casey' or 'JLB' outside of their virtual worlds so our opinions of them are based on very limited information.

Full disclosure; I'm not overly fond of found footage films in general. Occasionally, one will really stand out for me and grab my attention (see "Hell House LLC", 2015 or "Death of a Vlogger", 2020), but they're not "my thing" as a rule. I think if you are a big fan of that genre, or even enjoyed the more art-house off-key surrealist tone of films like "The lighthouse" (2019) you might get more out of this film than I did.

Overall, I found the disjointed storytelling style to be distracting and dull. The film is more of a drama than a horror (which certainly isn't a bad thing), although there are a couple of small nods to a possible body-horror story being in there somewhere. I personally find watching the awkward footage of Casey dancing and the girl with the fingernails mumbling "sshhh, sleep" to be uncomfortable to watch and overly long, and not in a way that would make the film interesting or cerebral. I just feel like I stumbled onto that part of TikTok where I'm too old to really get it and too young to be blissfully unaware of it. And, considering I've been on the internet since my early teens (circa 2003), I don't think that's actually the case here. 

But, that's more my problem than the film's and a more contemporary audience might find this style strikes a chord for them. The biggest issue I have with it is that I was bored and by the time we reached the 'twist' I'd already lost interest and was just feeling grateful that the run time was a nice, old fashioned 86 minutes. 

That being said, as a genre fan, it's delightful to see a film of this kind getting so much attention. There's certainly a hype around this film right now, and I truly hope it delivers for others where it failed for me. I can appreciate a likely candidate for future cult classic when I see one.

There's a message in there about not believing everything you see online, about cultivating your own online reality, the temporary nature of many internet relationships and about being careful online etc... but I found it be a bit garbled on first viewing and this isn't a film I'd choose to revisit. 

Definitely worth checking out but likely to be a 'marmite' viewing experience.

[Image: Love in Winter LLC, et al]

Hani

Dave Made a Maze

 "Dave Made a Maze" (2017, Bill Watterson, Gravitas Ventures, Butter Stories, Dave Made an LLC, Foton Pictures).

Annie (Meera Rohit Kumbhani) comes home from a weekend away to find a large cardboard thing in her livingroom. To make things weirder, the large cardboard thing contains her boyfriend, Dave (Nick Thune). Dave warns Annie not to enter his 'maze' for fear of getting lost and explains that he has been trapped within his cardboard creation for the full duration of Annie's trip. When Annie attempts to lift the maze to reveal Dave, Dave yells out and Annie decides to heed his warning. Confused, Annie seeks help from their friend, Gordon (Adam Busch), who then seeks the help of; Harry (James Urbaniak) and his film crew (Frank Caeti and Scott Narver), Leonnard (Scott Krinsky), Brynn (Stephanie Allynne), Greg (Tin Nordwind) and Jane (Kirsten Vangsness). Because that's not enough people to ponder this cardboard conundrum, they also bring over a local homeless man (Rick Overton) and two Flemish tourists (Drew Knigga and Kamilla Alnes).

After some pizza and a lot of pondering, the party decide to enter the cardboard maze. To their surprise, they discover that Dave was not lying and that the inside of the maze is much greater than its exterior looks. To their utter surprise, however, it soon becomes apparent that this maze has a mind of its own and that the maze's cardboard inhabitants may actually be dangerous. Can they find Dave and exit this maze or will they all meet a cardboardy doom?

A fantastically creative piece from the concept to the set design, to the characters. This film is so hard to put into any particular category. It really has to be experienced, to believe. The maze is a wonderfully inventive and sometimes creepy idea. It has an almost nostalgic feel to it. Like the cardboard equivalent of a Henson production. 

The cast deliver an excellent off the wall performance that fits the film so well, in it's otherworldliness. It was nice to see Adam Busch as a familiar face, and Meera Rohit Kumbhani is excellent as Annie. 

The film is not without its dark sides and we experience a surprisingly poignant reflection on serial project abandoner, Dave, and his relationship with his friends, Annie and also with himself. 

At 80 minutes, the film does not overstay its welcome and its sheer inventiveness keeps you engaged as a viewer. A genuine delight that is so worth checking out. You can't know entering the maze whether it's your thing or not. You just have to go in and find out.

Currently streaming on the Arrow Player and available to purchase elsewhere.

