The Horror Show
Mockingbird
by Bryan Bertino
I've written in volume about the found footage subgenre of horror. As with anything that gains popularity, many people tire of it but I will defend the concept to the end. As with any type of film, each one has to make its own mark. Some are great, some are simply good, others are bad and some are unforgivably awful. All in all Mockingbird fits into none of these categories. Allow me to explain.
The opening to Mockingbird gave me a lot of hope. I won't reveal what happens right before we see the title of the movie on the screen, but it's admittedly pretty cool and commands attention right away. The opening shot and the cut to title screen was very effective and made me believe that maybe I was in for something worthwhile. The primary center of the story opens up to reveal a series of segments such as “The Family” and “The Woman,” “The Clown,” “Let's Play a Game” etc. Each victim of what is about to come finds themselves with a free video camera on their doorstep. All those involved are happy with their perceived good fortune and it all seems to center around a contest everyone applied for. The camera isn't just the reward, it's simply the start.
The various people film their lives for a while and we get some exposition. It's all pretty standard fare, nothing overly interesting about the lives of the characters. For the center family it seems to be in order to set up a “normal happy family” scenario. With Beth, the solo female character who falls into the same situation, it just seems like an unfortunately uninteresting character. Leonard, the one titled “The Clown” is a slightly more interesting character who at least adds a little more personality to the overall story before getting a little too goofy a little too early. Given the option, I'd op for more interesting characters over no development, but with what we have the personalities end up meaning little.
Before long, everyone realizes that the cameras are unable to turn off. Soon after that they receive further instructions, with a few odd touches. Despite the strong opening, it's a slow burn for such a short movie and I wish the creators weren't under the impression that I care that much about the characters. Don't get me wrong, character development is insanely important to bringing a story to life, but with this plot and these characters, I just wanna get into things.
There are some intriguing touches along the way that genuinely had me wondering where the movie was going. Once the “Lights, Camera, Action!” title came up, I was more than ready to get going. I mean that both in the sense that I was done with the normal lives of the characters and that I was interested in seeing how things unfold. From this point the movie goes back and forth between the different characters as the game plays out.
Mockingbird is Bryan Bertino's first film since his debut, 2008's The Strangers. He seems to be having more fun with this one but doesn't seem to have a strong grasp on what it is. The film seems more like it doesn't know if it wants to be dark and serious or wacky and silly more so than coming across as something that contains elements of both. Movies that are equal parts disturbing and wacky are awesome when done right but so difficult to pull off. Mockingbird isn't a total mess but misses the mark in trying to mix all of its elements together. The stories overlap at points, but in too small supply to come across well-orchestrated or thought out.
While I completely defend the found footage genre itself, that doesn't mean I like every single one of them. Mockingbird is far from the best I've seen but not nearly as boring as others. To the film's credit, none of the acting is bad and it keeps moving once it gets going. None of it makes the film as a whole especially of note but it's not a complete waste either. The best way to describe Mockingbird, to me at least, is to imagine a film that you could make an awesome trailer from. With all the various contrasting elements, you could put together an amazing teaser for the film that makes it look like an absolute blast unlike any other. Unfortunately the film has a good handful of the nails, but doesn't drive them into any boards. The elements just kind of exist together and gives off no real tone.
While the beginning got me trying to figure things out, any interest in learning who was behind the mysterious “game” diminished pretty quickly. It all relied on a series of recordings and random sounds to make up the villain, and the human or supernatural entity behind it all didn't really seem to matter. I will admit that the ending was pretty cool and at least brought things together. The rest of the film would have been better served with a more intricate hand in regards to providing a more consistent and graceful route to connecting the characters together, but I'm okay with the ending by itself. It ends up making absolutely no sense thanks to a complete lack of explanation, but the intense events leading up to the final veil falling were fun enough. The ending, like the beginning, gives us a look at something that could be amazing but unfortunately doesn't fit with the rest of the movie in the slightest. But at this point in the film it's hard to care about sense.
The opening isn't one of the best scenes I've ever seen in motion picture history, but I liked it, and so it ends up being a reminder of what the film could have been. I wanted to go back to being the person who had just started the film and still thought that maybe the shock-based opening scene would be an accurate indicator of what was to follow. But instead I'm left with what the movie actually is, which isn't horrible, but should prove to be way less memorable than the out-there elements. It's not overly original, at one point managing to rip off Saw and Scream in one swoop. But such things are forgivable as long as I don't find myself begging for a dull film to end, and it never came to that with this one.
At the end of the reel, the most I can say about Mockingbird is that I didn't find myself immensely bored. That may not sound like booming praise, mainly because it isn't, but it's more than I can say for several found footage films I've viewed. This is not a film that does the subgenre honorable justice, but it doesn't throw in your face what can go wrong with the style either. In all truth, Mockingbird feels like a standard horror film that simply decided to go the FF route. You could do worse, but with the popularity of the V/H/S series, even the most mild horror fan knows that they can do better.
P.J. Griffin, HMS
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