Hooptober X: The Devil Made Me Do It
#8: 1 something is underground film
Tubi

I'd watched this on YouTube years ago, but the picture quality was terrible (even for found footage) and I watched it at my desk while doing something else. Not surprisingly, I never got into it. This time I gave it a proper watch and enjoyed it much more.

I love the premise. I'm big on abandoned places, underground places and hidden communities, so this story hooked me. Abandoned subway tunnels? Homeless encampments living underground? I'm in. I understand they really did film this in subway tunnels underneath Sydney and I really got the feeling they were in an expansive and dangerous place. Makes me wonder about the real story.

What took me out a little bit was that several characters are being interviewed about what happened, so right off the bat we know that only a few of the main characters die. I'm used to seeing everyone die in films like this. They honestly could've used the talking head/mockumentary portions but just leave the survivors' stories until the very end. That would've been more effective.

The other thing that took me out of it was the scene where the killer/creature picks up the camera and films the main characters. Up until that point we only knew it as some vaguely humanoid, feral beast with incredible strength and speed. While it was a cool gag to show they were being watched, it seemed really forced that this monster would know how to operate a camera at all, let alone cheekily film our protagonists and then put it down for them to discover.

Overall it's a fun ride and I'm glad I gave it a real shot. The characters are likable enough, and different enough that they're not just monster fodder. The camerawork was good -- the characters are supposed to be professional film and sound guys, and it felt like that -- the camera wasn't overly shaky, and you could actually hear the dialog. The one scare where they replayed the monster's noises was really eerie.