While their parents recover in hospital from a mystery illness, siblings, Iris and Lucas, must confront a series of strange happenings in their home. Is it a sense of paranoia between the two, or are they sharing the house with something more sinister? Following the release of Shudder exclusive Host in 2020, a Zoom based found footage movie, pandemic horror seemed like it could be the next go-to subgenre for horror. However, there have been few and far between since (the Host team returned in 2022 with the controversial DASHCAM, which also had the pandemic as a feature). Step forward Jacob Aaron Estes with He’s Watching, an LA-based home invasion-style found footage.
Working with family members and neighbours to convey the impact of the outbreak on their local area … adds to the foreboding sense of helplessness of the main characters predicament rather nicely
Siblings Iris and Lucas Estes (playing themselves) are stuck at home while their parents recover from a mystery illness that has so far killed more than 662,000 people. As they document their time at home to share with their parents upon their return, a series of odd occurrences begin. Household items found in strange formations lying around the house, someone in the background of shots, records playing on their own, the usual found footage fare. This leads to Iris and Lucas becoming increasingly wary of each other, one blaming the other for the spooky happenings, and vice-versa.
This plays fairly well, but it is in the second act when it becomes apparent that neither of the kids is involved in these happenings – a section that sees He’s Watching at its best. The veil of paranoia slips, and the kids realize they could in fact be in for a fight for their lives. The low thrum of a haunting score plays throughout which constantly unnerves and is enhanced by unsettling imagery, none more so than a scene involving a regularly featured skylight. Add to this the “Closet Creeper”, an entity which has taken to filming both children, and dons a particularly disturbing mask – the scares slowly ramp up. The third act, however, falls flat and becomes muddled to the point that I was quite confused about the endgame and what was actually going on. Never a good way to leave an audience member.
Estes’ movie is aided admirably by his ability to make the most of lockdown limitations. Using his own kids works extremely well, as Iris and Lucas more than hold their own without becoming annoying. Working with family members and neighbours to convey the impact of the outbreak on their local area, with numerous corpses sprouting up on the occasions Lucas and Iris venture outside adds to the foreboding sense of helplessness of the main character’s predicament rather nicely. Add some wonderful shots of deserted pools, parks and freeways to elevate this beyond the generic genre fare.
Fans of the subgenre will lap this up. There is none of the usual jump-scares involved, but plenty of fear-inducing moments to keep you invested. And, despite a less-than-satisfactory ending, it is a more than worthy addition to the evergreen found footage catalogue of terror.
Blue Finch Film Releasing presents He’s Watching on Digital Download 17 October
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He’s Watching
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