There are many, many found footage films set in abandoned asylums, hospitals and the like and Lou Simon’s latest Hazmat certainly has its cinematic roots in that genre. The difference is that while still retaining some of the tropes of those films, Simon has also chosen to use fixed cameras and traditional filming techniques to mix the action the style up a little and try to create a successful blend. Unfortunately she hasn’t quite made it work.
The film centres on an independent television programme Scare Tactics where people can set up their friends to be frightened, or punk’d, in various different ways. For this episode the director David (Todd Bruno) has set cameras up all over an abandoned building that this week’s victim Jacob (Norbert Velez) is strangely obsessed with. His caring friends Adam (Reggie Peters), Melanie (Gema Calero) and Carla (Daniela Larez) considerately want to give him the fright of his life to help break him out of the quiet and creepy persona that Jacob occupies; a kind of shock therapy if you will. As soon as Jacob realises what is really going on though he goes completely crazy, gets dressed up, grabs an axe and the killings begin.
Lou Simon is struggling a little with second film syndrome with Hazmat. Her debut feature The Awakened in 2012 was a brooding, atmospheric chiller about demonic possession that relied on the strength of its cast and clever direction to build tension. With Hazmat she has abandoned subtlety in favour of more visceral and up front scares that are more slasher movie than thriller. In doing so the film is less frightening than it possibly could have been and is more obvious and familiar than it should be.
There is little originality and while this is not always a bad thing the references and influences must be used carefully and that isn’t the case with Hazmat. The cast are on the whole fairly average in their roles and the special effects range from the unnecessarily over the top to the downright ridiculous. With all that said though there is something glimmering deep down in Hazmat and that is probably down to Simon’s direction. Working again within budgetary and location restraints she has demonstrated a feel for the camera that promises great things for the future. There are some humorous moments which are on the whole well played but sadly none of this is enough to raise the film about the average.
OVERALL SUMMARY
When her career is looked back on Simon may consider Hazmat to have been a miss-step, albeit one to have learned from. If you do like slightly cheesy, hollow slasher films however then this is potentially perfect for you; otherwise it may be worth giving a miss. Hazmat is available now on iTunes.
