A year or so ago, a friend gave me a joke gift that consisted of a mostly empty DVD case of Friday the 13th Part 3 (in 3D!) with a pair of 3D glasses in it. I laughed, and immediately dug out my copy of Part 3 to watch a bit with the glasses – they worked fine, and I made a note to check it out again some day when I was actually in the mood to watch the film.
That hasn’t happened yet.
However, I did come across the box and glasses this past week and found myself wanting to watch something in 3D, something that might work with these glasses. I spent a bit of time digging through my collection, but just about everything that’s 3D related requires a special TV and glasses. Things I don’t have.
Then I remembered Found Footage 3D, a film on Shudder. Last time I watched this film I used an old pair of 3D glasses (from the WildC.A.T.S. vs X-Men 3D comic) taped to my regular glasses. Hopefully this pair works slightly better. Other than that, I didn’t really remember much about it.
The Medium
Found Footage 3D is a Shudder exclusive. There is a Blu-ray from Shudder and Magnolia releasing, which includes 2 commentary tracks, outtakes and deleted scenes. There are two versions of the Blu-ray and I’m not sure what the difference is. One version is under $6, though, and both come with the blue/red 3D glasses.
The Movie
A film crew making a found footage horror movie goes to a remote, supposedly haunted location. Falls afoul of real ghost/demon. Everybody dies. Your pretty standard found footage setup, really.
Only it’s in 3D!
Yeah, I know, it doesn’t make sense – found footage is supposed to be just that, video shot by the participants in the film. It’s kinda the schtick. Ain’t nobody taking a 3D film camera out into the woods for weekend. At least the filmmakers are self-aware enough to note this as part of the film.
It’s a very meta horror movie, with a lot of commentary on found footage and horror movies in general. Lots of pronouncements like “if you don’t have a good reason for them to still be carrying the camera in the third act, the whole thing falls apart.” It’s a little too smug about its meta-awareness for my taste, but it at least takes the time to build characters and relationships and doesn’t get too dodgy with the CGI. (That the CGI is usually on a small screen in the background probably helps with that.)
The 3D aspect is actually quite fun for a good chunk of the movie. Yeah, it doesn’t really make sense (whatever their excuse) to have them using 3D cameras, but once the illusion of depth on the screen kicks in you kinda give things a pass. It’s in 3D! Look, that hand is coming right out at you! And to be fair – that IS their excuse. That the gimmick itself is entertaining enough that audiences will give it a pass. And I did. For a while.
The biggest issue with 3D in a found footage horror movie is that when things are dark – and they’re always freakin’ dark in a horror movie – it becomes absolutely useless. You’re straining your eyes trying to pick out any glimpse of something that might possibly be in 3D – and when they go for the jump scare it’s so brief that, again, the 3D is useless. Whole swaths of Found Footage 3D was annoying for this reason.
What part of the above image is in 3D?
Additionally, the 3D is inconsistent. Sometimes objects in the extreme foreground were just surrounded by blue and red halos instead of being in 3D. Parts of other objects or people would have the red/blue missing in spots, leading to bright lines and halos (I thought I was getting a migraine for part of one scene). This might be down to the glasses I used – though they worked fine for many scenes – but I’m not sure what other options viewers might have. (Apparently Shudder sent out some glasses to a few people when it was initially released – I’m wondering if those offered a better quality experience.)
As for the film itself, it’s a slightly above average found footage horror movie. Its meta-awareness makes for some fun bits and allows it to sell some hoary found footage cliches that would otherwise cause you to groan. The final bit does get gloriously violent, but here again the limitations of the 3D format become apparent, because fast action does not translate well to a 3D experience. The sequence also goes on too long and, as a result, ends up feeling anticlimactic.
The Bottom Line
Found Footage 3D is to be commended for trying a couple of new things with the genre, not the least of which is using actual 3D. As a film, separate from the gimmick, it’s merely a bit above average, elevated mostly by its self-awareness, a sense of humor, and a decent cast.
