2022 SCREAMFEST REVIEW!
Sam (Alisha Soper) has a big announcement, and she’s invited her boyfriend and her closest friends to an Airbnb to share her news with them. However, when Sam and her confidants arrive, a middle-aged couple is already there. The couple seems off, but it’s difficult to figure out why. Flash forward to the ending–there are 8 Found Dead, but the journey is still unknown. Who’s alive, who’s dead, and who is responsible for the pain and suffering that’s occurred?
8 Found Dead introduces itself to viewers in a way that causes them to think that they are in for a ridiculous film, full of oddities and cheesiness. It immediately throws viewers off the path of what’s to come–and it works wonders as viewers are then transported to a world of discomfort, pain, and suffering. With the exception of the opening moments, intentionally so, 8 Found Dead is incredibly uncomfortable–and it keeps viewers on the edge of their seats throughout, and it’s nearly perfect as it slowly releases details of this twisted story.
Viewers essentially already know how 8 Found Dead concludes, and creating a story that still intrigues viewers, still allows them to remain focused, is an incredibly tall task. The film flows smoothly, however, and, from about the ten-minute mark, nothing about 8 Found Dead ever fails to entertain. I never lost interest, and the film ultimately delivers in every single way–something that could have been an issue as a result of the way in which it’s filmed.
It almost feels like there are two storylines folding on top of one another, and as they converge they lead viewers to the darkest possible conclusion. There was never a doubt in my mind, after watching eight or ten minutes, that the ending would be gruesome, terrifying, horrific–and that’s just what viewers get. By the end of 8 Found Dead viewers get the best possible conclusion, the best possible end to what they’ve seen over the course of an hour and a half. The ending is ironically beautiful, it’s poetic–and it’s everything that needed to happen in order for the film to succeed. In the grand scheme of 8 Found Dead, if the ending didn’t work, the entire film failed–but Writer Jonathan Buchanan knows how to wrap up a film–and he does so with precision and the same suspense that was seen throughout the rest of the film.
It’s sometimes incredibly difficult to explain what you love about a film that’s nearly perfect–and that’s how I feel about 8 Found Dead. Beyond the obvious–the special and practical effects, the acting, the set, etc.–it’s amazingly difficult to put into words each of the incredible aspects of the film.
Rarely am I at a loss for words; rarely do I find myself struggling to express to the world how I feel about a film (or anything else for that matter)–but here’s a time when a film is almost too good for words. There are a few films this year that have managed to impress me like this–and 8 Found Dead stands among them. Take everything that I’ve said and assume that the film is even better than that. 8 Found Dead isn’t just one of the best films that I’ve seen this year, it’s one of the best horror films that I’ve seen ever.
Directed by Travis Greene.
Written by Jonathan Buchanan.
Starring Alisha Soper, Laura Buckles, Jenny Tran, Aly Trasher, Tim Simek, Rosanne Limeres, Patrick Joseph Rieger, William Gabriel Grier, Eddy Acosta, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐½/10
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