This started out strong with a woman coming back from the dead able to heal the sick and make the crippled walk. This miracle worker is worshipped in this little town with more and more people vowing that she is God on Earth. As she demands more and more from her followers it's obvious that God has nothing to do with her. Punishment for not believing is spending eternity in a closed coffin, taking place over a few minutes. Then, the movie fell apart. It turned into a zombie/demon apocalypse with everyone coming back from their self-imposed death to kill the actual living in a zombie/demon fashion. The ending was your typical last guy standing screaming into the camera as he dies. Half the movie was good and the second half sucked. Hence the 5 rating.
10 Reviews
Some decent elements, but felt like it would never end
jenniferclark16 January 2024
Warning: Spoilers
Once you get past the cheesy low budget acting, there are some good parts to this movie. Some creepy scenes and the guy who played Chris was great and genuinely creepy. Chad's mum was also a good character/ actor.
But the last 30 minutes felt like 4 hours, I thought it was never going to end. Just non stop running and screaming and shakey camera. I got bored.
The girl, Katie, was pretty annoying in the 2nd half just constantly crying. I was relieved when they finally all died.
Wren the 3 of them were trying to hide, why did they seem to make as much noise as humanly possible? Stop screaming and make a plan maybe.
But the last 30 minutes felt like 4 hours, I thought it was never going to end. Just non stop running and screaming and shakey camera. I got bored.
The girl, Katie, was pretty annoying in the 2nd half just constantly crying. I was relieved when they finally all died.
Wren the 3 of them were trying to hide, why did they seem to make as much noise as humanly possible? Stop screaming and make a plan maybe.
Highly enjoyable found footage
Rancid_Planet24 April 2022
If you enjoy found footage then give this one a watch. All the hallmarks of good, low budget found footage. Actors trying their ass off. A really fun concept of a story. It starts off strong and finishes really strong.
Godforsaken
BandSAboutMovies25 March 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Filmed in Harriston, Ontario, Canada - the hometown of star Chad Tailor - this movie uses some found footage to show the story of a documentary crew who has come to town to learn how and why a dead woman rose from her coffin during her funeral and behaved like some possessed demon.
Seeing how this girl is the childhood friend of one of the filmmakers, this combines that oary nugget we see so often - someone trying to go back home - with possession and found footage, which is what it takes to get a film streaming.
Godforsaken was directed and written by Ali Akbar Akbar Kamal (who directed 2016's Faceless and is working on a movie titled Once Upon a Time In Afghanistan) who said, "Growing up in a religious community in the Middle East, I always had a fascination with other worldly beings. As a child I would often hear things like "You will burn for eternity if you commit a sin" or "You will go blind if you question God." All of which struck terror in my heart.
As a horror fan I always found that feeling of terror to be captivating. The fear of unknown beings that hold unlimited power over us. I wrote Godforsaken with that fear in mind. Our objective was to make a movie that touches on those feelings but most importantly I wanted to make something that was fun and exciting to watch."
Seeing how this girl is the childhood friend of one of the filmmakers, this combines that oary nugget we see so often - someone trying to go back home - with possession and found footage, which is what it takes to get a film streaming.
Godforsaken was directed and written by Ali Akbar Akbar Kamal (who directed 2016's Faceless and is working on a movie titled Once Upon a Time In Afghanistan) who said, "Growing up in a religious community in the Middle East, I always had a fascination with other worldly beings. As a child I would often hear things like "You will burn for eternity if you commit a sin" or "You will go blind if you question God." All of which struck terror in my heart.
As a horror fan I always found that feeling of terror to be captivating. The fear of unknown beings that hold unlimited power over us. I wrote Godforsaken with that fear in mind. Our objective was to make a movie that touches on those feelings but most importantly I wanted to make something that was fun and exciting to watch."
A highly-enjoyable found-footage zombie film
kannibalcorpsegrinder20 April 2022
After hearing reports of religious phenomenon, a man and his friends head to the small-town at the center of the reports to investigate the incidents, but the more they investigate the claims for their documentary the more they uncover a deadly secret is about to be unleashed putting them in jeopardy.
