The First "Found Photography" Horror Film

[@RyanHollinger]

*What should I cover next? ... Comment below!* Go to expressvpn.com/ryan and find out how you can get 3 months of ExpressVPN free!

[@lordofthebuckets2676]

I’d love to see you cover Beau Is Afraid Ryan!

[@fearrogue]

395 views yo

[@DJtheBlack-RibbonedRose]

As Above, So Below (2014) Mr. Jones (2013) Underworld series (2003-2017) Soulmate (2013) Spike (2008) Frankenstein (2015) dir. by Candyman's Bernard Rose

[@NightmaresinParadise]

DONT LOOK NOW

[@lindsayteter1789]

May (2002) excellent, creepy character study I think you'd love!

[@ladylady]

Something I particularly liked about the detail of the flash is that (if I remember correctly), Salazar mentions that the flash is scaring the ghouls away. So it’s not just his habit or hobby anymore. The camera isn’t just a shield for himself, he’s trying to use it as a shield for poor Grace as well. It just doesn’t work for long.

[@paulsillanpaa8268]

There's a saying in the army "You don't rise to the level of your expectations, you sink to the level of your training." The whole situation of Salazar compulsively photographing the attack even as he was fleeing calls to mind the real-life story of Ron L. Haeberle, the army photographer who documented the My Lai massacre. Ron was supposed to follow along with the second wave of troops and take some photos of what was supposed to be an routine operation when, just minutes after touching down, he witnessed the soldiers he was with gun down a couple of clearly unarmed civilians. In shock he fell back on instinct, and started taking pictures. Moving through the villages of My Lai & My Khe, he captured dozens of photos of the massacre. In some cases, he photographed Vietnamese civilians literally seconds before they were murdered. Still, he composed the shots carefully, adjusted the focus, and actually switched back & forth between his black & white and colour camera. It wasn't until hours later, when he was back at the base and had developed the photos, that the full implications of what he'd just been through finally hit home and he broke down. Apparently he destroyed most of the photos for being too upsetting, but the remaining 33 pictures were later used in the investigation and conviction of Lt Calley.

[@antlerbraum2881]

That’s a really good parallel to make, I was thinking of different war photographers watching this.

[@dylanhaugen3739]

Yet Lt Calley was never actually punished for the 22 murders he was convicted of, unless you consider 3 years of house arrest as punishment for mass murder.

[@jpjp3486]

There's a series of photos of German paratroopers massacring villagers in Crete, gives me similar vibes.

[@paulsillanpaa8268]

@@jpjp3486 I'm not surprised. In periods of extreme stress, people will revert to whatever their strongest instinct/skill set may be. If that skill set is photography...

[@blackosprey2219]

Whenever there's pictures or videos of horrifying events, there's always a bunch of wiseasses commenting "why are they recording, they're stupid, they should help or run away!" Easy for them to say while typing away with all the leisure and comfort to make a very wise choice in retrospect. Still, it's absolutely fascinating how people can act when confronted with something so overwhelmingly horrifying and chaotic that rational thought isn't entirely an option, beyond simple fight/flight/freeze.

[@josesanchez1011]

Given how quick and almost coordinated the attack was (with a swarm of the creatures blocking the only phone to call for help, or hiding in bushes) I always wondered if there was more to them than just being zombies. Some of them look almost like nosferatus or seem to have massive tongues hanging out of their mouths. It adds an extra air of mystery to it all.

[@QuintessentialWalrus]

Yeah, I personally don't buy into the idea that they're just regular, traditional zombies. These things are downright demonic, or supernatural at the very least. I interpret them as intelligent, predatory creatures with melting skin, and based on the photos I always got the sense that they were laughing and gleeful as they ate people. Massive credit to this movie for presenting a new movie monster and telling us as little about them as possible, to the extent that we're not even sure what they actually are.

[@fisheyenomiko]

This, to me, is one of the strengths of the movie: We don't know *what* they are. I agree with Ryan that the end kind of messes with that, but, hell, just turn the movie off early and you're fine. (-:

[@AtrocityEquine01]

@@fisheyenomiko At best we only know that the creatures are from Mexico, since right next to Sangre de Christo was the border wall between Arizona and Mexico.

[@Enigamis]

My going theory it a) these creature were stunned by his camera shots so it kept him alive longer or b) these creatures wanted themselves to be scene doing this. That it was part of the fun to be witnesses and not believed afterwards. Also him going into a catatonic state wasn't only him emotionally braking but also the infection possibly spreading slowly to the point that he was no longer able to feed himself.

[@finnmccool5944]

One looked like it had sharp teeth

[@transcreatureofchaos]

Honestly, found photos are so much more terrifying than found footage. Because photos are just a freeze frame, so much is left up to your imagination, to the point where your brain will fill in the blanks with the scariest possible answer

[@flyingpiggy1475]

Despite the subject matter and how they treat it, this is one of the reasons I love the urban horror channel. They use these paintings of that the serial made of their victims and it’s so bizarre

[@flyingpiggy1475]

But also yeah, we don’t know the events that led up to the moment, nor the moments after

[@MuertaNox]

This is why I love the early days of Slenderman so much, before Marble Hornets came out. The written blogs, and the sketches.... The photomanipulations where it looks like a spooky landscape you'd hang on the wall of an office, until the eyes find a face, then the monster is revealed.

[@ButterCookie1984]

Agreed!

[@KiwiHavok777]

I disagree

[@Duskets]

God, the scene where it’s revealed that Salazar holds Grace’s hand while she’s trapped behind the locked gate and can do nothing but sing to her as she’s slowly eaten alive is one of the most harrowing scenarios in all of fiction. It completely sells the nearly catatonic Salazar we see who escaped. Because how in the *hell* could you ever hope to remain unbroken after that?

