Apocalyptic is the new Australian found-footage film from film maker Glenn Triggs and his production company Dark Epic films The film follows two documentary makers Jodie (Jane Elizabeth Barry) and Kevin (Geoff Pinfield). They are filming a documentary at a meeting for addicts. After the meeting one of the older men tells the duo that he knows of a cult that operates not too far from the town and has a contact to get the two of them access to the isolated community.
When the pair arrives at the meeting point they are blindfolded to keep the location a secret. When they arrive they are greeted by the women of the camp, all wearing simple pink cotton dresses. The whole camp is female of mixed ages with exception of their leader, Michael Godson. Jodie and Kevin interview Michael and his followers. They seem to be preparing for ‘the prophecy’ but keep the details vague.
As the story progresses a more sinister side to the camp is glimpsed. Not that the leader isn’t creepy enough. He has effectively selected a harem of women and has the choice of sleeping with a different one every night. There is also the matter of the former male members and what happened to them.
The film is very well acted; both Barry and Pinfield make engaging leads starting off a close-knit team until friction grows between them as they have different ideas on how to deal with the events they are witnessing. The supporting cast do well and are very believable particularly the children.
My only problem with the film is the conclusion. It goes from being a decent drama to the usual clichéd found-footage running around screaming accompanied by shots of the ground. Like The Sacrament it’s not particularly scary but there is a nice foreboding atmosphere to it. There are some lovely images of the rural landscape enveloped in mist giving the camp a very bleak feeling. Found-footage fans will have seen this all before but a decent cast make ’Apocalyptic’ an entertaining watch.
OVERALL SUMMARY
Found-footage fans will have seen this all before but a decent cast make ’Apocalyptic’ an entertaining watch.