This here was a decent enough found-footage effort. Among the big parts to like here is the fun setup that gets this going, focusing on the resurrection of the body at the funeral which suitably and realistically sends everyone screaming in a hysteria over what's going on. That this is treated as a mystical and truly unexpected sequence with the screaming and chaos at the scene is a rather unique touch which is pulled off well. The desire to document this and explore what's going on brings them into the town where they begin to witness other bizarre features including people who were paralyzed suddenly able to walk or behave in completely unexpected manners than how they were behaving before. This all creates a fantastic setup that's highly enjoyable and rather ominous in terms of religious fervor. However, in the second half this one takes a nice turn and shifts away from the kind of expected setups to turn into a rather fun cult/zombie film hybrid. The setup of the worshippers looking forward to her every movement and reaction with a rabid fanaticism isn't that new and feels entirely believable, the fun starts when this shows off the fact that their members are turned into ravenous zombie-like beings that try to convert more into their ranks which carries on the cult-like mentality on display from before. This leads into a highly enjoyable and likable series of chases throughout the community which is made all the more tense and vicious for the use of the found-footage style here that makes it all up close and visceral to match the bloodshed and gore on display. These are what make this one so enjoyable. There are some minor drawbacks to be had with this one. Like most found-footage films, the pacing to this one is set up to the point where the action is mainly relegated to the final half which can make the beginning to this one somewhat taxing to get through. As the focus comes off more on the build-up of their relationship together and getting to the point of the religious incidents that hardly anything thrilling happens. Being that all of this is cliched and uninvolved carries on throughout the rest of this one as the majority of the time it comes off with that feeling. A lot of this comes from the decision to do the shaky-camera style from found-footage in the overall setup so it's not that big of an issue but does stand out somewhat holding this down.
Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.
This here was a decent enough found-footage effort. Among the big parts to like here is the fun setup that gets this going, focusing on the resurrection of the body at the funeral which suitably and realistically sends everyone screaming in a hysteria over what's going on. That this is treated as a mystical and truly unexpected sequence with the screaming and chaos at the scene is a rather unique touch which is pulled off well. The desire to document this and explore what's going on brings them into the town where they begin to witness other bizarre features including people who were paralyzed suddenly able to walk or behave in completely unexpected manners than how they were behaving before. This all creates a fantastic setup that's highly enjoyable and rather ominous in terms of religious fervor. However, in the second half this one takes a nice turn and shifts away from the kind of expected setups to turn into a rather fun cult/zombie film hybrid. The setup of the worshippers looking forward to her every movement and reaction with a rabid fanaticism isn't that new and feels entirely believable, the fun starts when this shows off the fact that their members are turned into ravenous zombie-like beings that try to convert more into their ranks which carries on the cult-like mentality on display from before. This leads into a highly enjoyable and likable series of chases throughout the community which is made all the more tense and vicious for the use of the found-footage style here that makes it all up close and visceral to match the bloodshed and gore on display. These are what make this one so enjoyable. There are some minor drawbacks to be had with this one. Like most found-footage films, the pacing to this one is set up to the point where the action is mainly relegated to the final half which can make the beginning to this one somewhat taxing to get through. As the focus comes off more on the build-up of their relationship together and getting to the point of the religious incidents that hardly anything thrilling happens. Being that all of this is cliched and uninvolved carries on throughout the rest of this one as the majority of the time it comes off with that feeling. A lot of this comes from the decision to do the shaky-camera style from found-footage in the overall setup so it's not that big of an issue but does stand out somewhat holding this down.
Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.
solid found footage zombie/demon film
Karnaige29 May 2022
For a low budget it's very well done. The makeup is solid and thr acting is actually quit believable. Obviously not perfect and a little cheesy sometimes. Still makes
me wonder why most of these kind of films are so poor when it doesn't seem tough to pull off.
Has good bones but lacks some meat - no pun intended
mediaphyter-1293529 January 2024
Cool twist conceptually. Low budget do no high expectations there but the acting - especially the mom - was terrible. If that could've been a tiny but more convincing this would be a strong contender for a solid atmospheric found footage horror.
It was original in how it combines a few genres of horror into found footage that you don't often see, or see done well. The set up for the story was very unsettling but then it looses steam at the end when you hit trope after trope. But if you're a found footage junkie like me who will watch anything in the sub, then you'll enjoy this, even if it doesn't give you the amazing suspension of disbelief that you need to feel the tension it tries to build.
It was original in how it combines a few genres of horror into found footage that you don't often see, or see done well. The set up for the story was very unsettling but then it looses steam at the end when you hit trope after trope. But if you're a found footage junkie like me who will watch anything in the sub, then you'll enjoy this, even if it doesn't give you the amazing suspension of disbelief that you need to feel the tension it tries to build.
LOVED IT!!
horrorhomo25 April 2022
There are A LOT of bad found footage movies out there but I try and watch them all because it is my favorite sub genre. Godforsaken really blew me out of the water. The last 40 minutes of this movie is absolutely insane! Great movie to watch with friends in the dark.
A fresh take on well-digested horror genre
Armin_Nikkhah_Shirazi15 June 2023
GODFORSAKEN is a found footage horror movie which during its first few minutes begins like many others in terms of exposition, but then takes a sharp left turn. A woman resurrects at her own funeral, but she seems menacing and growling and then runs away. A few days later, a documentary crew arrives in town to make a film about this event, while ever stranger things keep happening in the locale.
