Film 12 - Devil's Due

Devil's Due - 21/01/2014

Cannibal Holocaust, Blair Witch Project, Cloverfield and Paranormal Activity are to blame for directors and film makers feeling that the found footage films are easy to make. 

Like any horror movie, as described in Scream, there are rules you need to follow to create a successful Found Footage Film:

1) There must be a reason for continuously filming.  If the camera is on then there must be a reason for it.   

2) Don't bore the audience with 40 mins of mundane footage
3) Ensure that the found footage can/is actually found!
4) make the characters filming relatable and enjoyable

With Devil's Due, the first 40 minutes of the film are based on a young couples wedding and honeymoon in the Dominican Republic.  Whilst on their last night they decide to party in a club recommended by their taxi driver.  Whilst at the party, too many drinks are had and a satanic ritual is performed on the newlywed and they wake up in their hotel room the day after with no recollection of the night.  At this point, the first thing I would do would be to check the video footage of said night to see what antics I got up to....but no, the first time this footage is checked is 20 weeks into a suspicious pregnancy of the lead female.  Since when do people come back from a holiday after recording so much video footage, to just shove it in a drawer and never look at it?

The next section of the film does not have many scenes for actually filming using their camcorder, so becomes a POV movie ,using some CCTV footage but lots of hidden security camera footage. Which begs the question, how was the footage found? If the hidden security camera's (placed by the satanic group) are removed then how is the footage found?

All the characters from the film are dull, boring and do not relate to what is actually happening.  The footage the film is never reviewed by them to effect

The film would have worked a lot better as an actual film.  This was a try at replicating The Omen, Rosemary's Baby or It's Alive and bring it to the "new" style of horror.

A dull film with no horror or jumps,  and it breaks my four rules of Found Footage Films!