‘Found footage’ movies are all the rage in the horror genre. Ever since those crazy kids went off into the woods in ‘The Blair Witch Project’, movies presented as ‘reality’ (using the perspective of news footage, camcorders or security cameras) have scared the heck out of audiences worldwide thanks to franchises such as ‘Paranormal Activity’ and ‘Rec’. Recently, there have been plans to take the format to other genres, leading to this- the highly anticipated ‘found footage’ superhero movie, ‘Chronicle’.
Teenager Andrew (Dane DeHaan) is having a hard time navigating through life. Unpopular at school, and abused by his father at home, he begins to document his life through his video camera. Whilst at a warehouse rave, Andrew, his cousin Matt (Alex Russell) and two friends discover a glowing object outside the building, which they discover gives them telekinetic powers when they touch it. Initially using it for harmless pranks, they begin to learn that the powers they now possess must be controlled. Unfortunately, Andrew does not agree, and his bitterness towards the world turns him into an angry, violent force that threatens to destroy everything he touches.
The film is a surprise from beginning to end. In the horror genre, it’s a dirty secret that most found footage movies are made because they are cheap- little-to-no effect required, and the more anonymous the actors the better it is for that feeling of reality. However, the combination of impressive effects and a quite original story run through the film. It starts off as a quite normal teen angst story, then slowly builds into something that will be accessible to the masses, yet more intelligent that the average sci-fi/superhero movie. Granted, you’re never truly deceived into thinking what you’re seeing could be real (there’s a little too much Hollywood polish for that) but the story is so good that the ‘shaky camera’ effects often add to the sense that anything could happen.
While a lot of the cast’s job is to simply react to everything that’s going on, the four main teenagers are a likeable bunch. DeHaan keeps Andrew’s ‘outcast’ persona believable without delving into soap opera like clichés (indeed, you feel a pang of joy when his new powers get him a brief moment of High School popularity), and once he ‘goes dark’ he proves quite a menacing presence.
Whilst not a game changer, ‘Chronicle’ manages to take some very familiar sub-genres and mix them into something that is quite rare in modern movies- a story that you feel like you haven’t seen before. Director Josh Trank doesn’t force the ‘home made’ filming techniques or special effects down your throat, and as a result creates an interesting movie experiment.
'Chronicle' is in cinemas now.
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