“THEY’RE OUTSIDE” (2020) PROVIDES A TERRIFYING ADDITION TO THE FOUND FOOTAGE FRANCHISE
When thinking of found footage films our go-to ones are usually the classics that have stood the test of time. Of course found footage has been around for over 30 years starting with the controversial 1980’s movie “Cannibal Holocaust”, which lead to the filmmakers having to go to court over the fact people thought it was real. The same could be said about the trend-setting 1999 classic “The Blair Witch Project”, which lead to so many conspiracy theories and brilliant marketing by the filmmakers regarding them making police investigation like specials to help promote the film. This lead to a huge boom in found footage movies to be made such as the “Paranormal Activity” franchise and the “VHS” franchise. Found footage movies give us the allure that it could all be real. It sets the fear within us to believe something like this could easily happen to us.
It is a huge reason why I never camp in the woods and haven’t for over 20 years (thanks Blair Witch Project). Granted I know the movie isn’t real but at the time when it came out, I was an impressionable 14-year-old kid who loved horror movies and believed most were based on some truth. So when the found footage movies came out, it only added that additional fear that terrified me, as well as many others who watched them. I never really enjoyed camping in the first place but did that movie really just put the final nail in the coffin of never going in the woods, let alone spend the night out there. One sight of a stack of rocks or twig figure hanging in the trees and I would have been running non stop until I found civilization. This is relatable right?
Recently I got the opportunity to watch the found footage/supernatural thriller “They’re Outside” from Terror Films. It stars Tom Clayton-Wheatley, Christine Randall, Nicole Miners, Emily Booth, Nicholas Vince, Brad Moore, and Emma Burdon-Sutton. The movie focuses on the disappearances of Max (Tom Clayton-Wheatley) and Sarah (Christine Randall) and the urban legend of “Green Eyes”. The movie has a pretty ominous start with footage of Penny (Emily Booth) filming her final words before a suicide talking about how she is sad to be alone at Christmas until it shifts gears into a documentary-style film narrated and hosted by Richard (Nicholas Vince). It was great seeing Nicholas Vince in this film as he is quite the veteran of horror. Most people may best know him from his iconic role in “Hellraiser” and “Hellbound: Hellraiser 2” as “The Chatterer”. He narrates the main plot of this documentary wanting to find the truth behind what really happened with Max and Sarah.
The first part of this movie slightly reminded me of “Blair Witch”, in the fact that there was a spooky presence in the woods and we are finding out the lore behind it. I loved the slight homage to “Blair Witch” in the interviews with the townspeople. We are then shown Max hosting his YouTube channel “Psychology – Inside/Out” where he tries to help people with mental health disorders overcome their troubles. In this particular segment, he is setting up to help a woman named Sarah get over her agoraphobia since she has been shut in her home for over 5 years. We are also introduced to Nicole (Nicole Miners), who is Max’s girlfriend, and also helping him with the filming of this series for his YouTube channel.
We also see in between being introduced to these characters we see a video of Max’s parents Chris Spencer (Brad Moore)and Sandra Spencer (Emma Burdon-Sutton) talking about Max and the good he did through his college years leading up to doing the YouTube channel. These actors aren’t in the movie as much, but when they are they truly portray the pain and loss of parents who have their child missing. It very much reflects those media interviews from parents from true crime cases. It was well done on screen. This happens back and forth, as well as an interview with Nicole as she left Max behind due to a reason I will not spoil (it’s an interesting twist).
We then are back to the main video storyline with Max and Nicole heading to meet Sarah at her secluded home in the woods. The introduction between the three comes off with a very creepy vibe, much like how Mark Duplass from “Creep 1 and 2”. Sarah is very much hard to figure out as she can be nice at one minute and completely rude to Nicole in the other. There seems to be a weird crush that Sarah has on Max also that makes Nicole very uncomfortable.
The rest of the film consists of Max interviewing Sarah, helping her with the guilt she has of losing her daughter and husband, as well as getting her to face her fears of going outside. We also get a proper introduction to Penny who is shown to be a friend of Sarah and helps by bringing her supplies and watching their favorite 80’s movies together. One big thing about the rest of this film is the building irritation Max gets over Sarah’s obsession with Green Eyes. Max tries everything to convince her and there is quite the ominous feeling we as the audience get when we hear the knocks that randomly happen outside her home. Max refuses to believe in the Green Eyes lure, even when he starts to hear the knocks himself and receives a chilling drawing reflecting a tragic part of his past.
The last few minutes of this film are amped up, chilling and honest leaves you wondering what will happen next with the main characters. The fact also that Max’s parents randomly had someone knock on their door and deliver Max’s footage from the experience is even more chilling. Max is a character that refuses to see what is right in front of him until the very end, and even then you have a hard time believing he actually accepts his fate from Green Eyes.
I will say that my final opinion of this movie was surprising. I absolutely loved it! Honestly, it sucked me into the film right from the beginning until the very end. Tom Clayton-Wheatley and Christine Randall played their roles beautifully, as well as the fact that the portrayed tension/building friendship between them felt real. They play well off of each other and hope to see them in more films together. The rest of the cast also brought their A-game, even those who weren’t in the movies as much.
The casting in this film was phenomenal on every level, the storyline and cinematography were absolutely perfect. All of this is contributed to the brilliant writing/directing of Airell Anthony Hayes and the co-directing of Sam Casserly. Both clearly were passionate about this movie and put their hearts into making it a great cinematic experience.
“They’re Outside” from Terror Films is now available on VOD.
