Afflicted (2014)

This documentary plays much more like Reality Show that could be called, "How Codependent Are You?" The people observed are genuinely ill in some way or another and they get little to no help or direction from Western medicine are are left to fend for themselves with mostly charlatan characters. Meanwhile, their care-givers wander minefields of eggshells trying to assist ill people who often feel desperate. It ends up with very codependent relationships where no one is getting their needs met. Cameras documenting these awful situations may be exacerbating the codependent dynamics and do not go unnoticed. Communication, therapy and new modalities, alternative and complementary medicine must be part of the equation for this and all patients. Illness doesn't always fit into a nice, little box. This film does nothing to further the conversation; it just makes everyone look a bit crazy.

Two friends embark on a round the world trip of a lifetime but only a few days in Derek gets viciously bitten by a woman he met in Paris but has no recollection of what happened. Then in Italy he becomes sick but he has also gained superhuman powers (he can smash rocks with bare hands, lift a car, run at 60km/h, etc). On the downside he has become a vampire and in need of human blood... This is filmed in the style of found footage. Yes, this has been done to death and I'm not a great fan of this format. However, shaky cam aside, this is a pretty well made film with some decent scares and special effects. The film starts off quite humorously but that changes after about 20 minutes and from there on is a full on horror movie. Worth seeing.

This movie wasn't great and obviously borrowed from some other films but overall I found the story interesting and the characters engaging.Special kudos for the special effects. Talk about getting the most out of a limited budget. Would like to see more from the makers of this film.

Now, I know it's not the most popular opinion, but I personally LOVE the "found footage" style of horror movie. I really think it lends more authenticity and makes the movie feel more frightening if you can pretend for a moment that it actually IS compiled from real, raw footage. The one big drawback can be that I think it takes some pretty decent acting chops to be able to act like you're just a real person saying real things that happened to be caught on camera… and, personally, I don't think the actors in this one could pull it off. There needs to be a convincing amount of believable narrative which I think can be very cheesy if not done right, which is unfortunate in any other genre but I think can all but sink a horror movie. This wasn't quite that bad, but I wish I had believed more of what they said.That being said, this movie truly did freak me out. There's something about the isolation that comes from traveling anywhere, but especially outside of your own country, that really added to the quickly growing fear about Derek's transformation. There were a few moments that really made me jump out of my seat. I also thought there were some impressive special effects especially considering their budget was only slightly more than $300,000.It plays a bit into the whole stereotype of horror movie characters not knowing when to just cut their ties and run the hell away. I appreciated that Clif was so dedicated to his friend, to a degree, and while I understood his irresistible desire to continue filming (I'm a photographer, I can relate to the need to document), I did NOT get why he insisted on posting live video for their friends and family back home to helplessly witness (not to mention posting videos of the crimes they committed and aiding in the Italian police's ability to find them).Really, I thought the movie could have ended way earlier than it did. It seemed to climax way too early (that's what she said) and then we follow Clif as he tries to understand what happened and why. Less is more sometimes, people, and I think the movie as a whole would have been creepier if we didn't know the agonizing (and kind of pointless) backstory and instead just exited the film with Derek being unable to continue on with such a brutal, violent lifestyle.