The one thing that sets The Blair Witch Project apart from its imitators, sequels, and pretty much the entirety of the found footage canon is that at no point during the film does anything expressly supernatural occur. While it’s not the most fun reading, once could make a reasonable case that the trio of doomed filmmakers just fell victim to a bunch of violent backwoods pranksters. While this purposeful ambiguity might not play as well in the current post-Paranormal Activity landscape, it is ultimately what gave the film both its immediate and lasting impact: namely that what we’re seeing really does feel like a random video that someone found and presented with minimal context.
In the years since, the films under the ‘Found Footage’ umbrella have tended to lean more toward the “footage” aspect than the “found.” The narrative focus shies away from idea that the canonical camera operators fell upon some unknowable terror and managed to capture some of it on their recording device of choice, and instead just uses the found footage framing as a way to construct a shrieky, shocking horror flick. This is neither an inherently good or bad thing — it all depends on the final product. Even so, it seems like the dreadful feeling that The Blair Witch Project captured can never again exist outside of a literal snuff film. It’s a one-and-done trick, pulled once and pulled well, only to be riffed upon and sequelized for decades after.
Enter The Outwaters, a deeply horrifying, profoundly upsetting found footage flick that captures that very same doomed feeling, while also leaning expressly into the supernatural. It really feels like a tape (or in this case, a series of memory cards), found by a third party, that depicts the final days of a group of wildly unfortunate filmmakers. Even with a wealth of paranormal supernaturalia, the verisimilitude of the footage is not at all hindered by gimmickry. The Outwaters is a complete shattering of cinematic reality made to feel 100% real. It’s nearly indescribable, and it has the potential to scare viewers down to their very core.
Impossible, I know, but at the end of the film I felt like I was wearing entirely different flesh.
The film opens with a 911 call that sounds…otherworldly. Screams are distorted in inhuman ways while a frustrated operator tries to make sense of the cacophony. This audio backs a series of title cards showing the faces and stats (birthday/last seen) of those involved. We then see the contents of each “found” memory card, presented without further description.
The footage follows a crew of artists into the Mojave Desert where they plan to shoot a music video. Two young men and two young women joyfully creating something new together. Their friendships feel real, and their working relationship is admirable. They explore the region, set up camp, and begin gathering shots for their project. A few unsettling phenomena occur here and there, but nothing that feels outright dangerous. Just those little oddities that manifest when you have to spend some time in a new, foreign place.
But soon, said phenomena takes a new shape.
The less said the better, and what gives this film its unique ability to terrify is the way that it avoids any explicit explanation as to what is occurring. The imagery is gut-wrenching and foul, creating a true shock to the system. The sickness and confusion experienced by those on screen is shared wholly with the viewer. Their fear is ours as well. When The Outwaters came to a close, I was left with the feeling that I just watched something I was not supposed to see — like I just watched something not just illegal, but too dangerous to even exist in our world.
The Outwaters, for the first time since The Blair Witch Project, marks a sea change for a subgenre that, for two decades now, has only undergone small mutations. This time around the form has been altered in a fundamental way. There will be imitators, many of whom will be successful and scary, but when we look back at the genre in a few year’s time, The Outwaters will be the title that receives a bullet point. It’s that good. And even if you hate it, you will be shaken to the core nonetheless. We’re only a few days into 2023 and this is already the one to beat. It’s the best horror movie since It Follows. It’s the best found footage movie since The Blair Witch Project. It’s not just one of the scariest movies of recent memory — It’s one of the scariest movies ever made.
You will not be okay.
The Outwaters opens theatrically on February 17th
Directed by Robbie Banfitch
Written by Robbie Banfitch
Starring Robbie Banfitch, Angela Basolis, Scott Schamell, Michelle May
Not rated, 100 minutes
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