[@MistyWarden]

It also shows that he was only bitten after reaching out to hold her hands. In the photo with Grace his left hand is whole.😢

[@EmlynBoyle]

I agree. The man is just traumatized.

[@mathieuleader8601]

how kafakesque

[@undrvvorld]

@@MistyWarden So he was indeed bitten after all? I don't remember this detail.

[@unodos149]

Reminds me of that recent news story, of the girl who was trapped in flood water and dying - but couldn't be pulled to safety because doing so would make her bleed out, she was punctured or something by a tree beneath the water. So the photographer literally could do nothing but sit with her until she died, trying to keep her happy.

[@thehitherto5348]

Chilling movie. Not just because it's creepy as hell, but because the actual horror is constantly underplayed, making the numerous human tragedies come to light. The fate of little Grace is plain heartbreaking. 😔

[@zalabit927]

I could hardly watch her scared expressions on these photos, as the ghoulish zombies were coming right behind her.

[@zalabit927]

What scares me the most is the idea that the whole town was massacred so fast and with only 1 survivor. Leaving it to imagination makes me think these were some extremely fast and perceptive zombies able to track the living very easy, and the fact that people infected only turn upon death makes it extremely dangerous and easy to spread. Damn, i loved this movie.

[@thehitherto5348]

Agree. The ghoulish photos and mysterious background taken into consideration, I imagined them as some sort of possessed demon/zombie hybrid, far more dangerous than "normal" ones.

[@overlord7310]

Many of these remote towns are like islands, so isolated and distant from anywhere else that the notion of just fleeing into the desert is untenable. It can definitely make for a good horror setting, where without access to working transport you can be trapped just by being surrounded with empty space.

[@zalabit927]

​@@overlord7310 Never thought about it, on a night setting it definitely is terrifying.

[@QuintessentialWalrus]

@@thehitherto5348 I also see them as demonic, or supernatural at the very least -- definitely not traditional mindless zombies at all. I interpret them as intelligent, predatory creatures with melting skin, and based on the photos I always got the sense that they were laughing and gleeful as they ate people. Massive credit to this movie for presenting a new movie monster and telling us as little about them as possible, to the extent that we're not even sure what they actually are.

[@justacrittic1578]

It reminds me of Salem's Lot, where most of the book is just getting introduced to this small town and the people in it, the during the last few chapter almost everyone is snuffed out in one night. The characters go outside at one point and finds the whole town to just be quiet. I live in norway in a city surrounded by sea and mountains. The idea of something almost human looking standing at the horizon, like seeing a line of troll in the mountains or a draug at sea like in the classical paintings, is horrific.

[@georgespiggott5615]

His hand is fine in that photo. He held Grace's hand as she was attacked. The bite mark is from her.

[@thegamingkirby8696]

Could be an explanation as to why Salazar is suddenly a zombie now in the ending, but how would that even work though? Is this a Walking Dead situation where you turn unless your brain is destroyed? Some sort of curse?

[@georgespiggott5615]

@thegamingkirby8696 maybe a smaller bite takes longer? She was in preschool, and definitely the youngest person by far who could've got infected.

[@thegamingkirby8696]

@georgespiggott5615 I know that he is bit and all but he was executed, therefore he should be dead before the infection took control of him. I'm just wondering how he turned after he was executed. Zombies in movies or shows don't seem to rise when a person dies before the infection, except for the Walking Dead.

[@M0NCHY]

​​@@thegamingkirby8696 Ryan said multiple times in the video that the people who are infected turn only *after* they die. So Salazar being killed was actually the catalyst for him turning.

[@thegamingkirby8696]

@@M0NCHY Oh, I was not paying to that one. Could you perhaps pinpoint the timestamp he said it at?

[@Sparkle_Wizard]

This is how world war z should have been developed. That was one thing I liked about the books, It was framed as a documentation of events which made it more entertaining and scary

[@eeyuup]

World War Z would work great as a series. Different episodes could document different aspects of the events and different perspectives.

[@joevenespineli6389]

​@@eeyuupI imagine that series as more of a love death and robots style anthology where each episode is made by a different studio telling a different perspective, with the only consistency being the design of the dead.

[@s0ngbirble]

@@joevenespineli6389 oooo that would be so interesting!!!

[@Forestfreud]

And so well-researched and well though-out, too. It’s clear Max Brooks did a lot of reading on things like military weaponry and strategy and thought extremely hard about how a zombie war would play out in terms of international relations and stuff. Loved that book and I absolutely agree that this is a better and more faithful spiritual adaptation than the actual adaptation it got.

[@carroboi2981]

@@Forestfreud Well not entirely. The battle of Yonkers is a shit show that simply couldn't occur and disregards the very laws of physics in places (An artillery shell bursting next to something human sized no matter how tough is going to splatter it across several counties.) and you immediately sniff out his hatred of the M4 carbine. I can't begrudge a man being for AK's over AR's, I'm that way myself but his favoritism shows through a lot. The US army wouldn't need to build a whole new gun, they could just rechamber the M4 in half the time and for even less cost. Max Brooks did research into things and got some of it quite right. He ignored a lot of other things outright though.

[@Dunmerdog]

“Do you own a gun? I do. And ever since I saw those photos I sleep with it under my pillow.” So well delivered.

[@Mythic.Miniatures]

The blurred aspects of the ghouls is by far what makes these things memorable. Look at this nightmare at 12:44. What is that? What even is that?!

[@N8tiveSon807]

My mother in-law

[@pravkdey]

Ikr! Like the humans are so relatively clear even when they're in motion but the things just defy logic, like they don't want to be captured on film

[@nightmarefanatic1819]

The thing I like about it is it it was obscures exactly what they are. They're commonly referred to as "zombies" but given how distorted the figures are and how there seem to be some strange light anomalies suggest there's something more to them.

