Infrared – Review
89 Minutes, Not Rated
Written and Directed by Robert Livings and Randy Nundlall Jr.
Synopsis:
A paranormal investigator and his production crew gain access to a mysterious, abandoned school but when the thrilling haunt turns deadly, the team must race to uncover the terrifying truth before they become the school’s next victims.
Well, shit.
Another day, another found footage-horror movie.
Don’t get me wrong; sometimes these can be pulled off in a decent enough way, though doing a truly exceptional one seems to be becoming more and more difficult the farther in time we move away from the granddaddy of them all, The Blair Witch Project, which set the bar so ridiculously high, having never been seen before, that everything can’t help but feel derivative.
In Infrared‘s case, however, this derivativity (is that a word? It is now.) is compounded by its all-too-similar feel to the Conjuring films, with an estranged brother-sister combination replacing the loving husband-wife of that far superior universe.
Throw in a manipulative producer bringing together the aforementioned siblings, who seem to operate at opposite ends of both the moral and ability spectrum when it comes to their behaviors in the supernatural investigation field, and you can see why there might be some tension when Isabelle (Izzy) shows up on the set of an unstable Wes’ floundering investigative show at the behest of said producer.
Why is he unstable? Wes was confronted by a demon at a recent “cleansing” about a boy he “killed” in a previous adventure, a claim he calls a lie when asked by the producer about it, so his already shaky confidence has taken a hit, being reminded of a tragic failure.
Look, all of that predictability might be forgivable if the rest of the movie was any good. We get very little paranormal activity overall, as the bro-sis and crew navigate a supposedly haunted school. Instead, we are gifted to scene after scene of Wes blowing his takes to camera, complaining about Izzy being there at all, and Izzy nonsensically trying to both talk Wes off the emotional ledge he’s and get him back to doing the show: the very thing that’s driving him crazy.
Oh, and “Infrared?” Well, we’re told early on that it’s very important, because sometimes an infrared lens can discern supernatural phenomena the naked eye or normal lens cannot.
And then we don’t see any infrared footage until the last 10 minutes or so, by which time it has become blindingly clear what exactly is going on and the whole conceit doesn’t even matter anymore. If you’ve been paying a modicum of attention, you know who the ghost is, who the villain is, and what’s going to happen, even before the first use of the titular Infrared.
What could have been a gimmick used similarly to Thirteen Ghosts is instead effectively relegated to red herring status. It’s a MacGuffin, though one which doesn’t go completely unexplored, simply one which doesn’t matter.
The biggest problem with Infrared is that it feels like what it is: a film shot during Covid, when personnel and opportunities have been stripped to the bare minimum, so unless your project is starting out at a level with can take the hits of money, time, and development, it quickly drops below the quality waterline.
That’s a rather wordy way of saying that I’ve watched a lot of movies in the last two years that have obviously been affected by Covid’s influence on human behavior, and some of them have germs of ideas which probably would have made decent (not great, but decent) films in any other era.
But we’re not in any other era, are we?
And so, though I see what might have been with Infrared, I have to judge it on what it is, and that is something underwritten, undercooked, and, in some regards, a bit overpleased with itself.
I wish, I really do, that this was a better film, but it’s not. It’s not terrible, but it should have been so much more.
If I needed to pick one thing I was truly pleased about in Infrared, it would have to be Leah Finity‘s performance as Isabelle. Despite the script working against her, her performance as the Lorraine Warren-type was believable and effective, and I think she’s got some real talent.
Infrared will be available on Digital Platforms beginning July 22, on Terror Films Channel July 29, and on Kings of Horror August 5.
Infrared stars Jesse Janzen, Leah Finity, and Greg Sestero.
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