Who knew there was still some life left in the horror cam genre?
Surely, thrillers like “The Blair Witch Project,” “Quarantine,” “Cloverfield” and “Diary of the Dead” drained all the blood out of the concept.
Along comes “Home Movie” and the genre feels reborn. Just don’t ask too many questions about why people in extreme peril feel compelled to keep on filming.
“Home Movie” stars Adrian Pasdar (“Heroes”) as David Poe, a Lutheran pastor who loves his camcorder even more than his picture postcard family. So he tapes nearly every event in their lives, from Halloween parties to Easter egg hunts. What we see are snippets from his camcorder footage, so nearly every shot is from David’s perspective.
He’s goofy, but in that way dads can be when they’re thoroughly dedicated to their brood. It wears well, and Pasdar is convincing as the smitten pappy.
Trouble is, something’s seriously wrong with his offspring.
David’s kids barely speak a word. And they quietly do awful things, like throwing rocks at their father and croaking a toad by squashing it in a vise grip.
And don’t ask how they treat the family pets.
Naturally, the children’s behavior grows more bizarre with every film snippet, and even David’s counselor wife (Cady McClain) doesn’t know what to do.
Let’s start with “Home Movie’s” flaws, and they’re not inconsequential. The POV format requires a heady suspension of disbelief, and that’s equally true here. And the kids are so uniformly creepy from the opening sequence that it’s a miracle the parents didn’t immediately request professional help.
But “Home Movie’s” principals deliver realistic performances that add to the “fly on the wall” atmosphere. David’s cornball jokes and bad accents give us the feeling he’s just a regular ol’ soccer dad in way over his head.
The child actors (real life siblings Amber Joy and Austin Williams) deliver singular creepy turns that never steal from the frightening kid images we’ve seen too often lately.
“Home Movie” doesn’t rely on gore, cheap scares or a throbbing soundtrack to make audiences uneasy. All it needs is a video camera and the fear that our children don’t always grow up the way we expect.
NOTE: “Home Movie” can be seen via IFC’s video on demand service available on Cox, Cablevision, Brighthouse, Time Warner, Insight and Charter cable setups.
(Photo: Adrian Pasdar plays a camcorder loving father of two in the horror indie “Home Movie.”)
Related posts:
on 
on 
on 
on 