[@princess_jem4]

Piggybacking on your comments about the B&W action shots being aesthetically inspired by photos at Normandy, another historical photo that came to mind for me was the picture of Ruth Snyder's execution by electric chair . The picture isn't graphic or gory per se but the grotesqueness of its subject matter and how quickly the shot was taken as it was done secretly has so much emotional horror to it, even almost a century later. The fact that everything isn't clear makes it so much worse and that approach definitely seems to have been used to amazing effect in this movie as well (end ramble)

[@actualturtle2421]

That photo is absolutely terrifying

[@lopirobinson1991]

The photos were mesmerizing. Such a gem of found footage. The photos alone are more scary than most found footage films.

[@joseayala2940]

Yeah for some reason i'm getting goosebumps just watching it.

[@wetbedsealand6779]

The photo of the ghouls over the hill is the one that stuck with me the most; theres a sense of motion in it- your eye is drawn to the horizon and you see them perhaps watching, or looming. But then you trail down and see some coming down the hill and you realize they’re *chasing*.. how much time do you have? How fast are they? Are you safe? And as you finally hit the bottom of the image you realize whatever time you thought you had is now significantly less

[@TheWonder_OfU]

This. THIS! The horror of the picture is so subtle, but it’s almost like the final glimpse of normal that night. After that photo was taken there was no going back because they were there, and they were coming. It’s horrifying to think that at that point there was nothing he could do *except* photograph because they were already barreling towards the town. It’s also such a scary picture because it almost makes it seem like they’re creatures that came from nowhere, from out in the desert where nothing else is, and after the massacre, faded back into being nowhere.

[@JaeLynn2121]

@@TheWonder_OfU omg yesss

[@bbpoopdeck6631]

Dude Same that part as lived in the back of my head forever

[@enthiegavoir5955]

In case anyone feels the conviction despite the mountain of contradicting evidence is way too over the top, it's not even a huge exaggeration. There's plenty of actual false convictions that happened with just as ridiculous logic in real life.

[@ChaseWyler]

Yeah like Alex Murdaugh

[@bewilderbeastie8899]

Curtis Flowers comes to mind.

[@aroha9090]

@@bewilderbeastie8899 Flowers is the one that came to my mind too :(

[@actualturtle2421]

Yeah we pretty much see it all the time in whatever highly publicised trial is going on at the time

[@nunyabusiness3652]

I think there was a guy who was easily let off the hook despite there was countless evidence; aka his wife stating if she turns up gone, he's the culprit.

[@cthulhluftagn3812]

To me the blur isnt on the camera, the creatures blur and glow like that naturaly. A rotting ghost is a perfect way of putting it.

[@heyseed1673]

I always assumed Dwayne didn't murder his family exactly, I assume that his wife and son turned, returning home after perhaps being attacked, and Dwayne simply defended himself, and was in turn driven mad by what he had to do in his own defense. This movie is a breath of fresh air to the genre all around though.

[@moonlitmortician6694]

That was my thought too. It seems much more likely that would drive a man insane than just the walking dead. No joke.

[@heyseed1673]

@@moonlitmortician6694 No joke, and it fits more with him talking about only God being able to judge him for what he had to do.

[@Breakingbad33]

That makes sense since the movie notes that not only did he kill his son, but he completely dismembered him.

[@aquarterpast]

This is how I interpret his message, and why he dismembered his family (and as much of himself as he could, assuming no one else did him in). I think it’s beyond self defense as well, but someone of deep faith seeing ghouls possessing the bodies of his wife and son and trying to destroy their bodies to deliver their souls. This is one of the more compelling parts of the movie to me - we’re seeing people defend Salazar because he was able to document his path through the town with photos. Dwayne wasn’t allowed to do the same, so the very people defending Salazar are condemning Dwayne simply because he wasn’t able to leave evidence behind beyond a message from a broken man who thought God had forsaken his town and family.

[@pravkdey]

​@@Breakingbad33oh man I imagine that could mean he hacked off his son's limbs in order to not completely kill the kid but at least to get "it" to stop attacking him. He couldn't go through with it, unlike with his wife which I understand but is completely fucked in it's own right, until he just had to do it. God this movie is so good! I hate it! Haha

[@DarlingMissDarling]

Spoiler talk about the end and something about Grace that people might miss: . . . . . . I didn't think it was surprising that he rose after his undeserved execution. They made such a point to talk about the bite evidence, perfectly punctuated by highlighting the fact that he was also bit, most likely when holding Grace's hand at the end since he didn't have the bite in the photos of that moment and the bandages were covering a very small area and were in the shape of an equally small bite circumference. Like he had held her hand long after she passed; long enough for her to also turn. If the photos weren't devastating on their own, that realization fully broke me.

[@AtrocityEquine01]

Oh my god that just made that scene more depressing.

[@DarlingMissDarling]

@@AtrocityEquine01 right?! man, I'm almost sorry to have even shared that train of thought because though ofc it's fictional it's still heartbreakingly dark. I knew regardless of the spoiler that I needed to put that depressing ass theory way down after a comment break! lol ughh man 😫

[@richardcooley6061]

Good catch! And that's probably why Salazar was executed so soon after his sentencing, instead of spending years waiting for it like most killers usually do; they had to, he turned while in prison!

[@soarin64]

@@richardcooley6061 or worst they killed the only immune person

[@MilesTheFox44]

@@richardcooley6061 Its alluded at the start that you have to die first before being turned, ergo the interview scene where talks about the guy coming to his place and dying on the couch then returning. And the ending is also a huge hint that death is the catalyst for turning.

