The Bay - `Different' does not necessarily mean good (sadly)

Hollywood is churning out `found footage' films as if they were the only genre left available to film-makers. Yes, as the Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity proved, they are cheap to make and therefore they can offer a huge return on your investment if you get it right.

You can't look through the horror shelves in a DVD store without seeing many taglines such as `they were never seen again, this is the last footage ever recorded.' Although The Bay clearly falls into the same `found footage' genre, it does try to do its best to be different.

Instead of a nauseating cameraman/woman constantly shaking the camera and running through woods while screaming, The Bay consists of someone trying to compile an online documentary about an incident where numerous people lost their lives in suspicious circumstances. As least, by doing this, you will never yell at the screen "Just turn the camera off and run!" or "Why are you still filming this?" Here, the `found footage' consists of CCTV footage from police cars, home movies, Skype conversations etc.

The main problem I had with this film is that, although it does succeed in presenting itself in a different way, there was just no real characterisation. We're treated to one interview-type scene after a next. Unlike other `found footage' films, there's not just three characters we can get to know (as they scream and run away from things we can't see). I never thought I'd miss them, but I did. Instead, there's just too many to care about. We only ever see characters either dying, or talking into camera as part of an interview.

Yes, there are some nicely done gory moments, but they really aren't worth watching the whole film (and I use that term lightly - it's more like a documentary) for. If you really want to sit through another `found footage' film, then you might get something out of this. However, just because it's well-presented and acted, doesn't actually make it enjoyable. I found it pretty boring as there was little story to follow, only a kind of blatantly ecological message that wouldn't be out of place in Avatar.

4/10 You can watch this film while you're doing the ironing (you'll still get the general gist of it)