Earlier this year Skinamarink arrived on Shudder and caused quite a stir. The independent feature from artist-turned-director Kyle Edward Ball, saw two children trapped inside a house of never-ending night. Skinamarink explored liminal spaces, was fairly experimental in its use of camera angles, and never gave the viewer a full shot of their protagonists. It was a confronting viewing experience that sought to reward patience. The idea wasn’t for everyone; the internet became ablaze with those who lauded it as the most terrifying film in existence, and people who were bored to tears. New indie production, The Outwaters, looks set to follow in Skinamarink’s footsteps.
Written and directed by Robbie Banfitch, The Outwaters tells the story of four missing Americans via the footage contained on ‘recovered’ memory cards. The foursome’s plan was to go to the Mojave desert to shoot a music video. However, their expedition encounters something menacing and cosmic, beginning a never-ending on-screen nightmare.
One of the biggest gripes with Skinamarink is that at almost two hours, it was too long; The Outwaters has the same issue. Too much time is spent prior to the group’s desert adventure, with little consequence. The first act is an extended sequence of snippets of shots setting up the group’s plan. Their idea is a simple one and as such the excessive set-up isn’t required. Similarly, the footage spends a lot of time with the quartet, but only conveys surface-level information about any of them, and so it becomes somewhat of a slog to get through this section. This will be especially true for those familiar with older found footage films as they know the conventions, the drawn out focus bordering on tedium.
Once the group gets into the desert, the pace starts to pick up, but then comes the next hurdle. When the action kicks off, Banfitch deliberately masks what is happening. Events are either at night, with only a pinprick of light illuminating a tiny section of the screen, or shot in a frantic fashion during the day. The result is a disorientating lack of visual information. It’s an innovative idea, but it will leave some cinema goers feeling a tad short changed – who wants to go to the cinema and only be able to see a small portion of the film? In practice, by keeping the vantage point so enclosed, Banfitch is able to really mess with the audience’s mind. Flashes of red appear and disappear, half glimpsed shapes come in and out of focus, and some gnarly cosmic horror elements grab your attention.
What is seen is of course only half of a movie, the other being the sound. Whilst the viewer struggles to see events in The Outwaters, Banfitch ensures that they hear everything. There is a lot of screaming, and though the audience cannot see what is causing the noise, the impact of the sounds remains. As the nightmare progresses, the sound design gains texture and similar to Baskin, the pandemonium sounds almost wet. Its audio is The Outwaters strong suit; its all-consuming nature is effective at generating unease, and will be the source of some restless nights.
A film which gets better the longer you watch it, with the final thirty minutes being the most eye-catching, The Outwaters rewards patience. The problem however, is that the first act is so drawn out that many may be lost along the way. Were some of this opening to be streamlined and the runtime reduced to a much tighter time then there’s no denying that The Outwaters could be truly exceptional. In its actual formation, Banfitch’s movie feels stretched and over involved, letting down its solid, and somewhat groundbreaking final act.
The Outwaters
Summary
The soundscape is everything in Robbie Banfitch’s tale of misadventures in the desert. Like Skinamarink, The Outwaters is another example of the new-wave of experimental found footage films. It won’t satisfy everyone, but Banfitch’s ambition cannot be denied.
The Outwaters opens in select UK cinemas on Friday 7th April. The Outwaters will be available on Digital HD from 8th May.