[@lordoftheslums8741]

I like how this film takes place in the aftermath of the event. It unique in that way, the people need someone to blame evidence be damned, we don’t really know what happens and nothing adds up and when listening to everything before the photos and other things you can feel something not right. The only time we get a glimpse of the event is the photo and they are truly horrifying. They show what truly happened,it doesn’t feel cheesy or overdone. Just the photos and your own mind.

[@JarodHarrison-jj7oq]

The more I think about it, the more certain I am that something approaching intelligence might still be directing the dead in this attack, the way they acted lines up too well for anything else. The landline being blocked, the photos involving them hiding in bushes, the fact that they knew how to even climb, and then there's the looks of some of the ones in the photos and their stances showing that they were ready and able to run...

[@345635356]

Well, a friend and I were playing CSI while watching the movie and noticed quite a few details: Starting with the first victim, we get to see his autopsy sheet revealing a lot of damage. Of it, we discounted the 30-something lacerations to focus on the other stuff: the right hand had lost the little and ring fingers, the right hand amputated, hole in his upper left torso where the things had bitten in and either broken or removed ribs (along with muscle), the left side of his upper torso, neck, and head has its skin peeled off, and he was bitten bone deep all over. We theorized that the guy had been ambushed by one of them, but on the right hand, tried to defend himself with his left only to lose that too, get swarmed and half eaten, and then he tried to escape and in the struggle got peeled like an orange. Afterward, they took their sweet time getting to Salazar’s shack since the victim had time to run, get found, die, revive, attack Salazar, and then get killed again. Salazar also had time to recover, look south, see the things, grab his camera, take photo 1, and then run. You’d assume that means we’re dealing with slow entities but it turns out that despite running at top speed and the hoard diverting into the fields to kill the 11 field workers (who no doubt saw Salazar covered in blood and screaming so they’d be on alert), Salazar only had like half a minute to talk with Ron before the things caught up and photos 2-4 happened (this sequence of photos couldn’t have been more than 30 seconds apart). In other words, these things are fast and CHOSE to let Salazar run in photo 1. Also, with the Ron encounter you see them slowing down, being either cautious or trying to intimidate. It gets worse though. Salazar ran to town but photo 5 shows that the things didn’t just follow, they had passed him by to attack the village and set up ambush points in the bushes. In short: they are superhumanly strong and fast, demonstrate pack-hunting instincts (which requires communication), ambush targets, chase wounded prey (presumably to follow them home), know to be cautious and/or intimidating, and (and this is the most terrifying one of them all) are capable of large scale strategy, with a group chasing Salazar while the rest got around him to focus on the town instead. Our guess ended up being a hive mind of some sort. I admire the filmmaker’s ability to build the scenario like this, but also FUCKIN’ NOPE

[@JarodHarrison-jj7oq]

@@345635356 Something that really threw me off when looking at some of the photos was their ability to prioritize, considering how they either knew that ron was the bigger target with his gun, or failing that could understand threat levels after he took a few shots at them. Then there's the fact that they were either fast enough to keep pace with a car since there was at least one or two vehicles that were 'dragged off' with their drivers dead, or strong enough to force it to crash, and that is an entirely different can of worms as a result. They blocked the landline too, possibly destroying it considering how it looked when the ranger showed it, and then there was the clear prioritization and understanding of certain locations like the church and school. Some part of me honestly thinks that Salazar got as far as he could less because he was lucky, and more because they thought he was fun to play with, considering how he didn't immediately die when they stumbled onto him. The same way a cat plays with a mouse in a way...

[@345635356]

@@JarodHarrison-jj7oq Salazar survived for three reasons: 1.- His camera has long range. Most of these pictures were taken from far away, keeping him away from the action. 2.- During the encounter with Ron, image 4 shows motion blur that looks like Salazar immediately ran when the things got close where Ron chose to stand and fight. As a result, Salazar escaped while Ron was dragged away into the desert (they never found his body). 3.- Photo 5 shows 2 of these things hidden in a bush waiting to ambush someone, presumably Salazar. Compared to the house next to them they look tiny, like they are baby-sized, but the one on the right is clearly the corpse of an adult guy, so what's up? Well, it would seem that the bush is further back than the house, more hidden in darkness. And yet Salazar perceived them and managed to photograph them. What does this tell us? Well, Salazar is an introverted illegal immigrant from Mexico, he’s clearly a far more vigilant person than those around him. During the attack, it looks like his alertness, the zoom from his camera, and the fact that there are always people between him and the things was what allowed him to survive. As for the cars? I think it's more that the drivers saw a person-like figure on the road, swerved to avoid them, and then got jumped. The things are strong and fast, but nothing suggests they are THAT strong, especially since the kid who jumped Salazar was overpowered.

[@urbanharmon3471]

@@345635356 To add to this, like the film says... it took 37 stabs from a pickaxe just to take ONE of them down (the kid, Danny, that showed up at Salazar's home), and also with Ron trying to shoot at them that not even bullets from a rifle could stop them in their tracking of Salazar... ...Holy shit...

[@345635356]

@@urbanharmon3471 Salazar hit Danny in the head once so I’m assuming he either had a lucky a shot during a panicked assault or he killed Danny with the first hit and then kinda zoned out. As for Ron? He’s explicitly a hunter, and hunters tend to aim for the heart. It's probably why he didn’t take any of those things down, but to be fair even trained military snipers only shoot the head if the target is holding a hostage, otherwise, they aim for a triangle between the arms and the neck, which with these things wouldn’t have done anything either.

[@panqueque445]

17:48 I didn't see it as him sacrificing his family, more like killing them to prevent them from being eaten alive by the zombies. A sort of mercy killing. Similar to the people who jumped off the water tower.