[Image: Dave Made an LLC, et al]

Hani

I Trapped the Devil

"I Trapped the Devil" (2019, Josh Lobo, IFC Midnight, Scream Factory) is an indie suspense horror about a man who believes he has the devil trapped in his basement.

Steve (Scott Poythress) is a paranoid man living alone. When his brother, Matt (AJ Bowen) and sister-in-law Karen (Susan Burke), unexpectedly show up to spend Christmas with him, he announces that he has captured the devil and imprisoned him in his basement. His brother and sister-in-law become increasingly concerned by Steve's erratic behaviour and the fact that they can hear someone trapped in the eerily lit darkroom/basement.

A very slow burning film where very little happens until the finale. The pacing was too slow for me and I found the plot did not have enough to it to fill the full run time. The characters seemed to behave somewhat illogically, which could be explained for the main character, Steve, where we are supposed to be on the fence about his sanity, but all of the characters were distractedly odd.

It does enjoy some moments of dread and an overall grim feeling with some cheerfully poignant Christmas lights, but overall I found the film a bit tedious.

[Image: IFC Midnight, et al]

Hani

The Night Watchmen

"The Night Watchmen" (2017, Mitchell Altieri, Contender Films, Indie Entertainment, Studio BOH) is about a vampire outbreak in an office block all started by the miss-delivered corpse of a famous clown....

Ken (Ken Arnold), Jiggetts (Kevin Jiggetts) and Luca (Dan DeLuca) are night security guards for a large office block. They are joined by a new rookie (Max Gray Wilbur) for his first day on the job.

Aside from oogling Karen (Kara Luiz) on the monitors and consistently forgetting to acknowledge Penny (Diona Reasonover), the guys' job seems to pretty much consist of playing cards and eating. That is, until they receive the unusual delivery of a coffin by mistake containing a deceased, famous clown. Unfortunately, the dead clown doesn't stay that way for long and swiftly fills the building with a horde of ferocious vampires!

An epic battle ensues, but can our unlikely heroes actually save the day?

A fun film with a so-bad-it's-good vibe that really hits the mark. The banter between the characters, who were surprisingly well-rounded considering the genre, is entertaining and the action is gory, silly and well paced. The film is a perfect party movie, not overstaying its welcome and containing angry, zombie-esque vampire clowns.

Definitely worth a shot.

[Image: Contender Films, et al]

Hani

Order of the Ram (2013)

"Order of the Ram" (2013, Scott Lyus, Crossroad Pictures, Posh Dinosaur Productions) is a short Satanic cult film from young UK based director, Scott Lyus.

Clocking in at just over 15 minutes this film demonstrates Lyus' potential to create a much longer piece, although it does suffer from some flaws.

Mary (May Kaspar) is a young college student who spends most of her time alone. We're introduced to her in a normal morning as we follow her about her day. The camera work is interesting here with a focus mainly set on Mary, fuzzing out the background slightly so that the audience are drawn to her as the protagonist.

Mary is also apparently a keen nature photographer, a hobby that is destined to put her into an awkward and life threatening situation when she is cornered by the Order of the Ram (a local Satanic cult led by Mother (Danni Scott-White)) who have taken a disturbingly keen interest in Mary.

The Order are convinced that Mary is the ultimate sacrifice required to bring forth Satan, their lord and master. And like all cults, they plan to do just that...

A slow burning film which uses a lot of really nice camera work and a score reminiscent of Hammer Satanic classic B-movies such as "The Devil Rides Out" to tell a story of a lonely girl who becomes entangled in a terrible situation.

The wooded setting is well placed with some nice finishing touches including some wildlife for Mary to photograph.

The approach of Mary in the woods by her captor is successfully menacing. Unfortunately the menace ends here. The subsequent scenes, where the real horror starts, is tarnished slightly by some hollow acting from our cult leader, Mother, who has the most dialogue in the film.

Mary also doesn't give a completely convincing impression of being terrified or putting up much of a fight which takes away from what could have been a very effective scene.

The male teacher, however, plays a really quite creepy character without having to do or say much. He looks completely too happy to be there!

The ending also leaves a feeling of wanting further development. Although a longer feature could focus on what the Order do if they are unsuccessful in achieving their ultimate goal, considering the act it took to find out.... It is abrupt, but it works.

All in all a watchable piece with great potential and very promising for future works with a bigger budget from Mr Lyus.

Catch the film's teaser trailer here: http://youtu.be/vQRYA8SAlRw

[Image: Crossroad Pictures]

Hani