In Max Tzannes’ meta-mockumentary feature, Found Footage: The Making of the Patterson Project, a documentary crew follows a young gonzo indie filmmaker, Chase (Brennan Keel Cook), as he sets out to film his first feature, The Patterson Project—a found footage horror film about Bigfoot. Chase enlists his best friend, associate producer Mitchell (Chen Tang). His furniture store boss, Frank (Dean Cameron), contributed half of the production budget from his retirement savings. Needing an angel investor, Frank goes to his friend Betsy. To sweeten the deal for additional funds, Frank falsely claims that Alan Rickman (Betsy’s favorite actor) will star in the film. Rounding out the production team is Chase’s girlfriend Natalie (Erika Vetter), who reluctantly allows them to use her parents’ remote cabin for the shoot.
When the crew arrives at the cabin, things quickly unravel as everything that can go wrong, will go wrong. The casting agency sends the wrong actor for a key role, the casted cameraman can’t physically hold the camera, and unknown to everyone, the cabin houses a strange talisman that should not be trifled with. Meanwhile, Mitchell tries to keep spirits high as Chase faces mounting pressure from the disastrous production, pushing everyone away, including Natalie. The situation worsens when the cabin owners warn them to leave immediately, without mentioning that the cabin is haunted. Then Betsy arrives, demanding to meet Alan Rickman, unaware that the actor was never involved.
Despite the constant setbacks, Chase refuses to give up, insisting that problem-solving is part of the filmmaking process. The night before the last day, Chase admits they have one more day to shoot twenty pages—virtually impossible—except for a guerrilla filmmaker who might also be possessed. As the shoot descends into further chaos, the bickering refuses to end, and the mysterious events surrounding the cabin grow increasingly unsettling. The documentary crew captures every bizarre and awkward moment, making this the most meta film ever made in The Peterson Project.
A chilling moment as the Bigfoot creature lunges in a dark, suspenseful scene from Found Footage: The Making of the Patterson Project.
“…the cabin houses a strange talisman that should not be trifled with.”
Found Footage: The Making of the Patterson Project manages to pull off something pretty amazing where others in similar attempts have failed. I often complain about blending genres, and in this case, we have a horror comedy. Most of the time, when you blend genres, rather than bringing out the best of each, the two often water one another down. Director Max Tzannes seemed to have found the answer, which, weirdly enough, is not to blend them. The brilliance comes from having two film crews. One crew films the fake movie…this is the comedy. Then the other crew films the behind-the-scenes antics, which is the horror. Who knew that was all it took?
The humor of Found Footage is good. Although it tries too hard to be a Spinal Tap-type mockumentary, my issue is that this material tends to be over-improvised, with actors over-explaining in search of a punchline. This happens at the start, but once the actual filming of The Peterson Project begins, the humor shines through in the outlandish circumstances our cast and crew face, along with a lot of humor found in character interactions.
What I wasn’t expecting was how horrific the horror gets…on an indie budget. Not a big body-horror or gore-fest to drive up the costs, Found Footage takes on a supernatural horror vibe. I didn’t expect the ending to be as scary as it was. Do yourself a favor and watch this film at night and with friends.
Filmmaker Max Tzannes does incredible work managing such a large cast from a complicated, but not too complicated, story he co-wrote with David San Miguel. The cast is exceptional, with lead Brennan Keel Cook nailing it as Chase, and Chen Tang and Erika Vetter serve as great sympathetic foils to Chase’s madness. I suppose they learned lessons from the fake movie being shot, specifically the importance of having a tight script and a strict production schedule.
In the end, Max Tzannes’ Found Footage: The Making of the Patterson Project delivers a smart, self-aware film that plays with the mockumentary format without getting lost in the gimmick. It’s funny and it’s creepy. It delivers where many have failed before.
For screening information, visit the Found Footage: The Making of the Patterson Project official website.
"…it’s funny and it’s creepy."