[@_The_Archive_]

Fun Fact: The character Len Matheson is played by Len Wein, creator of Wolverine

[@DTHains]

He also co-created Swamp Thing, and he wrote Giant-Size X-Men #1 which revamped the team and franchise as a whole.

[@spectreagent00]

I thought that was him!

[@hellraiserx44]

R.I.P

[@zeroanonymity9736]

Nah I loved that ending. He was their one chance to see that there was an oncoming problem, that something had to be done, but he was scapegoated and ignored. Even the writer that believed him implied he thought it was a KKK lynching of the entire town. No one could conceive of the horror that was heading their way and there was enough wilderness between the town and other pieces of civilization to make their existence questionable.

[@actualturtle2421]

Yeah but the point is that he was just a zombie, which is way less scary than whatever ghoulishness was happening in the photographs. It played against the whole thing that actually makes the movie scary.

[@zeroanonymity9736]

@@actualturtle2421 Ehhhhhh it happened so quickly and with so little shown due to the footage's corruption it didn't ruin it for me personally. The rest of the context I listed elevated it for me

[@memegito_1]

I mean he wasn’t completely ignored, just like Alexander Mcclay Williams and many wrongfully executed. His death managed to awaken at least a bit of the populace. The graffiti at the end of the film paints him as a martyr who died to bring awareness to the public of one single thing “The undead are here and we must prepare”.

[@bryanlassiter698]

I think the ending is very politically steeped in the culture of the Southwest. As immigrants attempt to cross the border into the US they have to pass through some of the worst and deadliest terrain in the Southwest and their bodies often go missing. So perhaps, the disappearance of the body only for it to reappear in the mountains is a nod to that. That's just my interpretation.

[@jameskennedy7906]

I agree. I feel like the paranoia of living in such a remote area with unknown dangers. The people of the town did a lot to protect each other including Salazar, but living somewhere like that if something happens to you theres no assurance that anyone will know and you might as well have been dragged into the desert never to be seen again.

[@ssjpanda8417]

I remember someone saying Salazar had keys to plenty of buildings through town. What broke my heart was the fact that he didn't have the key to the gate he found Grace at, proven by his failure to open it.

[@Mario_Angel_Medina]

You know what would have been better that ending the film with a couple of campers being attacked by the ghouls? Ending with a report of a caravan of inmigrants found massacred. It would tied back the horror of the ghouls with the injustices of prejudice, as it implies that the creatures are still free, attacking people, and the American autorities will just ignoring it until is too late because for the moment they're only attacking "undesirables"... of course an even better ending would be to not say anything at all after "Salazar's body dissapeared", maybe show some ambiguous photos or footage of creepy people caught from very far away, and leave open the questions of where did the ghouls go? Will they appear again? If Salazar is one of them now, who else might be "infected"?

[@345635356]

I get the feeling that the fact that the... Pack? Swarm? Herd? Is moving north is supposed to evoke the fear some Americans have about migrants. You know, social commentary or something like that

[@nightmarefanatic1819]

​@@345635356 It's hypocritical to me. You cannot have a movie that preaches so hard for the case of illegal immigrants and the discrimination they face and then have the evil in the movie actually be evil, unknown violent people coming out of Mexico and murdering Americans.

[@AtrocityEquine01]

The fact the movie substituted photographs for the "footage approach" is what made the movie work for me. Because it leaves it up into the imagination about what the absolute fuck was Salazar was seeing through the lens of his camera. Being a photographing nerd myself, I was just giddy at this prospect and the movie _did not disappoint_ with it.\ Also Carlos literally became my favorite character simply because he essentially calls out Greer and by an extent, Ross for using the tragedy to push their narrative and is able to infer _his own_ thoughts.

[@nightmarefanatic1819]

Carlos is definitely the best character in the movie. He really shines as an example of a local who is closer to a tragedy caring more about the people involved and showing the actual truth over a bunch of pundits scrambling to twist the events into ammo for their political shit flinging.

[@wonderwaffle93]

What I love is how these zombies are so ghoulish in detail. They feel like they stepped out of a nightmare. Like they appear so dreamlike and spectral. The pitch darkness with eyes peering through the void.

[@TheUnknownDungeon]

This movie is so underrated. This film, The Bay and Lake Mungo are prime examples of doing horror properly with the faux documentary style. The more you leave to the imagination, the better.

[@kaigrote8630]

I wouldn't say the bay leaves a whole lot to the imagination.

[@jameji_phd]

@@kaigrote8630 I think that's a case of showing that "rules" often need to be broken every now and then. With the found footage/mockumentary style there's often this expectation of obfuscation through shaky cam or weird framings to make up for stuff like a lack of budget and effects, but The Bay puts every horrifying, disgusting moment directly on display.

[@bigjedimullet]

This is one of the rare cases where “tell, don’t show” works beautifully. We’re never fully shown any of the creatures or the carnage they caused, so our own imaginations go into overtime.

[@rubywolf5296]

I always imagined that they were vampires rather than zombies, the photographs which at times portrays them as haunting apparitions seem to be a nod to the myth that vampires cannot be recorded by camera.

[@TheNraveles]

they’re def zombies due to the fact of them just…devouring bodies

[@YuriRamosBragaFerreira]

That was my first impression too. They also appear as demons or wraiths sometimes, so i think the filmmakers wanted to make it less clear what exactly the creatures were.

[@kingman450]

Love love love this movie. I've been trying to get more people to watch it. Im still not convinced those are just normal zombies. They look very demonic at times.

[@kingman450]

Thank you for making a video on it. It's so very underrated, and I always felt it needed to be seen more.

[@tc-tm1my]

This film legit scared me. After I watched it, I couldn't look outside at night because I felt like I'd see something peering back out of the bushes.

