Skinamarink-i-Deux: a review of The Outwaters!
Michelle (Michelle May) didn’t have this in mind for her music video
Four friends venture to the Mojave Desert to make a music video and only the memory cards from their cameras are found. This isn’t a spoiler, as this is how the movie begins. The found footage shows a bloody descent into madness and chaos. That’s it. “The Outwaters” is less of a narrative and more of a sustained visual and auditory assault. There’s no exposition, no local legend about what’s in the desert, and besides that ominous intro, no hints about what’s coming.
The first half consists of footage from 2 out of the 3 found memory cards, which just show the characters getting together, traveling, and shooting the video. Like the first part of “Wolf Creek,” it’s all set-up for the insanity of the second half. Much of it seems superfluous at first (I honestly can’t recall any of the dialogue from that portion) since we all know we’re biding our time, but there are a number of surprising set-ups in that first half, which pay off in disturbing ways. One can easily imagine director Robbie Banfitch being inspired by the split-second visions of the first crew from “Event Horizon.”
Banfitch (also the writer, cinematographer, and plays a version of himself who holds the camera most of the time) clearly shows his love of films like “The Exorcist” and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” but in refreshingly new ways. Instead of pointed references that wink at the audience, Banfitch shows the lessons he’s learned from them and utilizes them to haunting effect. He knows that sometimes daylight makes things worse. He even utilizes his mother for a chilling scene I won’t reveal.
Still, “The Outwaters” occasionally succumbs to the age-old found footage issue: some visual elements are impossible to make out. Banfitch at least tries to make this into a feature, rather than a bug, as he intentionally obscures much of the violence. Sometimes you’re just looking at a small circle of light as it rolls around the screen until it finds a section of something horrendous for you to piece together in your mind. While this adds to the film’s Lovecraftian nature, I could have used slightly more of an indication as to what monstrosities I’m looking at. Granted, I’m sure he intends to have the viewers walking away wondering what they saw.
Much like “Skinamarink,” “The Outwaters” is less about telling a story and more about vibes. Specifically, vibes scare the ever-loving shit out of you. It doesn’t cohere fully, but Banfitch crafts an experience you won’t soon forget.
“The Outwaters” is in select theaters NOW from and will be coming soon to Screambox.
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