It’s hard to believe now, but in 2008 ‘found footage’ movies were still all the rage thanks to the lingering influence of The Blair Witch Project and phone camera’s still mainly being for decoration. Home Movie is typical of the genre but was no doubt over shadowed by the infinitely more successful Paranormal Activity and Cloverfield (released around 2007 – 2009), relegating this little nugget to a straight to DVD release. But does it deserve its relative obscurity, or has this video nasty been unfairly left on the shelf?
We start the movie with the madcap adventures of the Poe family, recently moved into an isolated farmhouse in upstate New York. There’s cool mom and psychologist Clare (Cady McClain) and whacky, whacky Christian Pastor dad David (Adrian Pasdar) and their two cute yet morose and almost completely mute children, Jack and Emily (Austin and Amber Joy Williams). Clare and David are super goofy, David in particular lays it on thick recording a variety of jokes and japes on a giggling Clare while twins Jack and Emily stare on unmoved, with unwavering murderous intent and quite honestly with those parents, I can’t totally blame them. David and Clare don’t seem to notice their children’s bloodlust initially, as various incidents with animals go largely unpunished, including a gruesome end to the family cat. Psychologist Clare begins to document the kids’ behaviours (after all we’re reminded, that’s why they have the camera) and recommends heavy medication to remedy their increasingly violent behaviour, whilst dad David turns to more supernatural explanations, conducting an impromptu exorcism and descending into alcohol fuelled rages to banish whatever presence has the kids under it’s evil influence. As the year progresses
however, we see the once idyllic life of the Poe’s come crashing down around them, while the children plan a reckoning that will leave David and Clare fighting for their lives against their psychotic progenies.
… found footage fan’s don’t expect the bells and whistles of a Hollywood movie, but Home Movie feels stripped back even further – there’s 5 actors total in the film, three of whom are children and there’s only one location and some car shots, so it’s very compact. It also feels dated in a way only found footage films can –
Home Movie is the directorial debut of Christopher Denham, a successful actor in his own right and he manages to hit all the expected notes throughout the film, with a few eerie set pieces involving the kids on the rampage. Pacing struggles throughout the film, with the inevitable downfall of the Poe’s happy existence stretching out over quite a few occasions (Halloween, Christmas, Valentines Day, Easter) and while I appreciate that these were times when a camcorder would traditionally be used, as opposed to it being constantly in use like ‘Paranormal Activity’ it does beg the question of what happened in between the harrowing events, what does the daily minutia of this family breakdown look like and why are we not
offered that view? The film has an annoying habit of jumping away from the traumatic events (such as the aforementioned dispatch of the cat) rather than showing the aftermath – what did the kids say when you asked them what happened? Were the parents angry? Have the kids always been like this? Why aren’t you running in the opposite direction of those kids, very quickly? All of this is brushed over with little mention other than David and Clare’s increasing worried faces – one instance has them discover something gruesome at Christmas and they still appear to be fighting about it on Valentine’s Day as if it happened the day before. A better paced movie might have seen a quicker decline, over a week or two, as opposed to 6 or 7 months.
One thing this movie isn’t afraid of is making these kids proper little monsters – they are sullen and silent, they only speak twice in the movie, once in their own secret twin language (which, even in gobblegook, it’s obvious to everyone they are planning their parents demise, with the exception of their doting parents). There are inferences of incest, animal abuse and ritualistic killing, self-harming and premeditated murder before the parents finally try and get them some medication. I did wonder if they would put a supernatural spin on it – were they possessed, was there a demon or ghost in the house, are they the hosts for evil aliens? It piques the interest that this is never properly explained, although there is a moment where David asks his daughter if there is something evil in the house and she slowly nods before being interrupted and for the want of a better explanation, she seems to be referring to herself and her brother. Again, though we’re on familiar territory here – not found footage but The Children was released in 2008 and it sees an air born virus turn ordinary children into psychopathic killers – not applicable in this case given the kids lengthy campaign, working their way up to their parents. There’s a brief foray into the historical abuse of their father David, making Clare suspicious, but the kids have shown themselves to be awful terrors by this stage, so it’s little more than a diversion.
The final 15 minutes of the movie turns the camera on Clare and David as the kids introduce themselves and encourages us to keep watching ‘their movie’, a little twist meaning we’ve been watching the kids film the whole time, not their tortured parents. The finale is a bit frustrating and maybe that’s because I’m watching with old and jaded 2023 eyes, but I was rolling them hard as the credits started.
Traditionally low budget, found footage fan’s don’t expect the bells and whistles of a Hollywood movie, but Home Movie feels stripped back even further – there’s 5 actors total in the film, three of whom are children and there’s only one location and some car shots, so it’s very compact. It also feels dated in a way only found footage films can – the ‘realism’ in this genre can itself be nostalgia and how we interact with cameras has changed, so David hamming it up because the camera is on becomes very grating rather than cute. Clare’s video diaries and David’s spiral into alcoholism also feels forced, with both of them talking to the camera, it’s capacity as a ‘confessional’ for their characters doesn’t work as well here
as it may have done in Blair Witch (they were filming for a documentary, these guys are just talking to the camera). Note that the films more successful found footage contemporaries don’t do this despite always having a camera filming, maybe this is part of the secret to their success.
Home Movie has the right recipe for a found footage horror classic – it’s a shame that it’s a bit half baked. Watch in a double bill with The Children and be either glad you didn’t procreate, or forever live in fear of the little blighters.
Home Movie (2008) is available to stream on Shudder [UK]
