The Outwaters

Grade: B-

The Blair Witch Project spawned numerous “found footage” movies since 1999. We can now add The Outwaters to that extensive list. A downside of the FF genre is it often raises the question “Why are they continuing to film this?” The Outwaters also made me ask “HOW are they continuing to film this?” By the end, our main character is bloodied up, staggering naked through the desert, driven to insanity and delirium, and has made some extremely grisly adjustments to his body – yet he’s still operating that camera just fine.

Not much happens in the first 45 minutes or so. We are introduced to the characters. They all have the same first name as the actors playing them. Robbie Banfitch is the writer, director, and star. He, along with Ange, Michelle, and his “brother” Scott (brothers in the movie, but not real life) are flying to the Mojave Desert to film a music video. The first half of The Outwaters is basically them getting to know each other, and all that leads up to them arriving at the desert, while Robbie films everything. A mistake the movie makes is having sound cues continue uninterrupted through multiple shots and takes – something that wouldn’t happen in a true crude “film as you go” situation. But I enjoyed the feel of the opening part, as these likable characters are established.

In the desert, they hear strange sounds at night. A recurring pop sound, like thunder or fireworks, and distant screams that sound like human screams. Most of the second half of the movie has very limited visibility. The audience is in the dark, in more ways than one, as all we see is what the flashlight can show us. We don’t know what’s happening (I can’t wait to go on Reddit and read theories from people who magically have it all figured out), but something is certainly very very wrong.

We lose track of Scott, Ange, and Michelle, and mostly follow Robbie, as he’s the one with the camera, which he of course keeps rolling no matter what happens. I was about to write that he has hallucinations, but then I remembered that we see them too. The camera doesn’t lie, right? It’s an impartial observer, there to capture everything exactly how it happens. It’s an interesting thought. I think most of the budget went towards the blood. There is so much – on the tent, on the ground, on people. Without understanding what’s going on, the quick flashes of bloody things and people sometimes lose their effectiveness.

It all became quite futile near the end, as the realization sunk in that we’re not getting any more information. Then it became a case of “can we wrap this up?” It’s impossible not to think of The Blair Witch Project, especially when Robbie shines the flashlight on his face in extreme close-up. The Outwaters also made me think of Picnic at Hanging Rock and David Lynch’s Inland Empire. I liked it better than Inland Empire.

I am slightly recommending The Outwaters. For all its weird incompleteness, it sustains interest and terror. It takes a special kind of mind to think of doing something like this, however bare-bones and unexplained it might be. Imagine how unstoppable Mr. Banfitch would be if he were to get backing from a major studio. I hope that happens, and this is a budding career I will keep an eye on. For something that looks like a project for film class, well done. Now go get a budget and a cohesive idea and make a real movie.

Grade: B-