The latest from director Robbie Banfitch, The Outwaters, starts slow just like any found-footage film, but quickly evolves into a blood-soaked and tantalizing horror experience.
The film sees four companions go into the Mojave Desert to shoot a psychedelic music video but end up being sucked into a nightmare after they start to deal with strange occurrences. They begin to hear eerie noises in the night and cameraman Robbie (Banfitch) even comes across a man shrouded in shadows wielding a hatchet. Before they’re able to escape, though, Robbie and his friends are transported into a gory cosmic fight for their sanity, filled with trippy visuals and worm-like creatures that are downright skin-crawling.
The Outwaters initially suffers from an issue that plagues most found-footage films: a rough and kind of boring introduction to the characters. Its attempts for fun interactions are either hit or miss and you can’t help but simply want to get to the good parts you know are coming. After all, it’s not like many of the story threads and potential conflicts actively stay important once the film delves deep into its horrors. To be honest, most of the storytelling becomes incredibly abstract once things get bloody and it makes most of the early moments a little pointless. Also, watching this group simply talk, having some practice for their video shoot, and walk around the desert gets boring quick.
Thankfully, the horror of The Outwaters is pretty top-notch and showcases some shocking moments that leave you totally unsettled. As said before, the story eventually goes so far off the rails and abstract that it could lose viewers—especially with how slow the first act is. However, the technical aspects of The Outwaters are so strong that it becomes hypnotizing to watch its depravity unfold. The 911 call the film opens on is all kinds of chilling, with the distorted dialogue and the way it makes your mind imagine what’s happening. Banfitch actually does a great job of never revealing too much to the audience by narrowing the light source and using the found-footage perspective to limit the vision effectively.
Once The Outwaters brings its characters into its vision of blood and terror, it takes viewers on a slowly building trip into pure insanity and cosmic gore. The weird, worm-like creatures that are constantly terrorizing Robbie are just gross and their squeals are literally haunting. The film is soaked in blood for most of its runtime and it ultimately leads to some stomach-churning moments of gore and brutality that define “Hell on Earth.” There are also some gory moments that are tough to brush off and one act in the film’s final moments that shows how far things have gotten. It’s every man’s worst nightmare and the film holds nothing back in building towards a gut-wrenching finale that leaves you stunned.
Banfitch concocts a good amount of great horror that consistently drifts into wilder and more unimaginable frights. The visuals bring a strong cosmic feel with how hypnotic they can be and the Mojave Desert has a strong, otherworldly feel that works in the film’s favor. The editing from Banfitch also succeeds in catching viewers off-guard with how he’ll suddenly cut to something horrifying. With the editing mixing with the great sound design well, the film has strong jump scares that feel satisfying and are very effective in instilling constant fear.
The Outwaters may not have a strong enough story to keep most viewers around, but for horror junkies, its incredibly surreal atmosphere and slow descent into unfiltered gory madness will make it tough to pass up. It doesn’t change the game for found-footage films in the horror genre, but The Outwaters is a harrowing entry that adds new energy to the sub-genre.
