Case 347 is, as I mentioned above, a found footage movie, starring Maya Stojan (Agents of SHIELD) as a professor at 90210's California University, studying the psychological explanations behind people reporting that they were abducted by aliens. She hires a documentary film crew to help her in her efforts, and she starts by going to her late father's house to see what information he has. His obsession with alien abductions was her impetus for following this line of work in the first place. As she and the filmmakers dig deeper and peel back the layers though, they discover that maybe her father wasn't as crazy as she thought, that maybe there is something to all this. The question is, do they find out before it's too late to save themselves?
Overall, I enjoyed this. The found footage aspect did still give me problems, which I'll discuss below, but it really had the elements of a good horror film that I want. It was a slow burner, building up to the big finish, that, when it came, totally paid off; and in the meantime, there were moments here and there that were enough to spook me while we were intensifying things to get to that big finish. This kind of horror is not always done, because it's not easy to do--it's easier to just give us a kill every 10 to 15 minutes, which I like as well, but I think when horror is done the way Case 347 was, if it's successful, I definitely prefer it to the slasher style.
I think it would be easy to write off my issues with found footage movies as just another Matt hang-up, and I would understand if anyone reading this thought that, but I think I do have some valid reasons for that style not working for me. The first one is when the picture deliberately goes fuzzy or drops to add an element of verisimilitude. My brain is trained to see that as an annoyance, like I need to hit the TV to get it to stop, so having it there deliberately is even more irksome. On top of that, using surveillance cam footage. It doesn't look good, and I don't understand making something purposefully look bad. Another issue is, the movie making landscape has changed quite a bit since Blair Witch came out, especially with YouTube. Now found footage has the aesthetic of an "#urbex" guy on YouTube exploring an abandoned cabin in the woods with his buddies. That means professional film makers need to do more to distinguish themselves from the mass of content available on places like YouTube, and a found footage approach brings them closer to that level. Finally, there's the fact that movies are shot a certain way to make them more visually manageable. When two people are talking, it looks nicer to cut back and forth between the two parties, than it does to have one camera that is swinging back and forth to move between them as they speak. Watching a scene like that plays havoc with my eyes. I think one great way to split the difference is to do like a Christopher Guest mockumentary approach to how the film is shot, so it looks like documentary footage, but it has edits that make it more visually appealing. Considering someone technically had to edit the found footage to make it into the movie, it wouldn't be that beyond the pale.
All that being said, there's an earnestness to this film that I think makes up for any misgivings I had with the found footage aspect. I could feel from writer/director Chris Wax and lead Maya Stojan all the way down through the rest of the cast and crew that they were invested in this project and wanting to see it succeed, and there's no substitute for that. Once there's that buy-in, all the elements of this story that work are enhanced that much more. It's a different investment required of the audience in a movie like this as well. With the standard slasher horror, you just need to have a member of the cast investigate a strange sound in the basement, and then use a piece of gardening equipment to have the most creative kill possible. In a horror film done like Case 347, we have to understand and believe the characters' motivations, and be able to put ourselves in their shoes, otherwise the payoff isn't there when the rug is pulled out from under us; and everyone involved felt like they were making sure we got that payoff.
As I mentioned above, Maya Stojan plays the lead, and among the many great performances in this, hers really stood out, in part because it needed to for the whole thing to work. Right away, in her first scene where she's explaining what her research is about, it's a long take that she nails, which I think sets the stage for how her performance is going to anchor everything else. This was particularly important, because later in the film we're introduced to her father's colleague, played by Richard Gilliland, who was also excellent, and had Maya Stojan not really established her character as the anchor, Gilliland's could have taken over the film, and I don't think that would've have made this work as well. According to their imdb bios, Chris Wax and Stojan have worked before, and often that can make or break a low-budget effort like this, getting to work with people you know who will get your vision and help it succeed like we saw here.
I don't know if Chris Wax is a fan of Beverly Hills, 90210, but as I mentioned above, Maya Stojan's character was a professor at the fictitious California University, which was the name of the school the 90210 cast went to after they graduated from high school. I didn't catch any other 90210 references in the film--no characters named "Steve Sanders;" and there's a diner scene, but because this is found footage, there were no establishing shots so we didn't see if it was called "The Peach Pit." Still, always great to see a 90210 reference, whenever we can get it.
Before this becomes a 90210 nostalgia post, it's probably good to wrap things up. I think for horror fans, this is definitely worth a watch. Also, for people like me who have hang-ups with found footage movies, this better than the usual efforts, and shouldn't stop you from giving it a try. This is available to buy on DVD on Amazon, and Jenna told me this will be available to stream on FLIXFLING, Vimeo on Demand, Vudu, Amazon, iTunes, and Google Play. I don't see it on Letterboxd yet, so hopefully it'll be there soon too so you can check it out and share with your friends when you do.
For more info: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7821116
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