An unfolding sequence of terror captured by a videographer, lost in the cursed woods of Maryland.An unfolding sequence of terror captured by a videographer, lost in the cursed woods of Maryland.An unfolding sequence of terror captured by a videographer, lost in the cursed woods of Maryland.
- Director
- Star
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMahdi Tavinifard has vanished since the production of BlackHills.mov.
Featured review
Minimalist yet very atmospheric and organic
When making horror, many people may prefer the instantaneous gratification of jump scares and plots which more often than not, fall victim to many cliches to achieve their 'frightening' aura. I personally find these types of movies quite boring, they bring nothing to the table that has not been done before. Don't get me wrong, campiness is great, but it is sadly what saturates the horror genre to the point where it is a stereotype for itself. Some may say the same about found footage, but I'd differ. The genre has increasingly been accentuated by amazing works of creepy atmospheres, such as this.
BlackHills.mov joins the ranks of other low-budget yet extremely well done horror media whose focus is on delivering an slow-burn, immersive, explorative, creepy atmosphere rather than cheap, rehashed thrills. Examples like Skinamarink, The Blair Witch Project, Sleep Has Her House, The Empty Man, and even other found footage films on YouTube such as Kane Pixel's Backrooms and The Oldest View. This does not come without it's own drawbacks in this instance of the genre, as it did suffer from being a bit too long in my opinion. This could have been equally as good had it been half the length. Skinamarink, Blair Witch, and Sleep Has Her House are all great examples of how to use the feature-length runtime while maintaining the atmosphere with minimal pacing and set design, and that could serve as inspiration for enhancing the immersive experience on future projects.
Indeed, making a film (especially feature length) that aims for this sort of slow-burn atmosphere is challenging for any creator, as it requires the viewer to commit their full attention in order to be immersive, which is definitely a valid thing to complain about for those that are unwilling or unable to do such commitment as when the pacing is too minimal and monotonic, it can be frustrating to sit through. That said, I feel that the same kind of people that will fail to appreciate this sort of atmosphere are the same kind that will dislike Tarkovsky's Stalker, and that is fine. Not everyone is patient enough to appreciate such works.
Lastly, I am confused with people saying this tended towards "art" as a complaint. What do these people think movies are, if not one of the many faces of art? This is like listening to ambient music and saying "this has a tendency towards being music". Well yeah, you can also say fire is hot and it would be equally as insightful.
BlackHills.mov joins the ranks of other low-budget yet extremely well done horror media whose focus is on delivering an slow-burn, immersive, explorative, creepy atmosphere rather than cheap, rehashed thrills. Examples like Skinamarink, The Blair Witch Project, Sleep Has Her House, The Empty Man, and even other found footage films on YouTube such as Kane Pixel's Backrooms and The Oldest View. This does not come without it's own drawbacks in this instance of the genre, as it did suffer from being a bit too long in my opinion. This could have been equally as good had it been half the length. Skinamarink, Blair Witch, and Sleep Has Her House are all great examples of how to use the feature-length runtime while maintaining the atmosphere with minimal pacing and set design, and that could serve as inspiration for enhancing the immersive experience on future projects.
Indeed, making a film (especially feature length) that aims for this sort of slow-burn atmosphere is challenging for any creator, as it requires the viewer to commit their full attention in order to be immersive, which is definitely a valid thing to complain about for those that are unwilling or unable to do such commitment as when the pacing is too minimal and monotonic, it can be frustrating to sit through. That said, I feel that the same kind of people that will fail to appreciate this sort of atmosphere are the same kind that will dislike Tarkovsky's Stalker, and that is fine. Not everyone is patient enough to appreciate such works.
Lastly, I am confused with people saying this tended towards "art" as a complaint. What do these people think movies are, if not one of the many faces of art? This is like listening to ambient music and saying "this has a tendency towards being music". Well yeah, you can also say fire is hot and it would be equally as insightful.
helpful•01
- aprilsada
- Dec 5, 2023
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Black Hills
- Filming locations
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 28 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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