This one started out solidly enough, but by the time it ended, I was wondering how it spawned a number of sequels. The last fifteen minutes of the film, the real found footage part of the story, is shoddy at best.

The story follows a series of talking heads, as they attempt to delve into the mystery of Gary Hinge (Eric Mencis). He went missing in the Nevada high desert in 2017, and his sister, Beverly (Tonya Williams Ogden) hires a private investigator, Bill Salerno (David Morales) to figure out what happened to him.

There are the requisite on-camera discussions about possibilities, news broadcasts as the case moves forward. Discoveries are made, and of course, eventually, the missing camera, and it’s memory card are revealed. And we get to see what happened to Gary.

The story itself is constructed well, I like everything but the climax. I think I enjoy found foottage films with paranormal overtones, and this one, despite the possibility, didn’t do that. And that’s fine. If it’s crafted well, it can be completely unnerving.

And to its credit, there’s some nice buildup to the finale. It looks great, not as great as Strange Harvest, which I watched earlier, but solid.

But the climax. The reveal, and the obvious mask and bad makeup, do not make this as frightening as the buildup made it. In fact, it’s so jarringly bad that it ejected me from the film. There is one solid moment shot in front of the cabin, when there’s a surprising movement, but the rest of it is poorly constructed and looks horrible.

One can make a number of excuses for why it looks so bad. But the film is set in 2017. Digital cameras can capture fantastic images, there are image stabilizers, and creative directors can use all of these to make exceptional experiences.

After the buildup of the first two thirds of the film, the found footage stuff feels really weak. I won’t deny there’s something fun here, and I recognize this is a low-budget film (and the poster is great), but I just expected, and hoped, for more.

Because of that ending, I have to be honest, I have no desire to follow-up on the sequels. It’s unfortunate, but hey, as I’ve stated before, they can’t all be winners.

I give the filmmakers credit, they are out there doing it. But this one, as far as I’m concerned, fumbled it.