The found footage genre has been slowly going away as I haven’t seen many found footage films being released lately. When I came across “Capture Kill Release”, this looked different from most found footage films because of its subject matter.
The film is about a couple (Jennifer Fraser, Farhang Ghajar) who are out to film their murder of a stranger. They begin to plot and film every detail on how they are going to carry horrific plan. What they don’t know is the price they will pay emotionally, if they carry out their plans. The film has won many awards including best director at Shriekfest and Horrorquest Horror Film Festvials.
Sometimes there are films that are tough to watch due to the subject matter and violence. “Capture Kill Release is one of those films as the violence and subject matter was done in way that the violence is hard to watch but its also effective in getting a reaction.
Most of the credit to why this film was very good was from directors Nick McAnulty and Brain Allan Stewart. I liked how the two made sure the film was filmed from the character’s point of view and using the found footage route to make the story work. It made the violence in the film come off as shocking. I also kept getting an uneasy and frightening reaction as I watched this film. It made the horror aspects work so well on screen. The other thing that makes the direction great was the acting. Both of the directors made sure that the performances had a realistic tone to them. It gave me chills watching the main characters as they came off as terrifying. It also helps that both Jennifer Fraser and Farhang Ghajar turn in very good performances here as they made their characters very terrifying. This is one of those films where the performances need to be very good in order for the film to succeed like it did here.
The screenplay written by McAnulty was very good as this was frightening from start to finish. One of the things that makes the screenplay good was the fact that this story is told from the point of view of the main characters. It helped added to the shock value, as I was cringing at the violence that was taking place. The other thing that it does well is have a screenplay that focuses on the main characters. He makes sure that aspect is handled in a way that its important to the story. By doing that, McAnulty does a good job making sure the characters have certain traits that it makes you terrified seeing them on screen because these aren’t likeable characters as the action is horrific and your sick to your stomach.
This is a film not for everyone as it’s ultraviolent and has scenes that will make you turn away from the screen. But with its great direction and very good performances from Jennifer Fraser and Farhang Ghajar, “Capture Kill Release” will go down as one of the most shocking films you’ll see all year.
Review Rating: Five Stars.
