The found footage film continues to be the go-to-guy when it comes to low budget horror film-making. A lot of people are fed up with the sub-genre and it is easy to understand why as, aside from the shaky-cam being capable of inducing headaches, there is also a certain over-familiarity about a lot of them. I consider myself to be fairly forgiving of these types of films myself though and do think the general set-up is one which can result in effectively sinister films when approached correctly. It would probably be fair to describe Apocalyptic as a bit of a mixed bag though. As it never escapes from a certain predictability inherent in found footage and does wind up with the kind of ending that an awful lot in this genre have. But it was still nevertheless a film which was successfully creepy and did keep me interested. Set in Australia, the story has documentary film-makers travel deep into the country to meet up with a religious cult to make a film about them. As could be predicted, these people prove to be very strange and some troubling events follow.As is common with horror movies, character decisions here are often somewhat illogical, with the film crew hanging around for longer than they should and letting some things slide which they shouldn't. But I guess this is part and parcel of these types of movies to some extent. What was more of an issue for me was the central figure of the cult leader, who unfortunately was fairly badly acted by David Macrae, ensuring that this pivotal character had no charisma at all. I think it was quite damaging, as this is a leader whose actions are so extreme that they require some charisma in order to explain others going along with them so readily, such as the nightly ritual in which he chooses a different woman to sleep with every night, including a (very) young girl. These creepy details, along with the odd behaviour of the women cultists and what is discovered in the woods in the dead of night, are the kinds of things that make this one stand-out though and ensure that it does make some impact. It's a bit too basic and limited overall to be regarded as anything great but it does still offer some off-centre elements and ideas, and it never outstays its welcome.

I think it's PROBABLY fair for me to say it's no spoiler to say this wasn't a documentary.I didn't know though.Then again, this is coming from someone who watched Blair Witch and believed everything they read on the internet at the time that Blair Witch was a real hand filmed experience. Clearly the ending in Blair Witch gave it away for me - although I did always love that line in BW "No redneck is THIS smart".As to Apocalyptic, one classic line was "The rest of the world can go to hell" and seeing some 14 year old girl go "Get on your knees" before putting a blind fold on, eh, I was still buying this was a real documentary. It was that same girl who said the rest of the world can go to hell regarding a comment on the cult not using the 'internet'. It was the SAME girl who went into a seizure who at the point where cult lead Michael said 'bring me the knife' and stabbed her in the arm, I thought, this can't be a documentary - NOT to mention the cult leader waving his magic finger at which female he'd take to bed each evening stopping at some 8 year old girl.All in all, I've stopped watching the movie at THIS point at the tree scene now that I know it's not a true documentary. I think the movie could have done better not getting so extreme so fast, I really would have been fooled. This is coming from someone who used to HOUND another guy named Michael who lived in US South West via email - THAT Michael believed he TOO was Jesus - or 'God' - unfortunately the documentary on Michael's cult WAS real and well - there is something to be said when the two 14 year old girls who are scrubbing the coating off the pan religiously at the sink "Ya know, the bible says we should lay down with the lord, and I think that's just what I'm going to do tonight" the other girl goes "I already did" I'll leave their names out of it as to respect, but I think it was PBS - maybe Discovery channel who did that documentary.So, yes, there ARE people like this out there. Don't kid yourself - WHY TWICE the name Michael has been used ? beats me - All the Mikes in the world are going - WHY WHY WHY does Jeebus ALWAYS have to be named Michael.Anyway- I give this movie a good rating because of what they did on such little or no budget - Let's keep in mind Kevin Smith's Red State here too. That ALSO involved a religious cult (fiction, but really ? compared to Bachmann's husband's trips to the deeeeeep forest - all men - to CURE men of their ill begotten sexual preferences ? wait - wrong story - and that's not fiction EITHER ) but Red State was probably closer to the truth on just where the extremist right can lead when religion gets invited to bed with some guy named Michael.This movie could have been done better had it come closer to home to the extremist Palin Bachmann religious right in the US - as Matt Damon says - yeah - this woman believes dinosaurs existed 10,000 years ago, she's going to have the nuclear launch codes, I NEED TO KNOW. I updated that to - here is someone who believes - like the cult leader Michael in this fictional piece- Palin and Bachmann don't camp far from the End Days camp- and you know ? I just don't feel comfortable with someone who NEEDS it to be the end of the world ? holding the nuclear launch codes.So, this movie is valuable as a reflection of the dangers of religious extremism in the modern world. And let's not forgot the King of Saudi Arabia 2 days ago saying ISIS will attack Europe next month and United States in 2 months (October I suppose would be 2 months), if the world doesn't stop the religious extremist group Saudi Arabia initially funded that is now out of control threatening to end the world if everyone doesn't convert.Yeah - religious extremism is a danger in this world, this movie COULD have delivered that message better than subtle tones of incest, child abuse and what appears to be blood letting.So - no Sundance awards going to THIS Movie, but Red State by Kevin Smith deserves better placement somehow, someway. But the movie leaves us all with REAL haunting tales of horror and that is- how do we move forward in peace in a nuclear era where you have fundamentalist ideologies that have spawned by keeping people illiterate ? Perhaps one answer to it all- EDUCATION.All the Satanists who adopt Crowley go off bout - only one law 'do as thou wilt' - makes me ill to think back at people at University who were obsessed with that - and then you have the Christian fundamentalists who upon being released from prison go "which way to the nearest playground, doesn't matter- I can do what I want - caused I'm SAVED" SAME thing, different labels. Yeah, that's right, Eyes Wide Shut could have been about the Mega churches in Texas- and I think Kevin Smith in Red State came close to merging these two themes.Yikes - being 46 years old, augh! I hope that's not my life ! I just hit the scene where I realize it's fiction ! AUGH heh...

