There
are several kinds of plantations to be found in Louisiana. The classic antebellum
style is very different from the Creole variety. Some are also haunted. This is definitely one
of those. A team of college students armed with video cameras will try to spend
the night there in Taylor Ri’chard’s The
Final Project (trailer
here), which
opens this Friday in Houston and Atlanta.
Guess
what true believers. Something terrible happened at the old plantation, but the
six students managed to capture it all on film. It seems one of them went kind
of nuts, causing no end of embarrassment, especially for the mortified family
member who introduces the screening.
In
order to graduate, Genevieve Richard, her BFF, her current and previous BFs, a
TA, a meathead, and a ditz must make a hand-held shaky-cam documentary of their
night in spook central, because Recording Gruesome Deaths 101 was not exactly
the blow-off class she was hoping for. Naturally, there is all sorts of
jealousy and resentment going on causing Richard to walk out in a huff, just as
things start getting strange.
Actually,
Project is far less graphic than most
horror films. Frankly, the ghosts or grudge-holding entities make short work of
their victims, so at least we can say they don’t play with their food. The framing
device, featuring the pixelated Ri’chard is not bad either. However,
characterization of any sort is problematically thin and the ensemble no-name
cast is serviceable, at best.
Such levels of mediocrity are not ideal, but in this genre, they are not absolutely fatal Achilles Heels. Found footage films of vary quality, including JeruZalem, Hollows Grove, Classroom 6, Creep, and the original Grave Encounters have helped themselves tremendously with their creepy locations. Unfortunately, the atmosphere of the plantation is just okay. That means Ri’chard cannot earn any easy points simply by soaking up the ambiance.
Such levels of mediocrity are not ideal, but in this genre, they are not absolutely fatal Achilles Heels. Found footage films of vary quality, including JeruZalem, Hollows Grove, Classroom 6, Creep, and the original Grave Encounters have helped themselves tremendously with their creepy locations. Unfortunately, the atmosphere of the plantation is just okay. That means Ri’chard cannot earn any easy points simply by soaking up the ambiance.
In
just about every respect, Project is
barely good enough to get by with a little help, but nothing the cast and crew
contribute are special enough to distinguish the film from the pack. When you
get right down to it, the film is pretty bland, which has to be the worst
possible thing you can say about a horror movie.