[@TheMediatorOfChaos]

I loved the way they played with the viewer’s politics in this. The viewer might have a serious bias going into it, on cops, illegal immigration, the border, even the death penalty, but the payoff is that we’re all hopelessly out of our element with the reality of what happened I also really love that whatever’s attacking the town aren’t just zombies or vampires, the way the photographs look make them appear like something ethereal

[@jameji_phd]

I think it's a fascinating take, to me it points out the idea that we often feel so secure with our trust in systems of justice, but then something completely unexpected/unexplainable happens and we realize that those systems are only as secure as the people we put in charge of them, people who often would rather take an incorrect but easily explainable route rather than challenge what they think they know and understand. It's frightening.

[@vampyre_with_a_suntan]

Such an underrated flick. Its not perfect by any means, but it manages to really elevate its concept.

[@DJtheBlack-RibbonedRose]

Ooh, a different take on the Found Footage/Evidence genre but a welcome one! Instead of seeing events played out in full, we only get these frenzied, frozen moments of capture, immortalized horror. It adds not only a deeper mystery element to the whole ordeal, but an even greater sense of dread and despair to it by gaining an *idea* of what had occurred but without actually seeing it. 📷💀

[@JillLulamoon]

I really like how the photos make the monsters look more like demons than just simple zombies.

[@28Pluto]

They have traits from many monsters, and also unlike any monster that you've ever seen before... That's the creepy magic.

[@yael8754]

This movie is an absolute gem. It was never even close to released in my country so I literally spent about two years trying to find it somewhere until I finally found it. And all that expectation I built up for years? Absolutely paid off. Such a creepy little movie.

[@zleep9182]

So glad you’re talking about this-it’s a testament to the film’s quality that it managed to get so much creepiness out of still photographs.

[@nitomosquito3164]

The picture from 0:19 is by far the most frightening to me. Something about how ominous the picture is for the events to come. And it’s strange, but the way the arms appear to be stretched out gives an off putting stature to me. Like how the creatures are running with a flailing motion. Not to mention how spread out they are.

[@alexroy5854]

Damn.. seeing you mention Channel Zero made me remember how hard that first season hit. Not just because the monster reveal was genuinely unnerving, also because I watched it with my Twin Bro and the ending was thus extra emotional!

[@actualturtle2421]

I literally started channel zero yesterday lmao i felt so seen

[@alexroy5854]

@actualturtle2421 Ooooh enjoy! I haven't seen past season 1 tbh, but if it's any indicator than the show is great

[@chaoticfirearm]

The photos in this are absolutely breathtaking. Some of the most truly terrifying I've ever seen.

[@MSinistrari]

The pictures of the daycare/preschool wrecked the hell out of me.

[@delondramesa2326]

I am so glad you covered this! This is such an underrated gem. Even though I love Horror in the High Desert and its sequel, I wish they'd borrowed a little more from this style (particularly the second one, which I found harder to follow.) The talking heads analyzing each photo one by one made the narrative so clear, yet it was all supremely unsettling.

[@actualturtle2421]

Maniac Cop rules

[@MultiTequilaSunrise]

I've been listening to your videos for years, and every week I've been excited for your content. It's maybe a hard point to get across, but your videos are both in depth and thoughtful while also being very accepting of the limitations of the medium and thoughtful about the target audience. It just really shines through how much you love film and want to share that with other people. Thank you for all the content, and I look forward to enjoying it for as long as you continue making it.

[@paolotorres4037]

To paraphrase Leslie Knope: I don't use the word "scared" a lot, because if you say you're scared of everything, it loses meaning. But I can say, without hesitation, that this movie fucked me up.

[@Corthmic]

In some ways, this movie was way ahead of its time with how insanely popular things like Analog Horror have become. If this were released today it would've been a hit.

[@berkdragon72]

OMG finally someone is talking about this film. Criminally underrated IMO.

[@Garvak]

Realistically, the camera roll couldn't have been submitted after the first trial b/c new evidence can't be submitted in an appeal (rather than any issue of it not being compelling enough.)

[@xouptvey]

God this is actually one of my favourite horror movies. I rewatch it every halloween and it never fails to give me chills. Glad you covered it, the more people that know about it the better! :)

[@blackhood7200]

Hey Ryan, you should cover a slasher trilogy called Maniac Cop. It's one of the most criminally underrated and is one of my most favoriteslashers out. I'm sure you'll love it. It definitely deserves more love.

[@scottmcfarlane7524]

I forgot there was a third but it should have moved to a comedy horror more so

[@yael8754]

No way, someone else remembers this movie, lol

[@blackhood7200]

@Kika yeah, been watching classic slasher movies, and Maniac Cop is one of my most favorites. From the Golden Age of Slashers in the 80s.

[@livingcorpse5664]

Theory: He used the flash in the blind hope that maybe it'll blind the creatures.

[@RyanHollinger]

This is actually speculated a reason because Salazar says it stopped them for a split second before immediately going back to it

[@livingcorpse5664]

@@RyanHollinger Wanna say thanks for making me aware of this movie. I enjoyed it a lot.

[@mandarinduck]

Horror mockumentaries are so good. I was watching this with a friend who was less familiar with the concept and was absolutely terrified because she thought it was an actual true crime documentary the entire time.

[@weedongding]

I gotta give Ryan props for covering this film. I love this movie and it's got to be one of THE best zombie films in cinema for me. I hope Ryan gets to some other little-known films that are my favorites like: Embedded (2012) The Millennium Bug (2011) Island Zero (2018) The Phoenix Incident (2015) End of the Line (2007)

[@WetBoy]

Those movies suck

[@weedongding]

​@@WetBoyso you saw each one?

[@LocalMemeFarmer]

Yessss! Delighted to see you cover this as its one of my favourites, and really glad that you liked it Those pictures, man, just pure nightmare fuel.

