C.A.M.

Directed by: Steph Du Melo, Larry Downing

Starring: Charlote Curwood, Tom Ware, jamie Langlands

C.A.M. is a documentary which recalls the zombie outbreak which occurred in the heart of England. Utlising a mixture of p.o.v. camera footage, security cameras and and interview with a whistleblower, the film is able to document the tragic events and point the finger at those who were ultimately responsible…

One of the things that can make or break a "found footage" film is the context in which we the viewer are experiencing the footage. Many a film has tripped up by obvious editing or adding a score, when what we are meant to be watching is something raw.

C.A.M. (Contageous Aggressive Mutations) goes a different route and acknowledges straight away that what we are watching is a finished product, made up from footage from different sources. The closest in tone I can think of is Barry Levinson's The Bay.

A good portion of what we are seeing comes from footage recorded by camera operator Jo and her producer Kyle, who are sent to record footage of a police exercise. There is some playful antagonism between the pair and between Kyle and police officers Chris and Maggot.

Part of the exercise is to sweep a local meat factory and evacuate the employees, however when the police get there the place seems to be deserted and the meat stored inside is starting to rot. They soon learn that the employees and local villagers have been infected with a mutant virus which turns the into flesh-craving mutants.

One of the many things this film gets right is that the police don't allow Jo and Kyle to join them on their recon of the factory. Instead the footage is taken from the helmet cameras the officers wear. This footage is very effective in building a creepy atmosphere and sense of foreboding. It is clear that our sympathies are meant to be aimed at Jo, and the film invests a lot of time in her plight late into the running time. There are plenty of other characters but they are mostly anonymous behind their balaclavas.

On the down side is the audio interview footage. Even though there is a modicum of relevant exposition being imparted in these scenes there is no cinematic value in them and after a while they become a bit of a chore to sit through. They would have been more suited to an audio podcast format that this film.

There isn't a lot of special fx on show here, the infecteds' appearance kept relatively low key although there is a very good transformation scene at the end. There are attempts to scuzz up the quality of the footage (distortion lines across the video tape) which unfortunately look fake and are probably there just to remind you that you are meant to be watching found footage.  However the sound design is very good. I watched this with headphones and was very impressed with the use of stereo to build a decent soundscape. The gunfire fx were also very good and help elevate the production values.

THE VERDICT

How much entertainment value you get from CAM will depend on your tolerance for found footage style horror films. This has a different format that most - it shares that with The Bay and also borrows a little from REC. However at the end of the say, CAM is its own beast and has a real "snatched from the headlines of tomorrow" feel to it. Unfortunately the antagonistic interview audio footage didn't work for me, nor the epilogue which was an ambitious step too far.

6 out of 10  MikeOutWest

CAM WILL BE AVAILABLE ON DIGITAL, DVD and BLU RAY FROM 19th DECEMBER 2021