Found Footage Mockumentary Hunting Matthew Nichols investigates the cold case of two teens that disappeared Halloween night 2001. With a small film crew following the sister of one of those teens, the film delves into a mystery surrounding the boys unexplained vanishing, and the possible satanic links that locals have tried desperately to cover up. It’s a classic Found Footage set up, but one that shot incredibly well and slowly builds to a rock solid finale.
Directed by Markian Tarasiuk (also playing himself) from a screenplay by Sean Harris Oliver in their feature debuts, Hunting Matthew Nichols pays homage to the classics of the subgenre while riffing with the True Crime documentary format. It’s impossible to ignore the influence of The Blair Witch Project (1999) on any new Found Footage movie (the same way that it’s impossible to overlook the influence of The Godfather (1972) on every mob movie) but Hunting Matthew Nichols justifies its influence better than most Shaky Cam stories that dare venture out into the woods.
The two missing teens, Matthew & Jordan, were aspiring filmmakers who (you guessed it) were as obsessed with The Blair Witch Project as we all were back in the early 2000s. In fact, some of the only evidence found in the British Columbia Forest where the two were last spotted included their camcorder, and several tapes of them recreating scenes from the film. Scouring the tapes for any overlooked clues is Matthew’s sister Tara (Miranda MacDougall), whose investigation has awoken a dormant trauma that manifests as a suspicious and defensive mania. She’s down the rabbit hole on all the far-out theories about her brother’s disappearance and no amount of reason can shake her belief that something supernatural is responsible for his absence.
Hunting Matthew Nichols isn’t a slow burn, it’s a slow build. Some Found Footage movies feel like overstretched shorts, biding their time before a big reveal but Hunting Matthew Nichols is consistently working toward a showstoppin’ finale that it does a really great job meticulously laying the groundwork for. But one of its real strengths is how much it riffs on something you’ve seen 100,000 times while still maintaining its originality. The Blair Witch of it all is kind of the point, and they drive that point home in a climactic set piece that is Pure, Grade A Found Footage. Hunting Matthew Nichols only exists in a post-The Blair Witch Project world and it’s a dynamic (spooky!) blend of True Crime conspiracy and supernatural nightmare.
“A dynamic (spooky!) blend of True Crime conspiracy and supernatural nightmare.”
Markian Tarasiuk’s Hunting Michael Nichols celebrated its World Premiere at the Newport Beach Film Festival October 19, before heading out to Ohio’s infamous Nightmares Film Festival. Stay tuned for more info on where and when you can see this Blair Witchian creeper for yourself and share your favorite Found Footage Horror Movies with us in the Nightmare on Film Street Discord! We’re never not talking about Found Footage in there.
WHERE TO WATCH HUNTING MATTHEW NICHOLS:
