Horror Scope
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Posted 2 April 2007
Reviewer: Mark Smith
Watch Me is the debut horror feature film from Melbourne director Melanie Ansley. It was written by Sam Voutas and Melanie Ansley and stars Frances Marrington, Sam Voutas and Tanya McHenry. The film was an official selection at the Atlanta Horror, Phoenix Fear and Freak Show Horror film festivals.
Watch Me is an impressive independent Australian feature in the vein of the recent wave of J-horror films. Shot on location in both Melbourne and Beijing it tells the story of a group of film students killed after watching an underground snuff film in an email attachment entitled Watch Me. When one of them survives after watching the clip, she decides to discover its source and end the cycle forever.
Restricted by an obvious lack of budget the film makes good use of simple, interior locations and a clever, well structured script. As with most independent films, Watch Me suffers from clunky, exposition riddled dialogue and some amateurish acting, but excels in the part that counts – the horror.
Taking its mark from films such as Ringu, The Grudge and Dark Water, Ansley creates true, dramatic tension by building the film's scares with long, lingering set ups and quick, clever reveals. Ansley has an understanding that the foreplay is often the scariest part and utilises shadows, darkened cupboards and hallways and slightly ajar doors to great effect. All of this is backed by a surprisingly good score which builds the onscreen tension, rather than just pointing out where the jumps should be.
Story wise the film takes a little time to find its feet, as viewers are taken from one attack to another before finally being introduced to the protagonist. After a long set up, in which the main characters merely react to the situation around them, the story kicks into gear with Tess (Marrington) surviving a viewing of the film and deciding it is up to her to stop the killings. Once on the trail, the ease in which the mystery is revealed to Tess is discerning, but as the film builds to a final showdown with the ghostly killer such shortfalls are easily forgiven and forgotten.
Watch Me is an impressive independent no-budget gem, and signals the emergence of a talented group of young filmmakers with a thorough knowledge of the horror genre. I can't wait to see what this team could produce with a reasonable budget, trained actors and a tightly honed script at their disposal.
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