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Found Footage Gold
I've watched most found footage films out there, and if I'm honest I went into this blinkered and expecting the worse, given most suffer from the usual poor storyline, poor acting or poor directing.
Emergo however, caught me by surprise and I found myself sucked in straight from the outset and immediately realised that this found footage movie, IS something special.
It's a shame that talented directors and writers will get tarnished by the poor efforts that dominate this genre, but quality always rises, and I'm glad that Torrens stuck to his guns and made this the way he did - without going into spoilers - his direction and filming style is what made this film what it is, believable. Well, to a point. Taking aside the more obvious parts of it to one side, the rest of the movie sits together into an brilliant first person camera, and if you don't jump at the various suspenseful parts...
Torrens varies different techniques, from hand held to locked off cameras - the quality of each camera technique brilliantly pulled off - they all sit well together and add to the dark and overpowering feeling of the storyline.
Character development in this genre is the biggest bugbear of mine - it's either crammed into a poor introduction leaving you to fight with them for the remainder of the film, or, the development doesn't exist - with Emergo however, whilst the development is done throughout the film, it's done in such a way that it mimics how you would do it in real life - it's not rushed, it's REAL.
Maybe that's the key here.
Taking aside the more out of the ordinary aspects, the movie actually plays out as it would have done were it a real life situation and a family is being terrorised by something unseen. Scientists, investigators and doctors coming together to meet a family at the end of their tether, the haunted looks of each family member a testament to what is happening in their home.
Torrens pulls this all off brilliantly, and whilst the ending is maybe a little bit twee, I'm sure we've not seen the last of Emergo, and I sincerely hope Torrens goes on from strength to strength.
My advice is to not miss this movie - it's one of the best Found Footage movies out there.
8/10