[@ML-bs2yx]

I truly wish we could get more films like Savageland! Using photos instead of film makes the audience fill in the blanks as we hear the speculation from different interviews. I do wish they didn't add the final ending footage, it is way too much of a cheeky ending and the addition of actual film makes it too much zombie trope-ish which ruined that build up of those haunting images.

[@patrickwilson5393]

In a wierd way this reminds me of silent hill if only because the whole thing is dealing with the aftermath, there is no character heroism or anything of the like, you are but an observer seeing the aftermath of an event you couldn't possibly fathom

[@mikeosredkar8804]

One of the many reasons I keep coming back to the channel is to find some under-the radar gems, and this definitely seems like one of them. Thanks for the review and for bringing this to my attention! I'm gonna need to track this one down.

[@ScrimmyBingus42]

i can't believe how relatable Salazar's story is. all throughout my childhood i was treated as a dangerous outcast by my peers and teachers. it got to the point that my principle suspended me and seemed to genuinely think i was a dangerous psychopath all because someone heard something i was saying to my friend out of context. it made me afraid to express any of my more unconventional interests to anyone for fear of them thinking i was dangerous and violent, despite the only person i have ever had violent feelings towards is myself.

[@Raccon_Detective.]

Has it gotten better?

[@ScrimmyBingus42]

@@Raccon_Detective. Well I graduated and moved across the country sooo

[@Raccon_Detective.]

@@ScrimmyBingus42 I wish you good luck.

[@jadenbryant9283]

@@ScrimmyBingus42 hope things are beter for you sir

[@theshopaholic1997]

I've wanted for someone to cover this film for SO LONG, I'm so happy it'll get some of the recognition it truly deserves!

[@moonlitmortician6694]

Omg, same! I found this movie years ago and have been waiting for it to get attention.

[@mook_butt8037]

Agreed, 100%. It’s a brilliant mockumentary

[@byronlabonte6320]

I heard about it from the Lovecraft E-zine podcast. They’ve been praising it for a while now

[@Forestfreud]

I’m honestly frothing at the mouth for more takes on the “found photography” genre now… so much room for exploration. I would love to know how they took the pictures for this movie.

[@nightmarefanatic1819]

It's one of the reasons I like the creepypasta "Anomaly" so much. If you haven't read it, it's told from the PoV of a narrator who works at a publishing company and was overseeing the publication of a coffee table style book using anomalous photographs sent in by the would be author. The guy ends up breaking their contract after being ridiculously difficult to work with so the author decides to say fuck it and leak the photos to the Internet with some explanations they were given about what's depicted. There's no dramatic curses or the narrator claiming weird shit happened afterwards, just these really eerie images with eerie backstories.

[@0ghma_]

I’m not sure what’s more mesmerizing: The haunting shot composition of the still photographs; Or Ryan’s incredible mustache…

[@craniumssuperburger7749]

Savageland is the scrariest "zombie" movie imo, so much is left up to interpretation, as well as if the "zombies" are even zombies given the fact they're terrifyingly fast and perceptive of their surroundings to the point that they know where people are hiding. (The church scene comes to minds.) Under-rated movie imo.

[@peaceofpie94]

I know this channel reviews horror movies, but I genuinely listened to most of this video believing it was a true case. Oh my god. It wasn’t until the “reveal” of what actually happened to the town was shown did I realize it’s fictionalized but holy shit the dread I experienced thinking this was real was unlike anything I’ve felt before

[@TheMilkman-ur5ip]

I wish they didn’t go for the ending with the found footage and reanimated Salazar. I would’ve rathered that they had a black screen with text stating that Salazar’s body has vanished, or something similar to that.

[@noahjester8471]

This film reminds me of Fatal Frame; the story being an investigation into supernatural mayhem and personal tragedy, with almost none of the basic facts being just shown and instead are alluded to via photographs and letters, requiring you to do a bit of sleuthing to get a clearer picture. The photographs are incredible. They disturb me the same way FF did it: the ghosts or ghouls, rather than shown in full detail, are merely vague suggestions of what it is you're looking at. The black and white smears are very Fatal Frame. I have to see this movie.

[@mandalorianhunter1]

And now we have to do a first found video game film like this. Ryan I think you will need to direct this film

[@BlueRanger57]

I'm so glad you're talking about this movie. Such a creative way of storytelling. Those photos are genuinely unnerving, and the documentary framing device is well acted and produced despite its lower budget. In a sea of mediocre "found footage" films, Savageland is definitely one of the better ones.

[@briancoulombe4517]

Do you know how people make the joke about the sole Survivor getting put away because no one would believe their story about the monster killing everyone else? This is kind of a movie about that.

[@steelstringd2018]

Wow. This movie is straight up haunting. However, I disagree with your take on the ending. The epilogue is set up to hammer the point: this happened, and you killed the one person who knew the truth. To follow this up with evidence that it will keep happening? It's emblematic of how our current society deals with large problems (we don't). (Also, the zombies might have done more in those 18 months. The ending might have just been the first recording of the attacks since the first)

[@MistyWarden]

Carlos literally shows a full conspiracy string map of places that have been hit by the horde 🤣

[@stevetv5739]

Pretty sure the film heavily implied there was a big conspiracy covering up the zombie situation, for reasons left unexplained.

[@JHardenFilms]

I completely forget that this film existed, and I was genuinely unnerved by it. Also love that Swamp Thing and Wolverine co-creator Len Wein was the sympathetic voice as the war photographer.

[@jadenbryant9283]

late but yeah I was suprised to see him here wonder if the creators are major comic book fans especially with the title being the same as a known location in the marvel universe

[@jbark678]

17:28 My interpretation was that the wife and son turned while the father lost his mind after being forced to kill his zombified family members.

