10/11/16 - The Rohl Farms Haunting (2013)

Ever since the first Paranormal Activity blew up, there have been a lot of people making improvised found footage movies at their houses or whatever. No Budget? No Script? No Big Deal! I mean, you could argue that the lack of a script is in the service of realism... although it's also just way easier to write down a bunch of bullet points in one afternoon. So, realism or laziness. Maybe you can just call it a result of technological democratization - most people have better cameras on their phones that look better than anything I ever had access to at peak-creativity age. And never mind the editing software - how about hooking 2 VCRs together?

Like a character in the film implies, $1,200 will get you a solid camera to make a professional looking film. At least professional looking enough to get you on Amazon Prime. Now, The Rohl Farms Haunting isn't necessarily good by normal, objective movie standards, but it's definitely better than a lot of films that are made with the attitude of "Hey guys! We've got a camera and some time to kill - let's make a ghost hunting movie!" Dumbasses like me will apparently watch them regardless, so it's nice to get one that's borderline okay.

My synopsis: Two friends are shooting a slice of like documentary about 21 year old Luke Rohl, who lives and works alone at the titular Rohl Farm. But as the days go by, creepy things start happening - strange knocks, doors slamming, the usual stuff. And since it's a found footage film - we are told they "went missing while filming [this] documentary" in the opening credits - you can guess something bad is going to happen to them. This is their story.

Elaborate genre: Found Footage "haunting"

Overall: Not that good, but not actively irritating like a lot of other films of its ilk.

The Rohl Farms Haunting does some good things. The characters are pretty tolerable, besides the ten minutes when they get into a fight about an hour into the film. Luke Rohl (his real name) - the subject of the "documentary" - has a natural likability and decent charisma for a non-actor. It would be nice if they made it clear just what they hoped to accomplish with the documentary, as watching this dude farm would just get boring. But still - Luke is on camera for more than 75% of this thing, and does a good job carrying it.

But the best thing about the film is the setting. Adding to the realism is that it's filmed on an honest to god working small town farm. Kind of junky, but almost certainly *real.* I'm a city boy and could be easily fooled, but given the budget and the type if film, I'd imagine Rohl is an actual farmer and this is actually his farm. You don't see this type of farm too often onscreen - not that it's shitty, but it's definitely lived in, you know? And going along for the ride as our camera man wanders around the farm at night searching for someone (or something) is legitimately creepy, especially the outlying buildings. That cow building (I'm pretty sure that's the proper name for it) is something else - who knew cows mooing could be that unsettling?

There's also a good setup in the film where something "spooky" happens at 11:55 each night. I have said it before: I like it when films like this create a "safe" space of sorts - it just kind of builds the tension towards the "unsafe" times. (In the original Blair Witch - day = safe, night = bad - and there's a lot of anticipation waiting for the night, and tension hits almost immediately when night rolls around.) There was some real tension as the boys hung out clock watching in these "waiting" scenes. But probably the smartest thing Rohl Farms does is that it never tries to overstep it's boundaries. The filmmakers seem to have a good grasp on what they are feasibly able to accomplish given their circumstances (no budget, set at their buddy's house), and don't try anything that makes them look dumb.

But while it does a lot right, it's still not a particularly good film. While the characters are likable and there's some legitimate tension in the searching/hunting scenes, there really isn't enough going on here to justify a feature length runtime. I get that there isn't the same market for a 30 minute short film (I know I'm not watching *that* on Amazon), but it kind of feels like that's what this should be. And some of the acting is just not good. No surprise considering it's full of non-acting friends in their only film roles.

And despite the fact that there's a lot of dead air/space to fill, there are a long of things that never really get explained. I understand that's not always easy to do when you're aiming for a "realistic" feel, but still. (To be fair, they maintain that realism well - there's no credits other than a message from the police, very little ambient music, and no camera cheats that I noticed.) There's the occasional hint here and there about *what* exactly is going on, but it's never seriously addressed. I'd prefer a concrete answer (you know, a proper story), or failing that, something totally random. Our main conflict here lies in a grey zone somewhere in the middle.

I can't really recommend The Rohl Farms Haunting. It's just not right for the average movie watcher. and it's the kind of thing I like/respect more now that it's in the review mirror, you know? It's good for what it is, but doesn't transcend the "improvised, no budget, made at home horror" genre.

Unless you watch a lot of these things (and keep doing so in spite of the fact that they tend to be poorly made and boring)...

I would   probably not recommend   this film.