Mockingbird

Mockingbird

Starring Todd Stashwick, Audrey Marie Anderson, Alexandra Lydon, Barak Hardley

Directed by Bryan Bertino

The Story:
"Mockingbird" revolves around three different characters, each of whom receives a camcorder as a prize they entered previously.  Couple Tom (Todd Stashwick) and Emmy (Audrey Marie Anderson) are enjoying filming their family.  Single woman Beth (Alexandra Lydon) sees this as an opportunity to do something different.  Mother's boy Leonard (Barak Hardley) views this as a chance to win $10,000 and get his own place.

Soon, however, their fun turns to fear as they discover there's a deadly cost of the camera - they must keep rolling, or they'll die.  They're taunted by unseen forces and eventually converse on a mysterious house with thousands of red balloons, where their games come to a deadly end.

The Synopsis:
Bryan Bertino directed the acclaimed psychological thriller "The Strangers" starring Liv Tyler, so anticipation was high for his found footage film "Mockingbird."  It was filmed and completed in 2012, but sat on the shelves at Bloomhouse until 2014.  That was the first sign of danger, as typically a film that sits on the shelf does so for a reason - it's terrible.

Unfortunately, that was the case here.  The film had a strong beginning sequence that was supposed to lead into an additional thrill ride, but after that first scene it felt like the director hit a literal brick wall as we're treated with your typical found footage tricks and completely irrational behaviors.  At only 90 minutes long, it felt like I was watching a boring epic without end.

The film is split into three stories that meet at the end.  "The Family" centers around Tom, Emmy and their children.  They get the camera and are all excited about filming, until they get a tape showing them sleeping and telling them to keep the camera going and to not call the cops.  Now, the first thing I would do is call the cops, but for some reason they don't do it, and spend most of the film stuck in their house with loud bangs on the doors and windows that the neighbors somehow never hear.

"The Woman" is Beth's story, and once again no one could care less.  She's depressed about something, I'm not sure what, nor do I care.  She gives a terrible performance, typically running around screaming and crying the whole time.

"The Clown" is the most interesting of the three stories, as it centers around Leonard, a momma's boy with no job, no home and no friends.  Unlike "The Family" and "The Woman," he is given a series of seemingly innocent pranks to perform in a clown uniform, but the pranks turn out as anything but innocent at the end.  Still, he gives the most enjoyable performance, albeit a little disjointed with the other two terror-filled tales.

For me, clowns aren't particularly scary, but they're a little unnerving.  When I saw the cover for this movie, I thought it was going to be about a maniacal clown.  Not the case.  What I got instead was an incredibly boring tale with a highly predictable climax and a final outcome that literally made no sense. 

The Summary:
"Mockingbird" is one of those found-footage films you wish you'd never find.

The Score: D