The Conspiracy

After countless unoriginal found-footage horror flicks we’ve got to the stage where for it to be interesting a film must push the concept somewhere further. The original feeling of “cool! the camera makes me a character” is long gone. The recent Europa Report ingeniously built tension and titillated the viewer’s expectations with the question “how is it possible that we are seeing this footage?” The Conspiracy is another example of a fake documentary (i.e. a blend of found-footage scenes with interviews of people of interest) and in the end the viewer is nagged by a completely different question: “Why are they showing this documentary to us?” To appreciate it, you must not take it as a feature film, you need to get into the documentary game; it’s the only way this smart film can work. The horror bits (jump-scares, action, gore, scary atmosphere) are lacking for most of it and therefore the film will not be everyone’s cup of tea, even though the final “ritualistic” act is very mysterious and unsettling (I couldn’t avoid remembering the ending of Wheatley’s Kill List). (09/08/2013)