This writer is proud to say he attended the world premiere of Paranormal Activity in 2007, two years before its theatrical release (which, as you may recall, almost didn’t happen until interested genre fans demanded it). Knowing how good it was, it was wonderful to see how successful it became, until a flood of wannabes made “a new found footage movie” feel more like a warning. Even now, 15 or so years after that glut, we still have to endure films of this type that offer nothing new and are cynically produced.
Thankfully, When You See It is not one of those. It is, in fact, one of the better ones to come along in quite some time.
Making its world premiere at the Telluride Horror Show, writer/director/editor John Abbott’s feature directorial debut (made for less than PA’s budget, without even adjusting for inflation) proves that a familiar story can still feel fresh with the right execution. Our heroes are Cassie (Danica Lee Clauser) and Jake (Ryan Boloix), the team behind a would-be paranormal investigation show that Cassie is desperate to get off the ground (Jake is mostly there for the ride and to hang out with Cassie). Still looking for a knockout case that can get them picked up by a network, Cassie is contacted by Tyler (Evan Ellicott), who claims an entity haunts the basement of his Connecticut home.
Because the film opens with a talking-head interview with Jake, who describes his experience in Tyler’s home, we already know something bad is going to happen there. But the smart thing about Abbott’s script, and the performances of its three (and only three) actors, is that a skeptic and a believer can be equally unsettled by what follows. “Is Tyler telling the truth or is he just insane/dangerous?” is a question you can keep asking yourself throughout the runtime, and Abbott never lets anything veer too far in one direction to make the other answer implausible.
The trade-off is that, yes, the movie doesn’t have too many traditional jump scares. With “a ghost” or “Tyler” needing to answer every question you have about the origin of a loud noise or something falling off the wall, you won't see Paranormal Activity-style moments of people being dragged out of bed by invisible forces. Instead, while the “all in a house” presentation will undoubtedly draw comparisons to that one, the real influence here is The Blair Witch Project.
It's not only directly mentioned in the dialogue (a rare instance of one of these movies explicitly referencing one of its predecessors; it’s the Scream of found footage films!), but it also shares its “less is more” approach to scares. Yes, there are a couple of jolt moments, but the real draw is the endless dread the story builds as it moves toward its seemingly tragic conclusion.
You see, Jake is the only one we see in the present-day documentary footage, suggesting Cassie and/or Tyler are no longer with us. Whether or not that is true is something I won’t spoil here, but it’s another example of Abbott’s solid storytelling, aided by Boloix’s performance, because Jake’s skeptical, sarcastic demeanor in the scenes at Tyler’s house (most of which are shot from his POV, though Ring camera footage and such allows him to be on-screen a fair amount) is in sharp contrast to his spooked and melancholy manner in the present day. So sure, you might get a little restless in the early scenes, especially if you’re well-versed in these things, but seeing both sides of Jake lets you know it’ll be worth the wait.
Clauser and Ellicott are also quite good in their roles. Cassie is ambitious but not stupid, and unlike some of her peers in this sub-genre, knows when it’s time to get the hell out of there instead of doubling down on putting herself and her friends in danger, and Clauser really sells how painful that decision must be for the character. And Ellicott has the trickiest job, because depending on how you look at it, he’s either the villain or the movie’s most tragic character. He has a bit of a crush on Cassie, which leads to some awkward conversations that get solid laughs, and you’re also left with the troubling feeling that the comic relief might be the person you need to fear most.
Essentially, everyone here had a tricky job, and they pulled it off, making it the fest's surprise gem alongside buzzy movies like River and The Cycle. Some attendees even went back to watch it a second time, which is a sure sign the film is a winner for fans of this sort. In a way, it’s almost worth seeing so many junky, thoughtless entries in the sub-genre where the POV was completely arbitrary (and often detrimental to the narrative), because When You See It reminds us that, when it’s done right, you can get a lot out of very little.
