Typical found-footage horror movie. Another movie where exactly four people are camping in the woods and they started hearing strange noises. Of course the camera goes out every time that it focuses on something that is supposed to be scary. It's the same exact movie that I've watched in the found footage genre about 20 times already, whether it be Bigfoot, aliens, ghosts, whatever. They need to come up with some new plots where this genre that I once really enjoyed is going to die.
16 Reviews
Steady boy
shingiti-3708023 October 2020
The acting was passable
lindalozar24 May 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Let's just say the acting was passable. So, no real problems there. Aldo, don't believe the IMdB synopsis. There is NO 36" snowfall trapping them in their tents. Minor snow, but no 3 ft blizzard.
The rest? Typical found footage. In this case, instead of late teens/early 20s, we have late 20s/early 30s. Two men/two women. The guys have known each other forever, the ladies, kinda. Typical characters, though. The tough guy, three women, takes who ever may be available even though he does have a steady. The other, budding film guy. Series on the web, developing one for regular channels. The women are your stereotypical females. Strong, confident until trouble hits, then weak & unable to think for themselves.
The aliens were not much more than a dummy in a fridge & bright lights with weird noises. That was it. Supposedly they cannot escape from the area, but they're doing this in the early morning hours when it's pitch black out. No flashlights & no reasonable way of keeping on track with getting out.
Is this movie fixable? Possibly. The biggest fix would be to shorten it by about 15 min. Would it detract? No, it would tighten it up & make it better. The biggest problem for FF movies is not the bad acting, the lousy camera angles, the shaky cameras, out of focus, they don't help. It's the simple fact that they believe we want every shaky angle, every close up, every weepy, snot running apology or explanation.
Overall, it's not a bad watch, but too long, too tedious, & too tired.
It could've been worse but I don't know how.
S_Soma3 December 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Plot line: four people go to the woods in the Catskills and, after some bad behavior and drunken arguments, get jumped by space aliens which we never really see. Everybody runs around the woods in the dark at random while "emoting". Everybody gets dead after acting poorly for a long time. The end.
There isn't anything about found footage films that necessarily PRECLUDES such films from being good movies, but that is certainly the way things work out most of the time. CATSKILL PARK is all but conclusive proof of that statement.
What really seems to attract a would-be filmmaker to the found footage format is that you can make a movie for $5.42. Helping to keep the budget down (way, way, WAY down) is the nauseating little collection of stylistic copouts that have risen up around the genre to ENSURE that the budget STAYS down.
For example, the usual budget-killer of the paranormal or pseudo Science Fiction movie, the staggering costs of special-effects, can be completely dispensed with in the found footage movie. Any time the ghost or monster or flying saucer or space alien or whatever the thingy-du-jour may be for the movie at hand, the camera ALWAYS malfunctions whenever they come near. Because, you know, that's the effect they have on electronics and stuff. oooOOOoo! So for special-effects, just get a couple of cheap rubber masks at Walmart around Halloween and you're done. Hell, you could just draw a crummy face in lipstick on the bottom of a frying pan and no one would be the wiser. Nobody gets to see anything anyway.
And because it's found footage, no need to waste money on a good writer for a decent story. Most actors are desperate for employment so just give them a rough outline similar to what they've done thousands of times with "three-on-a-stage" while trying to "perfect their craft", along with a few emotive notes, and you're good to go.
And two or three cell phones with some passable built-in cameras and you have all the equipment you need. Almost anybody can be Ed Wood for a day. For cinéma vérité, you can even dress in women's clothing and a cashmere sweater and get the full experience.
CATSKILL PARK is an awful picture that should never have been made. It exploits the genre in every manner possible to dispense with any filmmaking art in every possible dimension. The only slightly redeeming element to the movie AT ALL is that there are OCCASIONALLY some creepy alien sounds that aren't terrible. Although, by the tenth time you've heard the same sounds, it does wear thin.
To be clear, the horribleness of this movie is not an intrinsic result of the fact that it is found footage. The horribleness of this movie is that a bunch of people invested NOTHING in their own movie hoping to make money for nothing. Wanting to make money is okay. Trying to do nothing worthwhile to get it is not. That's the moral HERE.
There isn't anything about found footage films that necessarily PRECLUDES such films from being good movies, but that is certainly the way things work out most of the time. CATSKILL PARK is all but conclusive proof of that statement.
What really seems to attract a would-be filmmaker to the found footage format is that you can make a movie for $5.42. Helping to keep the budget down (way, way, WAY down) is the nauseating little collection of stylistic copouts that have risen up around the genre to ENSURE that the budget STAYS down.
For example, the usual budget-killer of the paranormal or pseudo Science Fiction movie, the staggering costs of special-effects, can be completely dispensed with in the found footage movie. Any time the ghost or monster or flying saucer or space alien or whatever the thingy-du-jour may be for the movie at hand, the camera ALWAYS malfunctions whenever they come near. Because, you know, that's the effect they have on electronics and stuff. oooOOOoo! So for special-effects, just get a couple of cheap rubber masks at Walmart around Halloween and you're done. Hell, you could just draw a crummy face in lipstick on the bottom of a frying pan and no one would be the wiser. Nobody gets to see anything anyway.
And because it's found footage, no need to waste money on a good writer for a decent story. Most actors are desperate for employment so just give them a rough outline similar to what they've done thousands of times with "three-on-a-stage" while trying to "perfect their craft", along with a few emotive notes, and you're good to go.
