Tags:
Film: Dagr
Year: 2024
Director: Matthew Butler-Hart
Writers: Matthew Bulter-Hart and Tori Butler-Hart
Starring: Riz Moritz, Ellie Duckles and Tori Butler-Hart
Review:
This was a movie that I got the chance to see thanks to Kimi from Studio Dome. Along with Shirly, they sent over the screener. The Horror Collective got this and I’ve enjoyed what I’ve seen from them. I didn’t read the blurb, just making sure this was horror and seeing that it was a 2024 release for my Foray through the Fours helps as well. I was able to come into this one blind.
Synopsis: fame seeking YouTubers find themselves in a paranormal nightmare when the advert team they are stealing from awakens a murderous occultist from the past.
We start this with Louise (Riz Moritz) and Thea (Ellie Duckles) who are the YouTubers. The best way I can describe them is that they’re like ‘Robin Hood’. They steal from the rich to sell items and donate the money to charity. Their YouTube moniker is creative, being a play on Thelma and Louise. Something of note, they must hide their faces to avoid prosecution so they use ‘Bit Emojis’ to convey their expressions.
This then shifts over to a team of Tori (Tori Butler-Hart), Gray (Graham Butler) and Hattie (Hattie Chapman). They’re at a remote house setting up for a film shoot. This is going to be done in black and white. The on-screen talent is Matt (Matt Barber) and Emma (Emma King). The first issue they run into is that the internet is down, when they were assured that it works perfect. They also must deal with Matt and Emma while filming, both have issues with each other. It doesn’t help that the catering team isn’t there to help alleviate issues as people are hungry and thirsty.
That is where Louise and Thea come in. They’ve accepted the job, but they’re late. The plan is to rob them as the synopsis says. The duo sets up cameras to film it for their next episode. There is an issue though. When they show up, there doesn’t seem to be anyone there. They look at footage that was previously shot to fill us and themselves in. We’ve gotten history about this place as they traveled there. There’s a dark history and that force is still here.
I think that is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is saying that this is filmed in the style of ‘found footage’. We have Louise and Thea both with their phones filming content. We also have Tori and her crew using a digital camera of sorts. Something interesting was that while watching the credits, this whole thing was filmed on iPhones. Not the first time that I’ve seen that done, but I will say it is still amazing to me.
With that set up, we know from the beginning that this is edited together by professionals. They were able to obtain footage from the police, which that information is given in the beginning. We then met Louise and Thea. They are your typical YouTubers. I’m guessing they’d fall into Gen-Z. What I like about them is that they’re against the rich. They don’t look like they’ve had many struggles in their life, but instead of working a normal job, they have their channel. Stealing from the rich to give to charity is a gray area, but I respect it as well. They’re smart enough to edit their footage to prevent getting in trouble. It feels like Moritz and Duckles are old friends so that adds realism as well. What I like is that they get under each other’s skin which feels normal. Credit to both.
Then the other group is Tori, Gray and Hattie. We see them arrive at the shooting location. Tori gets frustrated since they were supposed to send the first set of footage to someone to approve the location. It doesn’t go through so that is a setback. This is just a series of them. Matt and Emma are a bit high maintenance which causes issues. I will say though, everyone’s acting here feels natural for what they needed to make this work as well.
The last bit would be the supernatural. I like the little things that we get to help fill in the backstory. Louise and Thea stop off to get directions in a village. It is near the house they’re going to. It is there they learn about a cult in the area. Louise even buys one of their masks, which is on the poster I saw for this movie. That is creepy. We get images and scenes where footage that’s been shot messes up and shows us different things. There are hooded figures in it and maybe even a sacrifice. Inside of the house, a television turns on to show Professor Ash Blake (Luca Thompson). He came to this house to do research. It is through him that we learn about a druid group in the area. Their leader was Lord Somerton and he thought if he did certain rituals, it would give him eternal life. This is an info dump, but I thought it worked for what we needed to drive this along. We also don’t necessarily focus on him. While the TV is playing the footage, our characters are checking the room. It would put this into folk horror, which I’m a sucker for.
Where I’ll end this out then is filmmaking. I do like found footage films. My issue is one that others have; would these people continue to film? A good thing here is that Tori’s crew were filming for the purpose to send to the investors and doing b-roll. When Thea and Louise show up, they set up cameras for their episode. This duo I could see carrying a camera around since they seem to film everything they do. There are also characters who flee into the darkness so they need their device for light. Now I liked the editing. Tori’s crew already started filming so I like that we fill in what we’ve missed by having the duo come in and watch it on an iPad. This leads to them getting caught up and trapped with the other group. Then for effects, these are limited for the most part since we don’t see a lot. The blood we do get looks good. I like the druid look. My issue is the digital messing up of the footage. This gets on my nerves and it’s used a lot here. There is something done here with a druid appearing and disappearing in shots, that’s creepy to me. Other than that, since this is edited footage, it makes sense there’s a soundtrack. The design also works with creepy chanting and crow’s cawing. That adds atmosphere.
In conclusion, I thought this was a solid found footage horror films. It isn’t necessarily doing anything new. What I’ll credit this for though building a good atmosphere. The acting felt real enough. This is made well. I can believe why people are filming. I thought there were good things with editing, sound design and effects. My only issue there is the digital messing up of footage. That got on my nerves. This won’t be for everyone, but I thought this was a tight little film that was creepy. Things here and there could have made this better, but not a bad watch by stretch.
My Rating: 7 out of 10