by I’ve become a fairly big fan of Turner Clay’s the Blackwell Ghost series. These indie horror documentaries are clearly staged, but they’re done in a very entertaining way. Because of this I really wanted to see what else the director has put out. This led me to two other films; Raccoon Valley and Phoenix Tapes 97, the latter of which is the topic of this review. It’s a found footage horror film about extra terrestrials. It’s clear that this is staged; Turner Clay is among the stars that supposedly were never seen again but we all know he went on to produce more movies. Knowing this I went in with an open mind, and I wasn’t disappointed. It’s clearly another low budget found footage horror film, but it’s better than most modern ones.
Let me start by saying that if you go in as a cynic you’re going to be disappointed. Yes, this is ‘fake news’ but let’s suspend disbelief to have a good time. The film opens with an interview from the father of a deceased young man named Dustin Miller. He is convinced that his boy was murdered by the US government in an effort to cover up something major, and details the process of discovering a hidden compartment in the wall of his room containing the footage we’re about to be shown.
The footage itself has four friends setting out on a trek into the Arizona desert to find a remote lake for some good old fashioned camping and fishing. They load up in the RV, camcorder in tow, and travel to the desert filming their exploits along the way. Almost immediately they get lost and tempers flare, but they find a nice place to set up camp for the night. They awaken to some strange noises and then notice lights crashing from the sky. Convinced it’s just a few meteorites they continue onward and set out on a hike in the morning for the lake they’ve been discussing. They stop along the way to take in the scenery but become convinced that something on the top of the mountains is peeking out its head to spy on them. They find the river and spend the day fishing and swimming.
The sun sets and they start to head back getting lost again in the process. They finally get their bearings but when they get back to their camping trailer they notice that the lights are on, and the door is open. They become even more concerned when the entire thing has been ransacked. They try to convince themselves it’s an animal that did it, but the way it’s shredded wouldn’t make sense in that scenario. They’re spooked and over the expedition, but the vehicle won’t start anymore. They’re trapped in the desert with something out there stalking them.
I really have to hand it to the film crew; the footage actually feels pretty authentic in that it was actually filmed with a low-fi camcorder. All of the footage is grainy, and it even has feedback during some of the scenes. With that said the footage is pretty grainy, and the audio quality isn’t great. That makes Phoenix Tapes 97 a little more difficult to watch than your typical found footage film. This holds especially true during the nighttime scenes. It’s a very ugly movie, but had they filmed it in crystal clear high definition we would have had to suspend disbelief even further. I can appreciate the approach, but it doesn’t make this movie any less hard to look at or listen to.
There isn’t a whole lot of action here either. For the most part we’re left with filler of the cast’s ‘home video’ which is typical, but can really hamper the pacing sometimes. There are a few things I like with the approach though. First of all the cast has fantastic chemistry, and that’s the most important aspect of a movie like this. Their performances are all believable, and the conversations feel very organic. Even their jokes are, at times, hilarious. They’re fun to watch on-screen interacting with each other and I felt immersed in their trip. The second thing I really like is the scenery. The desert here is really beautiful; desolate and at times otherworldly, but it has a lot of appeal.
Unfortunately the area where the Phoenix Tapes 97 suffers is in its scare value. There just aren’t a lot of frightening moments. The set up feels long and drawn out with only a few lights in the sky crashing down which makes the whole alien concept feel like a stretch, and it isn’t until over halfway in the movie that we actually see one of their ugly faces. It’s always just a glimpse as the characters begin their rapid retreat. The costumes they’re using for the aliens is pretty decent and makes for a few decent jump scares, but the method by which they take the cast is kind of boring. They’re extraterrestrials with the technology to travel through space, but for some reason they’re hunting the cast down like animals would. And for what? We’ll never know, but I guess ‘aliens’ is as good a reason as we’re going to get.
The Phoenix Tapes is above average by found footage horror standards. The likable cast, beautiful scenery, and decent effects are more than enough to keep your interest but this isn’t a particularly memorable film by any means. The film just isn’t all that scary but then again I’ve found that aliens usually don’t lend themselves too well to found footage scares. The footage quality is definitely a bit of a bummer but they were going for authentic here and that angle is well played. It’s a big plus that the Phoenix Tapes 97 doesn’t overstay its welcome. Found footage films don’t need to be ninety minutes long to get their point across, and this one clocks in at just over an hour. It doesn’t overstay its welcome or drag on for too long, and that also helps this one stand above the majority.
Pros
- Great chemistry between the characters
- Amazing scenery
- Good costume effects
- Short runtime
Cons
- Grainy footage that's hard to watch
- Not particularly scary or effective
