I’m not the biggest fan of found footage, but I do like it when it’s done well. As soon as I saw the trailer for The Black Eyed Children I got really excited because it looked downright creepy.
Did The Black Eyed Children creep me out? Read on to find out.
Synopsis
A young woman takes a job at an autumn camp in the woods, only to arrive to find that all the children have mysteriously disappeared. But as night falls, much to her dismay, some of them return.
The Black Eyed Children was written and directed by József Gallai (A Stranger In The Woods) from a story by Gallai and Roy McClurg Jr. (The Final Frame). The film stars Kata Kuna (The Poltergeist Diaries) Bill Oberst Jr. (Circus of the Dead), Simon Bamford (Aftermath), Justin Hayward (Invasion of the Not Quite Dead), Sara Kloc (Trick or Truth), Laura Ellen Wilson (I Saw Black Clouds), Anais Jessica Berinde (Case Files), Karolina Szabó (Aftermath), Máté Martin Marton, and Regina Fonyó (The Child Eater).
I really wasn’t sure what to expect going into The Black Eyed Children but I wound up really enjoying it. The film makes the most of its isolated location, building a creeping sense of dread throughout. Essentially we spend most of the runtime with Claire, a woman who has been hired to work at a camp as a counselor. When she arrives, the place is abandoned. We follow her as she searches for answers to the disappearance of the children.
The film does a good job using what it has to make you feel uneasy. The whole time you know something is very not right at this camp. There is a lengthy segment where we are viewing a tape of the camps owner, played by Bill Oberst Jr. This segment gives you some answers as to what happened and leaves you with more questions. Bill Oberst Jr. does a excellent job at making you feel his characters pain and desperation. This was one of my favorite sequences in the movie.
The final act kicks things up a notch, building on the sense of dread that came before it. The final act is super creepy and kinda freaked me out a bit.
Final Thoughts
The Black Eyed Children is found footage film filled to the brim with an overwhelming sense of dread. Recommended.