[@nugg3tz347]

I remember me and my girlfriend where looking for spooky movies to watch during October like 2 years ago and we came across this gem. We both loved it and it’s definitely one of the better creepy/horror movies I’ve seen in a while.

[@TicTacPilgrim]

I liked the ending. Knew exactly how it was gonna go down as soon as i saw the guy bit. Which for me still works (probably cause Ive studied storytelling for a majority of my life) Really reminded me of how people treated covid right before it really got going. Ignored, denied, and then things got worse.

[@swiftspartan9850]

god every time i rewatch this movie, I always get chills down my spine whenever I see that first photograph of them coming over the hill

[@thedreammweaver6274]

I don’t know how I missed this video. I loved this movie, I have watched a LOT of horror since I was a kid but this one scared me deeply in a way no other thing has. This is the main thing I think of when I’m outside in the dark or even during the day if I see a big open field/hill like one of the first photos depicts. I think this movie is super underrated so I’m glad you covered it. Also funny you compared it to Lake Mungo cause like these two are found footage that has scared me the most.

[@FortheLoveofMonsters]

how have I never heard of this movie??? socially conscious horror is my shit. I LOVE the look of the photographs.

[@jasonblundelldobebussing]

Finally! He covered it. I can't believe it, we've been asking for months now. Thanks. What a great movie that was.

[@bloodrunsclear]

I thought this movie was amazing. What was REALLY incredible was the theme of questioning narrative. The guy who is making the documentary GETS IT WRONG. He accuses the violence on a race riot…instead of a random act of zombies!

[@Eshanas]

He also holds the photos until after the first trial I think? But yea he had his motive.

[@bassanimation]

I love Savageland, it's one of the most disturbing, yet poignant horror films out there.

[@squidorabl]

This is one of my FAVORITE films, it's so haunting. Can I suggest The Outwaters? It's an absolute trip of a movie

[@0_dearghealach_083]

I remember watching that. And not understanding a damned thing. ... I assume there was some kind of alien/cosmic horror in the desert?

[@wstine79]

At this point, I was expecting a found-footage video of Ryan Hollinger and where he's been for the last few weeks.

[@RyanHollinger]

My last video was only 2 weeks ago!

[@wstine79]

@@RyanHollinger It felt like forever. But, I figured you had things to do.

[@MrBeardsley]

Len Matheson’s line about the camera separating him from the horrors of war is taken from special effects legend Tom Savini, who was supposed to work on Night of the Living Dead before getting drafted to Vietnam where he served as a combat photographer. Fun fact, Matheson was played by the late Len Wein, a name well known to comic book fans as the co-creator of Wolverine and Swamp Thing.

[@popcornken1505]

The ending make it completely fictional. I almost forgot I was watching a mockocumentary to that point. I do like the shrine part. I completely believe poor Salazar was dealing with an evil dead type of evil. Like demon fueled zombies

[@dirkjehovah4731]

Always great to see a new Ryan video!

[@ulfingvar1]

This is a masterpiece, a film that needs to be much, much more known than it is. May the future bring about its widespread success!

[@felicity4841]

if i remember right, light had the power to freeze the ghouls for a bit, hence the usage of the flash. the implication would have been that he was trying to delay the inevitable as much as possible, but didn't succeed

[@Schattenfaust2]

Also maybe it's too surface level but I read Duane's actions as mercy killing, trying to spare his family from being torn apart by ghouls

[@KyleShiflet13666]

I loved Savageland it's a well-made movie it's up there on my list of "Found Footage" Films along with The Bay,Cannibal Holocaust,McPherson tapes and,Last Broadcast

[@hyde4244]

This is a good movie but I can't stop laughing now because it's literally a dead serious version of the Onion story about the man who was blamed for bear attacks

[@Krosstic]

I kinda wish we got more behind the scenes stuff for this movie, I would’ve liked to have seen the zombies makeup in good lighting because some of those shots have them looking horrifying

[@skylx0812]

As someone born and raised in southern AZ the story seems convoluted and biased. Prejudice exists on both sides of the border fence. Mexicans treat the Arizona Native American people like trash. Every group has to have _someone_ to look down upon and feel superior to, even in their own lowly state. Things aren't as cut and dried as a writer with a narrative to front makes them seem. Even African Americans have a profound hatred and bias toward American Indians.

[@chakz8yabz]

i like good found footage film but now i like more found photography, it gives more frightening experience because a photo combine with imagination is really terrifying.

[@JaeLynn2121]

SAVAGELAND is SUCH a great watch!! love your breakdown... ive been looking for a good review of this movie with a breakdown of the pics and u did a great job! loved your vid!

[@flyingpiggy1475]

Do you plan to do other analog horrors like vita carne, urban horror, or some individual horror videos on TikTok?

[@RyanHollinger]

New analog review next week!!

[@flyingpiggy1475]

@@RyanHollinger oh hell yeah!

[@hoibsh21]

Skinwalkers massacred all the townsfolk, hoyever the courts didn't believe it.

[@DocHoliday1874]

The photos look very much like the art used in the early 2000s World of Darkness RPG books.

[@CaiquePV]

I watched it last Saturday on the recommendation of a post on the r/horror subreddit. I loved it, it was a breath of fresh air in the horror scene, I was already tired of watching "horror" movies that have nothing to do with horror, just jumpscares and stuff. The use of stills in this movie was a superb idea, even more so after the recent "resurrection" of found footages, pseudo-documentaries and ARGs.

[@LSDanois]

Those pictures are up there with the credit pictures in Night Of The Living Dead. Truly amazing

[@WritingEchelon]

I actually honest to god yelled out "YES" out loud. One of my fave horror youtubers covering my absolute fave horror was exactly what I needed to see this morning.