Review of Lovely Molly (2011) by Jordon J — 24 Jan 2013

Eduardo Sánchez, the (debatably) accidental genius behind The Blair Witch Project, doesn't just do found-footage style filmmaking. He's had mixed results with his "regular movie" follow-ups, Blair Witch 2, and the much more interesting sci-fi horror, Altered. His latest effort, Lovely Molly, is a hybrid. The main character enjoys filming with her hand-held camera, and on occasion we get to see what she's taping. The resulting format is pretty effective. Unlike Blair Witch, and copycats [REC] and V/H/S, the viewer is not forced to watch 90 minutes of shaky, low-budget filming, but instead it's occasionally used to create claustrophobic tension, and to reveal some of the scarier moments, "reality" style.

Ignoring the unique format, the movie is difficult to categorize, but probably most closely resembles a demon possession story. The true nature of Molly's deteriorating condition, however, is never actually revealed. Is it a psychological condition? Ghosts? Is she possessed? The multiple "what the- ?" moments keep the audience off guard and pleasantly bewildered. It all culminates in a bizarre and dizzying climax, that left me in a tailspin for days after watching. For me, that's a successful horror experience, even if at times I was left to wonder what the heck just happened.