The great thing about Chinese food is that you don't have to work very hard to eat it (or at least I don't). I just begin to shovel food in my face.I was very glad I picked up Chinese food before sitting down to watch Apocalypse because I was so glued to the screen for the last 20 minutes I didn't even realize the bowl was empty.I'm assuming some people will draw similarities between "Apocolypse" and Ti Wests "The Sacrament" (both based on cults and both released this year) and those similarities are many. However "Apocolypse" is a grittier, more realistic-feeling interpretation of what I think it would look like inside a Doomsday Cult.While researching "The Sacrament" I kept seeing references to the real life Jonestown Massacres (loosely based upon it?) and that took away some of the mystery for me while watching the film. With "Apocolypse" I had no such pre-conceived notions and therefore was genuinely enthralled by the film and it's surprisesThe phrase "shoestring budget" is mentioned on a few websites when I was researching this film I think it was filmed in a very short amount of time with a minuscule amount of money but YOU COULD NOT TELL! This film looks as good as any major motion picture FoundFootage film out there (Devils Due, Delivery, PA). Even the small details of the film are pretty fantastic, down to the hand-made animal skin shoes the women wear.Its refreshing for a horror film not to rush and shove the gore in your face. Apocolyptic takes its time and, like a good campfire, uses it's kindling to feed the progression of a growing fire of suspense.The only downside was the lack of character development of the Cult leader: A Creepy, frail, pale, bald-headed, white-robed re-incarnation of Jesus (supposedly) I wanted to know more about him and really understand why these people worshiped him. The premise of the film revolves around him and his followers but I didn't really feel his charm or charisma come through the screen.Aside from the similarities to "The Sacrament" I found this a wholly fresh take on the Found Footage trope.

APOCALYPTIC.Local film maker Glenn Trigg taps into the aesthetics of the found footage genre for his fourth feature film Apocalyptic, which takes its cues from The Blair Witch Project and its like. Apocalyptic deals with a television news crew that venture into an enclave to film a cult and get caught up in a bizarre and terrifying suicide pact. While it is nowhere near as graphic and violent and shocking as Safe Haven, the Gareth Evans directed episode from the recent VHS 2, this is still an unsettling mood piece. Learning about the presence of a mysterious doomsday cult, the intrepid film crew head off to a remote forest to try and find out more about the organisation and its charismatic head Michael Godson (David Macrae). At first the small group seems like a devout bunch who practice their religion with an eye to the simple things in life without the modern trappings and technology of contemporary society. But soon it appears that there is a more sinister side to the cult. Every night Godson sleeps with a different woman, and even the youngest girls are not safe. As events begin to spiral into madness, the film moves towards a horrifying climax. The mood grows more unsettling as it becomes clear that even the youngest children in the cult are in jeopardy. Trigg uses the tropes of this subgenre effectively, from the jerky hand held camera to the shots of the microphone boom in the frame, and he even has the camera passed around amongst the cast so that events unfold from a number of different perspectives. The largely unknown cast deliver quite naturalistic performances, while a suavely sinister Macrae oozes evil. Apocalyptic is Trigg's fourth film, but it is easily his most accomplished in terms of style and ambition.