And two or three cell phones with some passable built-in cameras and you have all the equipment you need. Almost anybody can be Ed Wood for a day. For cinéma vérité, you can even dress in women's clothing and a cashmere sweater and get the full experience.
CATSKILL PARK is an awful picture that should never have been made. It exploits the genre in every manner possible to dispense with any filmmaking art in every possible dimension. The only slightly redeeming element to the movie AT ALL is that there are OCCASIONALLY some creepy alien sounds that aren't terrible. Although, by the tenth time you've heard the same sounds, it does wear thin.
To be clear, the horribleness of this movie is not an intrinsic result of the fact that it is found footage. The horribleness of this movie is that a bunch of people invested NOTHING in their own movie hoping to make money for nothing. Wanting to make money is okay. Trying to do nothing worthwhile to get it is not. That's the moral HERE.
What absolute piece of garbage filmmaking
kardosma14 June 2020
If any effort had been put into this at all... even the slightest bit, I would have given it a better score.
But this is the worst kind of ultra-cheap "let's make a movie because who knows, some suckers will pay to see it and we'll at least get our $15 investment back" tripe.
Shame that when they 'found' the footage, they couldn't find a light, some dialogue (and no, screaming, shrieking drunkenly at each other, crying, and sniffing don't count), some even remotely likeable characters, or perhaps some action aside from bumbling around the woods in near complete darkness.
Seriously: this was so bad, I refused to waste more than 15 minutes on it. I jumped forward several times out of curiosity, and every single scene was a couple of idiots stumbling around in the dark woods crying and dribbling crap, and not making any headway.
My advice? Go watch grass grow. It's 200x more exciting, and you'll be getting in touch with nature.
But this is the worst kind of ultra-cheap "let's make a movie because who knows, some suckers will pay to see it and we'll at least get our $15 investment back" tripe.
Shame that when they 'found' the footage, they couldn't find a light, some dialogue (and no, screaming, shrieking drunkenly at each other, crying, and sniffing don't count), some even remotely likeable characters, or perhaps some action aside from bumbling around the woods in near complete darkness.
Seriously: this was so bad, I refused to waste more than 15 minutes on it. I jumped forward several times out of curiosity, and every single scene was a couple of idiots stumbling around in the dark woods crying and dribbling crap, and not making any headway.
My advice? Go watch grass grow. It's 200x more exciting, and you'll be getting in touch with nature.
Was this made by a 5 year old?
dreamwalk198612 March 2019
I honestly believe I could get my phone, spend 1hr on a script and spend a few days making a more entertaining, better acted and looking film - yes, it's that bad, I genuinely cannot believe this has even been released.
Unwatchable
jhr201223 May 2021
With the stupid camera jumping around, this movie quickly becomes unwatchable.
I got about 45 minutes in, and I just can't take it anymore.
Besides, If this were real life, what kind of person would film constantly? You're camping with a pretty girl. Put down the damn camera. Makes no sense.
I got about 45 minutes in, and I just can't take it anymore.
Besides, If this were real life, what kind of person would film constantly? You're camping with a pretty girl. Put down the damn camera. Makes no sense.
Boooooooooooooooo.
wandernn1-81-6832749 January 2021
So let's get real.
dale-trozzo30 June 2019
Any reviews you read saying this is good, is well acted or is worth watching clearly are buddy reviews that are not to be believed. I could go on tearing the acting apart but what's the point? None of these actors will ever be in anything else because with this on their resume only a lunatic would spend money to fund another 5th grade project like this one.
handheld horror dead? nope look at Amazon.om
rbn_lrk-116 August 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Classic UFO handheld horror film with fake abductions. In this we see more people on a camp going missing, climate changes with early autumn snow and more conspiracy nuts. Millions of streaming today makes you not missing a horror movie unlike when you was a teen and had your VHS recorder ready for TV movies not suitable for small kids as said.
Scary!
wayne-853-9645603 December 2018
Good movie. Worth the watch
jjscalesjj-927542 December 2018
Skip this one
magicalstitcherytour26 October 2022
So much wasted potential, even for the overdone 'found footage' genre. Needs much more of a build-up to the "scary parts", I use that term loosely...it just dives right in less than halfway through, and the first part is annoying picking and bickering. I have no idea how it ends and I don't even care enough to skip forward through the boring parts more than I already have. I don't understand why, if there is ONE camera, it keeps switching to different views in a matter of seconds, it's distractingly obvious there are camera people there and it's HEAVILY edited. No one in a forest would waste their battery on bickering.
My opinion
kw-922197 December 2018
Great first person perspective horror sci fi thriller!
Dan-Production21 December 2018
This one falls somewhere between the millions spent on Cloverfield and the few thousand spent on The Blair Witch. Great acting and character arcs for a horror film, awesome affects and stunts for a lower budgeted sci fi film (under 5 million) and enough twists and turns to keep you jumping! I mean -- how did they get the timing of that snow so perfect?!? And the Alien scenes with the crazy doctor?!? Highly reccomend for the horror sci fi fan.
entertaining watch
rob-haskins24 November 2023
I bought this film-yes-and I watch it a lot, usually at night. I think the acting is fine, I like the characters, I like the plot. There are certain things, like the very end, that I don't entirely understand, but I haven't watched it with full atttention as offten. I think I'll watch it today because I'm laid up with a bad back and this is about the most I can do. I also enjoy the closing credits music-it's really haunting, and the production effects are really cool. It's too bad that the music isn't credited-maybe the director did it? Anyway, must also check into other movies this director has made.
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