Obviously inspired by "The Blair Witch Project", "They're Watching" does manage to bring in a few fresh elements that help it to be its own movie instead of a blatant rip-off. The Moldavian backdrop does give the movie a unique feel and look, for starters. Also, the acting is pretty good for the most part, making the characters pretty believable. The cast also brings in some low-key humor that is amusing while at the same time coming across as realistic instead of forced.However, despite those aforementioned good elements, the movie doesn't really work. The main problem with it is that it's much too slow-moving and padded out for its own good. Yes, time should be devoted to set up the situation and the characters, but the movie takes way too long with this. After a while, you'll be impatient and snapping at the movie to simply get on with it. If you are really patient, you'll be eventually rewarded with a somewhat wild climax, but I don't think it's enough compensation for the slow and dreary time that unfolded just before it, especially since the special effects in this sequences are kind of cheesy at times.This is definitely not the worst "found footage" movie that's out there - there are some good things in it - but you'll see that it could have been a great deal better than it actually is.

The American artist Becky Westlake (Brigid Brannagh) buys a derelict house in the countryside of the remote Moldova in the Eastern Europe to work with ceramics and to live with her boyfriend, the football player Goran Potsnik (Cristian Balint). Six months later, the American producer Kate Banks (Carrie Genzel) and her crew consisting of the cameraman Alex Torini (Kris Lemche), the audio operator Greg Abernathy (David Alpay) and newly hired assistant Sarah Ellroy (Mia Faith) arrive in Moldova. The local real estate agent Vladimir Filat (Dimitri Diatchenko) guides the group to Becky's house and they schedule the shooting. Meanwhile, Greg, Alex and Sarah do not respect the residents and they film everywhere, including a funeral, irritating the locals. On the night before the final shooting, they go to a bar to drink with the locals to make peace. However, Sarah is drunk and shouts "witch" to Kate and they need to flee to the hotel. On the next morning, they go to Becky's house and their van is completely destroyed and they are stranded in her house. Further, Vladimir was killed while seeking for help and during the night, they discover that they are under siege of the villagers. What will happen to them?"They're Watching" is another awful horror film in this dreadful and lame found footage genre. The story, screenplay and edition are also terrible, with stereotyped characters and senseless plot point. Americans are arrogant, disrespectful and stupid; locals are underdeveloped and superstitious; and the lead character is a powerful witch without any explanation. My vote is three.Title (Brazil): Not Available

'They're Watching' is a very strange viewing experience. It's almost impossible to fully understand what I mean by this without having seen the film yourself, but it's the tone that is utterly bizarre. The film shows immense patience for the first 98% of the run time and then just completely unleashes everything it has in the final 2%. The good news is that both sides of the coin are done well. The build-up is great and handled with class and then the conclusion gives the film some X-factor and memorability.It's a found footage film, which despite copping a lot of flack, is still a very effective film-making method, allowing directors to create a very realistic feel in their films. The cast is unknown (at least to me) and yet perform well with a lot of charisma and chemistry. The story is slow-burning, but more than creepy enough to keep the audience on edge and and knowing that more is going on than meets the eye. The twist at the end is the icing on the cake and tops off a fine horror film very nicely.

I liked the trailer of the movie (which reminded me a little bit of Borat's misadventures in Kazakhstan), and decided to give it a chance. If you like a comedy horror with smart jokes and not just mindless killing, you will LOVE this movie. The script is cleverly written, with a funny story, that gave me so many laughs. Actors are unknown to me, but they did an amazing job portraying their characters. Even the "villagers" looked credible in their roles. The movie was shoot in Moldova so you will be able to see some authentic Eastern European scenery. Don't take the movie too seriously and you will have a great time watching it. I give it a well-deserved 9 star rating.