Welcome to the nineties, I wrote this review initially on an actual notepad with a pen, due to my internet being out for a few days. Thankfully service has resumed. After watching Infrared the other week I got a yearning for found footage horrors, and so I chose Skew (written and directed by Sevé Schlenz - Peelers), a film I have owned on DVD for many years, yet never gotten around to watching. I perhaps unfairly expected this would be a very generic 'by-the-numbers' found footage, and in some respects it was. It did however also have an effectively creepy atmosphere.
Simon (Rob Scattergood - Peelers, Deathdate) is heading on a road trip with his best friend Rich (Richard Oak - Peelers) and his girlfriend, Eva (Amber Lewis - Batwoman TV series) and has decided to bring along his new camcorder for the ride. Simon's girlfriend Laura was also meant to be coming, but for some undisclosed reason has decided not to. Much to the annoyance of his friends, Simon films everything, and due to this he becomes disturbed to realise that nearly everyone filmed on his camera ends up dead. While Rich is unbelieving, Simon gets increasingly paranoid that something really is up with his camera. Not wanting to be caught on camera himself for fear of succumbing to the apparent curse, he feels no other option but to be the one recording the events.
This was certainly a found footage entry that felt it was from its time. It has moments of dizzying shaky cam footage and plenty of artificial looking camera glitches throughout. I never understood why people felt the need to do that effect in this types of film. It felt like The Blair Witch Project if it had instead revolved around a road trip instead of people lost in a wood. The trio may not be lost and they may never be far from civilisation, but events get increasingly bizarre for them. A motel clerk at a motel they are staying at is shot dead, a service station they visit burns down not long after they leave, and a tourist bus they film ends up on the front page of the newspaper the next day after it crashes killing all onboard. Maybe all coincidental, but possibly not.
There is no typical opening screen of text saying how the footage was found, instead this appears to be raw footage, and has several points where the footage is rewound to replay scenes, and even a long rewind that goes even earlier than the start of the movie right at the end.
There is no typical opening screen of text saying how the footage was found, instead this appears to be raw footage, and has several points where the footage is rewound to replay scenes, and even a long rewind that goes even earlier than the start of the movie right at the end.
It is never explicitly stated if what is going on is really to do with a cursed camera, it is never clear if what is being recorded on film is actually real, or if we are being shown things from an unreliable narrator. Effects pop up throughout, typically involve a The Ring style morphing effect over characters faces to indicate they are next to die. Simon also repeatedly gets jump scares of victims reappearing as ghosts running at the camera, which are not there when the footage is rewound.
There is a small cast, with the three friends being the focal point. As key a character as Simon is, he is the one filming the majority of the movie so only appears fleetingly on camera. There was a love triangle going on, silently portrayed by the lingering shots of Eva shown in the footage. With Rich drinking heavily in the evenings, and being a mean drunk there was often a feeling of menace and hostility which felt real. While it was silly that Simon just wouldn't stop filming at all, it made more sense if he was affected by the camera's curse. This one hook is what made Skew feel different to others of its type.
There is a small cast, with the three friends being the focal point. As key a character as Simon is, he is the one filming the majority of the movie so only appears fleetingly on camera. There was a love triangle going on, silently portrayed by the lingering shots of Eva shown in the footage. With Rich drinking heavily in the evenings, and being a mean drunk there was often a feeling of menace and hostility which felt real. While it was silly that Simon just wouldn't stop filming at all, it made more sense if he was affected by the camera's curse. This one hook is what made Skew feel different to others of its type.
In many ways this was a traditional found footage horror that steps a few times into more generic moments associated with the early days of the genre. This was elevated from some good directing and a story that had enough to it to be intriguing. It was a bit of a shame that the ending felt a bit laboured and overlong but I appreciate what it was trying to indicate. I was in the mood for a found footage horror and Skew scratched that itch. Not without its issues but this was a decent entry in the genre.
SCORE:
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