Found Footage: The Making of the Patterson Project Review
Streaming Movie Review - Mockumentary/Horror
Filmmakers in the found footage genre have been chasing the success of the 1999 film, The Blair Witch Project. One of the first movies that found success through viral internet marketing, it hit right at a time when people were primed to believe that if a story billed itself as true and had a website, it was probably true. That is the energy that director Max Tzannes, along with co-writer David San Miguel, brings to the horror mockumentary, Found Footage: The Making of the Patterson Project, now on VOD.
Chase (Brennan Keel Cook) is pumped to finally be making his feature debut, a found footage movie about Bigfoot. His girlfriend, Natalie (Erika Vetter), offers her parents' time-share cabin for the shoot. While there, the production begins to run into issues. Rotten food, a serious injury, strange behaviors from the producer, Mitchell (Chen Tang), and financial backer, Betsy (Suzanne Ford). By the time the other owners of the cabin arrive to explain what’s happening, it may be too late for the cast and crew of The Patterson Project.
The microbudget horror comedy film can be a bit of an acquired taste, but if that is a taste you enjoy, Found Footage is a nice meal. The setup prior to the actual filming is quite entertaining and made me think that there might be an uncredited cameo in this movie, but even without that, the humor landed the bulk of the time. And when the horror kicked in during the third act, it too was remarkably effective.
There were aspects of the film that did feel a bit predictable as it went on. About mid-way through the second act, we’re pretty much told how the remainder of Found Footage is going to play out, and then it does that. There was also less blending of horror and comedy, with it instead being a comedy and then a horror, but that didn’t detract from the overall entertainment value of the movie.
The ensemble in Found Footage was fantastic. They absolutely nail the feeling of a group of eager young performers. The cast plays well off one another. The standout is definitely Cook, who is perfect as the slightly pretentious filmmaker who thinks that his found footage movie is something groundbreaking. However, it also shows how much you need to have faith in your vision in order to make it work. The lengths that he goes to in order to get the movie he sees in his mind to the screen are both impressive and hilarious.
Found Footage: The Making of the Patterson Project has a lot going on. It’s part commentary about found footage films. It’s part commentary about the filmmaking process at all. It’s part commentary on listening to your partner when they tell you something is off. But mostly, it’s a reminder that if someone tells you that you need to abandon a cabin in the woods before the demon residing inside destroys your life, you should probably listen to them.
Rating: 3.5/5
This review originally appeared in The Dominion Post on June 28, 2025.