★★☆☆☆
The Last Footage, the directorial debut of Arkar Soe Oo, made its world debut at Fantasia Film Festival. A horror film that doesn’t quite work, but makes for an exceptionally well effort.
Arkar Soe Oo not only directed the film, but he also penned the script, edited the film, was the sole cinematographer, and served as an executive producer. Which explains a lot and tells a story of its own.
While it’s very common for directors to write their own scripts and even be credited as an executive producer of a film, taking on the roles of editor and cinematographer is a whole other beast.
Robert Rodriguez famously co-wrote, directed, edited, and served as cinematographer on his debut feature El Mariachi. While the film’s limitations were evident, its script, direction, and performances helped compensate for its technical shortcomings.
Arkar Soe Oo takes on the challenge of trying to helm all these roles that he doesn’t fully understand or isn’t well versed in. Leaving his debut to feel loose, choppy, and poorly paced. With a final film that is messy, uncoordinated, and all over the place.
“Arkar Soe Oo’s The Last Footage fails to succeed with its intended execution.”
The problems start with the film’s core and slowly decay from the inside out: the script.
Opening with a bunch of POV shorts filmed from GoPros, ranging from motorcyclists to ghost hunters, there is no connection between them or the core story. Making the opening feel like discounted filler.
Once we are introduced to the core characters of the film, it becomes a basic but classic horror tale with potential.
The title character has a relative who passes away and leaves them a house with a bunch of land in the middle of nowhere, which he and his group of friends are now set to travel to. Setting up a great foundation for a horror film. An isolated house in a rural and isolated area. Texas Chainsaw (2013), The Last House on the Left, Evil Dead, and Friday the 13th (2009).
Where the script fails is in creating characters the audience is going to connect with, and an antagonist that the audience is going to root for and want to see more of.
None of the characters are particularly charming. Not a single one wins you over within the first act. They’re all two-dimensional and lackluster.
The biker, whom they pick up right outside of the property line, is a prime example. His character feels like the equivalent of the hitchhiker in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The first introduction to what lies ahead. Yet, being less interesting and pivotal to the story, his character is overly hammy, quickly diluting the film’s horror atmosphere. Creating a sense of corniness unintentionally. Hindering the film before it even really gets started.
Then the character who inherited the property is not only unlikeable, but he seems intentionally written to be disliked. Which could work, in the sense of Friday the 13th, where the rich main character is an unlikeable jerk that nobody cares for. Yet the film fails to give us a character to really root for instead.
Creating unlikeable characters that are not interesting or worthy of interest is great for adding to the body count in horror films. Yet there still needs to be at least one character to rally behind. A final girl. Not to mention a clear monster or antagonist that is going to be exciting to see on screen, building and creating the anticipation needed to drive the film.
“Creating unlikeable characters that are not interesting or worthy of interest is great for adding to the body count in horror films.”
The editing is sloppy, and not in a way that creates fear, tension, and emotional distress. For when used properly, sloppy, choppy cuts can be gold in horror when applied correctly and used sparingly. For they help create uncertainty, which pairs well with horror under the right conditions.
The poor editing hinders the pacing and creates an uneven rhythm. Which in turn makes the kill scenes less impactful while also causing the narrative to drag. One which didn’t have much of a fighting chance to begin with.
“The poor editing hinders the pacing and creates an uneven rhythm, making the kill scenes less impactful while also causing the narrative to drag.”
The performances are mediocre for the most part and dip below the line at times, which for a horror film of this magnitude is killer.
The performances are one thing that is unforgivable in a horror film. More often than not, poor visual effects and cheap design are forgivable. The poor lighting and obvious post-editing app filter used in the first Terrifier to try and make all the continuing shots look uniform instead of appearing to have been shot at different times of day, shot by shot.
Often horror is looked upon as a genre of lesser quality. However, that’s often not the case. While there are different subgenres of horror, as there are in every genre, intention and execution go hand in hand.
Arkar Soe Oo’s The Last Footage fails to succeed with its intended execution. Falling short in every aspect of the film. Which, personally, I think stems from an overreach and brute-force approach to execution.
Soe Oo takes on a lot of different roles in the production. Something that, if more people had been involved and had a voice on set—not final cut or equal power, but a voice of reason—I think a lot of the problems the film endures wouldn’t have happened.
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