Monday, August 12, 2013

Movie Review: The Bay (2012)

With my Sons of Anarchy obsession temporarily satiated, I guess it's time for me to get back to my real job here. I have a backlog of watched movies that need reviews, a host of books that need to be read and reviewed, and of course the ever-growing Netflix queue that needs to be worked through. Good thing I've got vacation time coming up. I also had an almost-catastrophe with my computer a couple of days ago, but everything seems to be fine now. So let's get this shit going!


First up in my series of possibly shorter-than-usual reviews is the 2012 found footage movie The Bay. Ah yes, more found footage. I should maybe be sick of this little subgenre by now, but... nope! Still love it. And The Bay is happily a nice addition to all the other awesome movies like it.

A news reporter who was present at an ecological disaster outbreak in Claridge, Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay narrates the chaos as it unfolded on that fateful day, using all the professional and personal video footage that was confiscated by the government to cover up what happened.

The Bay offers horror fans a few welcome differences from what we are used to seeing in FF movies. The reporter, Donna Thompson, is Skyping with someone who is interviewing her about the 4th of July from hell in Chesapeake Bay for a documentary about the truth of the events. Donna is sort of the main character, but her narration also shows us the experiences of several other residents. It's nice to have more than one or two of the same cameramen to follow through the whole movie, as The Bay includes security footage, video phone footage, personal camcorders, police dashcam footage, and Skype conversations.

All these new shifts in point of view keep the story interesting and engaging, and the suspense heightened. The way they are all cut together lets the audience slowly get the truth, as everybody involved seems to have a little piece of the puzzle as to what is going on. The two scientists that are doing research on the water and the fish a few weeks before the 4th and the doctor at the local hospital talking to the CDC having probably the most interesting stories. The stuff with the police was a little random and not really related to the main story, though. And I really liked the choice of casting for all involved. Kristin Connolly was the only recognizable face to me (The Cabin in the Woods, FTW) but everybody looked just like they were supposed to - normal people in this quaint little seaside town. I love it when movies are cast like that.

The other difference with The Bay is that it is an infection story. It's not an infection that leads to zombiism, either, it's a true infection by a mutated parasite caused by all the (literal) shit that's been building up in the bay. The terror and fear from an outbreak like this is just as real for both the characters and the audience as it would be for zombies or a masked killer. This kind of story also gets us into the realm of body horror, which personally freaks me and grosses me out. There's plenty of nasty stuff for all to enjoy like bodies covered in disgusting boils, and those gross little bug-parasite things coming out of people's necks. I love it and I hate it at the same time.

My only real complaint is that the makeup on the people who had the nasty boils did not look all that realistic to me. They were too obviously makeup and looked kind of dried out to me when I thought boils and blisters were more... I don't know, liquidy.

Do I care about the film's not-so-subliminal message about humans fucking up the environment and stuff? Not really, but it's definitely there. The whole disaster is caused by a chicken farm dumping chicken poop into the water, the local officials covering up/ignoring early warning signs of impending doom, and bad water tests at a desalination plant. Poop and toxicity apparently make these little parasites, or isopods, grow rapidly inside the body and then they just eat their way out. I guess it's a good way to send the message about how it might be a bad idea to drink water that people dumped chicken poop into.

The Bay gets a solid thumbs up from this found footage lover. It's an interesting turn for director Barry Levinson, and gives me another reason to really fear nature. As if I needed that.

10 comments:

  1. I'm just about burnt on found footage films, but the different points of view kept this one fresh. Also a bit creepy that the parasite is real, even if it only attacks fish. But in the right toxic soup, who knows?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This FF technique was for sure a welcome difference. Made it feel a bit more like a normal movie. That parasite was one creepy mother, too... I hope I never meet one in real life.

      Delete
  2. Not a huge fan of the found footage genre but I might give this one a try, thanks for the review!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'd say that this one is a bit more tolerable than some of the other FF movies, especially if you're not really into them. It's worth a look.

      Delete
  3. You give this film a solid thumbs up, but I give YOU the solid thumbs up for liking Sons of Anarchy.

    Great review, I liked this one as well. I always enjoy reading your reviews. Great work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Grimm, I really appreciate the kind words.

      I just found Sons of Anarchy and I am fucking in love with it. I hope this next season isn't the last like I've been hearing about...

      Delete
  4. Aaargh, still haven't seen it yet, though I'm massively excited for it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Just thought I would chime in here. I have read your blog entries many times, and I know I have commented at least once. But it's been awhile, your blog came up in a search, and after reading the review I was looking for (on "Frontiers" which I had put off seeing, and was trying to find excuses to watch it), I thought to myself "I bet she's not updating her blog anymore". But I hit home...And was very happy to see that you had not abandoned this great blog. Thanks for carrying the horror touch, and adding something of value (seriously).

    Anyway, regarding "The Bay"... I will say I expected more. The plot was average, and the I agree with you. The effects were disappointing. It's too bad, because strangely, eco-horror is probably my favorite sub-genre. I loved "The Ruins" and I think my favorite is a little gem from 2009 called The Thaw. Val Kilmer had a small role presumably to help with its exposure, but I don't think it helped. Nevertheless, it's everything The Bay should have been and more. I don't think its in your profile list of movies...so if you haven't seen it, cue it up! Have fun and thanks again for your dedication to TGWLH!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Paul, thank you so much for the kind words! You have no idea how much I needed to hear something like that today.

      The Ruins is one of my favorites, I'm glad you like it too. I haven't heard that much about The Thaw but I'll be sure to look it up now.

      Delete