The movie can be fairly divided into two halves: the first plays like a mystery movie, whereas the second is straight-up horror. Actually, this kind of structure is not that uncommon in the horror genre, and especially found footage horror: a "quiet" first half kind of gets us settled down before we are jolted up by the shock of the events in the second. The first movie I saw for which I became aware of this sort of dichotomous quiet-intense structure is Takashi Miike's excellent AUDITION (1999). Also, all of Eli Roth's movies follow it.
So while this kind of structure is not new, rarely has the first half of a horror movie been so nicely constructed as a mystery story. I was genuinely wondering where the movie was going with it. Once the mystery is basically cleared up, the second half begins. It turns out that it also delivers strongly on what it is supposed to do. It contains some of the most intense found footage horror sequences this side of REC (2007), which is in my opinion still the best found footage horror movie around.
Here comes now a major spoiler:
I loved the novel twist on the Zombie genre. There are probably thousands of zombie movies around, and after this story, I am left to wonder why this type of idea had not been realized before (to my knowledge). There have been occasional innovations in the Zombie genre, most prominently the "running zombies" of the RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (1985) franchise, which ended up being practically universally adopted. Others, like the surprisingly creepy "silent" zombies in the found footage film THE NIGHT EATS THE WORLD (2018) were not widely copied. The innovation in GODFORSAKEN has to do with the religiously-themed way that townsfolk initially become victims. Why can people not come up with interesting variations on a well-worn concept more often?
Be that as it may, almost all the actors did a good job, and since most of the characters came across as likable, we care about them when they are in danger. There were some moments that strained credulity in terms of a character in severe danger who still bothers to film, but really not any more than most other found footage horror films.
My only real criticism is that the movie ends in a cliched way. Just before watching this movie, I had seen the found footage movie, M. O. M (2020), a really good take on the topic of psychopathic kids, and one of its greatest strengths was that the ending defied expectations. I suspect that a more innovative ending in GODFORSAKEN would have left the audience with a better impression of what is really a very good horror movie.
The movie can be fairly divided into two halves: the first plays like a mystery movie, whereas the second is straight-up horror. Actually, this kind of structure is not that uncommon in the horror genre, and especially found footage horror: a "quiet" first half kind of gets us settled down before we are jolted up by the shock of the events in the second. The first movie I saw for which I became aware of this sort of dichotomous quiet-intense structure is Takashi Miike's excellent AUDITION (1999). Also, all of Eli Roth's movies follow it.
So while this kind of structure is not new, rarely has the first half of a horror movie been so nicely constructed as a mystery story. I was genuinely wondering where the movie was going with it. Once the mystery is basically cleared up, the second half begins. It turns out that it also delivers strongly on what it is supposed to do. It contains some of the most intense found footage horror sequences this side of REC (2007), which is in my opinion still the best found footage horror movie around.
Here comes now a major spoiler:
I loved the novel twist on the Zombie genre. There are probably thousands of zombie movies around, and after this story, I am left to wonder why this type of idea had not been realized before (to my knowledge). There have been occasional innovations in the Zombie genre, most prominently the "running zombies" of the RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD (1985) franchise, which ended up being practically universally adopted. Others, like the surprisingly creepy "silent" zombies in the found footage film THE NIGHT EATS THE WORLD (2018) were not widely copied. The innovation in GODFORSAKEN has to do with the religiously-themed way that townsfolk initially become victims. Why can people not come up with interesting variations on a well-worn concept more often?
Be that as it may, almost all the actors did a good job, and since most of the characters came across as likable, we care about them when they are in danger. There were some moments that strained credulity in terms of a character in severe danger who still bothers to film, but really not any more than most other found footage horror films.
My only real criticism is that the movie ends in a cliched way. Just before watching this movie, I had seen the found footage movie, M. O. M (2020), a really good take on the topic of psychopathic kids, and one of its greatest strengths was that the ending defied expectations. I suspect that a more innovative ending in GODFORSAKEN would have left the audience with a better impression of what is really a very good horror movie.
Wow, sorta redefines the Zombie genre.
ranwulfs14 June 2022
While it's true found footage has been done to death (pun intended) this latecomer has to be one of the scariest I've ever seen, and I've seen 'em all. "Godforsaken" is a terrifying little gem out of the Great White North, and proof Canada can produce some scary stuff. After a delightfully disturbing start, it heads out in a completely unexpected direction, gradually building up to a terrifying final 20 minutes or so that is absolutely relentless and had me muting my television and (I'll admit it) covering my eyes more than once. After "28 Days Later" rewrote the rules, I'm completely surprised someone was able to add yet another layer to zombie lore. The writing was a very good, though sometimes the characters would do something that left me wondering if in their particular universe zombie movies don't exist. But anyway, the acting was substantially better than something with a budget this small had any right to be - no little thing when it comes to "watch-ability," if that's a word. Anyway - definitely worth a look if you're in the market for something different that just might scare the pants off of you.
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