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In 1999, directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez unleashed The Blair Witch Project into unsuspecting audiences around the world. The film, for better or worse, revitalized the "found footage" subgenre, which was sparsely used during the 1980s and 1990s, and turned it into a horror phenomenon that has spawned numerous similar films through the last 20 years.
Butterfly Kisses is, perhaps, one of the lesser known films within this wave. But if I open this write-up by mentioning The Blair Witch Project, it's not only because they're both "found footage" films, but rather because the film itself does so, in more ways than one. Butterfly Kisses is an odd duck in that it presents itself as a documentary-within-documentary-within-documentary. There are three "filmmakers" involved in the process which, at the very least, sets it apart.
The film follows Gavin York (Seth Adam Kallick), a struggling filmmaker that stumbles upon some tapes recorded some 15 years before by Sophia Crane (Rachel Armiger), a film student that, along with her partner, wanted to document the alleged appearances of a local entity called "Peeping Tom". York intends to clean and spruce up the footage to present it as a feature film, and in order to validate the process, he hires Erik Kristopher Myers (Erik Kristopher Myers) to document it. As we follow the process, the intentions and motivations of everybody involved, from Sophia to York to Myers himself, come into question, as well as the real nature behind "Peeping Tom".
Found footage films have been a sorta "hit and miss" (mostly "miss") situation. Most of them have tried to ape more successful examples like The Blair Witch Project or Paranormal Activity. Butterfly Kisses leans more towards the latter (film student trying to document the existence of an entity), but as the film progresses, addresses those similarities head-on, which results in a bit of clever "meta" play.
Aside from that clever take, the film does have other things going for it; Kallick's performance is pretty solid, the initial buildup around the lore of the "Peeping Tom" works, and the overall atmosphere during the first two acts is effective. There's also a couple of pretty good jumpscares there. However, the film ends up falling apart a bit at the weight of too many loose strands, a lack of a proper payoff regarding the legend, some weak performances (most notably Armiger), and a significantly weak third act, which ironically starts when the actual director, Myers, steps in the forefront.
Maybe better actors, a more structured narrative, a bit more thought to the lore... and a better title, could've helped Butterfly Kisses. But as it is, it remains another disappointing entry in the "found footage" pantheon with clever ideas, being poorly executed.
Grade:
BUTTERFLY KISSES
(2018, Myers)
A film with the word "Kiss" in its title
(2018, Myers)
A film with the word "Kiss" in its title
"When you make a film that is presenting itself as roughly cut together found footage, you are building in your excuse for anything that's wrong with it."
In 1999, directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez unleashed The Blair Witch Project into unsuspecting audiences around the world. The film, for better or worse, revitalized the "found footage" subgenre, which was sparsely used during the 1980s and 1990s, and turned it into a horror phenomenon that has spawned numerous similar films through the last 20 years.
Butterfly Kisses is, perhaps, one of the lesser known films within this wave. But if I open this write-up by mentioning The Blair Witch Project, it's not only because they're both "found footage" films, but rather because the film itself does so, in more ways than one. Butterfly Kisses is an odd duck in that it presents itself as a documentary-within-documentary-within-documentary. There are three "filmmakers" involved in the process which, at the very least, sets it apart.
The film follows Gavin York (Seth Adam Kallick), a struggling filmmaker that stumbles upon some tapes recorded some 15 years before by Sophia Crane (Rachel Armiger), a film student that, along with her partner, wanted to document the alleged appearances of a local entity called "Peeping Tom". York intends to clean and spruce up the footage to present it as a feature film, and in order to validate the process, he hires Erik Kristopher Myers (Erik Kristopher Myers) to document it. As we follow the process, the intentions and motivations of everybody involved, from Sophia to York to Myers himself, come into question, as well as the real nature behind "Peeping Tom".
Found footage films have been a sorta "hit and miss" (mostly "miss") situation. Most of them have tried to ape more successful examples like The Blair Witch Project or Paranormal Activity. Butterfly Kisses leans more towards the latter (film student trying to document the existence of an entity), but as the film progresses, addresses those similarities head-on, which results in a bit of clever "meta" play.
Aside from that clever take, the film does have other things going for it; Kallick's performance is pretty solid, the initial buildup around the lore of the "Peeping Tom" works, and the overall atmosphere during the first two acts is effective. There's also a couple of pretty good jumpscares there. However, the film ends up falling apart a bit at the weight of too many loose strands, a lack of a proper payoff regarding the legend, some weak performances (most notably Armiger), and a significantly weak third act, which ironically starts when the actual director, Myers, steps in the forefront.
Maybe better actors, a more structured narrative, a bit more thought to the lore... and a better title, could've helped Butterfly Kisses. But as it is, it remains another disappointing entry in the "found footage" pantheon with clever ideas, being poorly executed.
Grade: