Michael Kallio’s Found Footage Film, ‘The Scout’ – Movie Review

Michael Kallio’s The Scout is a found footage horror flick that takes the perspective of an in-progress, behind-the-scenes documentary on a fictional, micro budget horror film gone wrong. We wanted to share our thoughts about the film.

Synopsis:

An independent film crew on a group location scout are attacked by a mysterious masked killer, who appears “hell-bent” on murdering them one by one.

Written by Kallio and Hacksaw’s Anthony Leone (our interview), The Scout could very well succeed solely as the satirical mockumentary that it is for the first half of the film. Its great cast—including 10/31 Part II’s Anastasia Elfman, Lisa Cole, and Carl Drew—comes together to make some truly likeable characters with plenty of humor to go along with the drama that comes with putting everything on the line for a passion project. However, there is a darker plot below the surface that sees everything culminate into a slasher-style bloodbath at its climax.

What sets The Scout apart from most found footage films is that it uses multiple cameras used by different characters, and not every camera is the same. With each perspective coming from a different camera of varying quality, it creates a connection between the camera and the character using it, giving it a more intimate feel. At first, you may go in thinking it’s less than what it is, based on some of the cameras, but it won’t take long for it to click that it really works for what the film is doing, and it’s actually better for it.

The horror doesn’t fully come in until later in the movie making it sort of a slow burn, but it never gets boring. The cast is great and the situations they find themselves in create some laugh out loud moments. Because of this, when the bodies do begin to drop, their deaths matter to you.

The Scout is a fun movie that makes brilliant work of its budget. It captures the behind the scenes documentary feel perfectly, creating an environment where you can really get behind what’s going on and get to know characters that feel genuine. This setup raises the stakes for when the killing starts to add to the intensity of the climax of the film. It’s definitely worth a watch.