The found footage genre gained traction in the states with The Blair Witch Project, a scratchy camcorder-fuzzed terror about a film major getting more than she bargained for. Following in those footsteps – and in fact stepping quite beyond Blair Witch’s trail – is Japanese director Kōji Shiraishi’s fifth film. This pseudo-VHS rip spells major bad vibes from the very first scene, where you learn the director of the fictional doc you’re about to watch died in a house fire alongside his wife. What plays out over the short but never sweet 115-minute runtime are slow-burn scares of the metaphysical variety. Drafthouse drops screenings this Monday and Wednesday, but no sweat if you miss ’em. This is one scary movie that plays very well on a home screen with all the lights off. – James Scott
May 5 & 7
