Since Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez went into the woods with a trio of actors and a camcorder, horror filmmakers have been trying to replicate the success of The Blair Witch Project. The film was instrumental in pioneering the found-footage sub-genre and proved that you didn’t need a whole lot of budget to create something memorable. Over the year’s audiences have been given many excellent successors and FrightFest First Blood entry, The Glenarma Tapes, is the latest to try and take the crown.
Directed by Tony Devlin and co-written with Paul Kennedy, The Glenarma Tapes is a worthy addition to the found-footage world. It opens with the expected found-footage scrawl. In this case, on 13th March 2020, seven people went missing in Glenarma Forest, Northern Ireland. It is the usual set-up and formation of a found-footage film, and one that serves to pique the viewer’s interest.
The Glenarma Tapes may start in the standard way, but it evolves several times, becoming something slightly different to the expected. Aspects of true crime drift in and morph The Glenarma Tapes shape and style. The change-up throws the viewer off balance and proves that there’s still plenty of life in this old sub-genre. Rather than lean into tired tropes of the sub-genre, Devlin strives to tell a very different story, just set within a familiar framework. College student Jimmy (Ryan Early) is documenting a day in the life of his best friend Gordy (Warren McCook) for an assignment. What begins as a kitchen sink drama, complete with drunk parents and neglected younger siblings, becomes a tale of desperate survival.
Getting from one scenario to another takes time, as Devlin clearly wants the viewer to get to know Gordy a little better. He is a fascinating character. On the surface he appears to be a generic hoodie type, but Gordy is actually far more sensitive. His shielding of his younger sister is especially touching. Gordy is funny in a dry, deadpan kind of way, and in contrast with his appearance he is thoughtful, intelligent, and articulate. All these qualities draw the viewer in; Gordy is an easy character for the audience to get behind. Found-footage characters typically fall into one of two camps – horribly irritating to the point that the viewer can’t wait for them to get their comeuppance, or grounded relatable people caught in a toxic situation. Of the two, Gordy fits into the second category and as the nightmare begins, the audience has genuine fear for him.
A big positive to The Glenarma Tapes is that its characters chance upon the danger rather than actively seeking it out. After discovering that two of their tutors are having an affair and overhearing their plan to go camping together, Gordy and Jimmy hatch a plan to prank the secret lovebirds. Joined by classmates Eleanor (Sophie Hill) and Clare (Emily Lamey), the group set off into the woods, but once there they come face-to-face with an unexpected threat. So many found-footage films have the characters hunting for, or investigating, some local myth or danger. They purposely and knowingly place themselves into harm’s way and then are surprised and outraged when spooky things start happening. That this group are not actively seeking out supernatural trouble is a welcome change, and one that grants the viewer empathy with them rather than frustration.
Visually the story is told via Jimmy’s camera as well as several portable head cameras, allowing massive coverage of their ordeal. It also means that Gordy, Jimmy, Eleanor and Clare can all separate, their isolation allowing for some powerful instances of dread. With so many cameras at play there is a chaotic element to the group’s fray that serves to get the pulse racing and allows some elements of mystery to remain. The earlier portion of the footage confined to Jimmy’s camcorder is also more free than several of The Glenarma Tapes’ peers. Jimmy documents everything, something that irritates those in front of the camera, but works within the concept of his intimate documentary. Having reasons for having the camera constantly on, especially during character setting scenes is always hard to digest, but here Devlin and Kennedy have found a believable workaround.
What makes The Glenarma Tapes especially divergent from the atypical found-footage film is its ending. As the sub-genre goes, the conclusion here is a bittersweet one, which within this arena is positively happily ever after. Quite how die-hard fans of the genre will take it remains to be seen, but the shake-up is necessary and works well. Though not likely to steal the crown from genre juggernaut The Blair Witch Project, The Glenarma Tapes offers plenty of innovation to the popular sub-genre.
The Glenarma Tapes
Summary
Another shining jewel in this year’s FrightFest First Blood selection, The Glenarma Tapes innovates a fan favourite sub-genre.
The Glenarma Tapes was reviewed at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest 2023.
