Found Footage Alert, ya’ll. We got another one! This new addition to the best dang subgenre in modern horror, titled What Happened To Dorothy Bell?, takes the terror out of the backwoods and onto the bookshelves with a classic ghost set-up (or maybe demon!? it’s always a 50/50 shot) that explores loss, tragedy, and mental health. Written and directed by Danny Villanueva Jr., What Happened To Dorothy Bell? stars Asya Meadows as Ozzy, a young isolated adult who documents her march into madness.
Ozzy has been estranged from her parents after discovering a dark secret about her grandmother that the family had tried to keep hidden from her. She has been working with a therapist (played by A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child‘s Lisa Wilcox) to unpack the aftermath of that revelation, and combing through old home videos from her childhood. Through her investigations, she comes to believe that the unspoken dark cloud looming over the family might have something to do with a ghost that has been haunting her local library.
“…has the added benefit of serving up scares with two delivery methods: modern video diaries, and creepy home videos.”
Thankfully for Ozzy (and the story, let’s be real), she has been recording video diaries to help her express her thoughts and work through her emotions. And, of course, that sweet camera setup comes in real handy when she decides to become a ghost hunter. With the help of the library’s overnight janitor, Ozzy begins communicating with the spirit bedeviling the Dewey Decimal System. Based on some shaky evidence (and really just grasping onto any bit of hope she can find), she believes she’s made contact with her grandmother….until the messages begin to get sinister and a malevolent darkness creeps into every facet of her life.
Found Footage is eternally interesting because it breaks so many of our pre-established rules of filmmaking, and gives you an up-close and personal look at one character’s experience. What Happened To Dorothy Bell? has the added benefit of serving up scares with two delivery methods. The main story exists in Ozzy’s video diaries and ghost hunting, but the movie’s best sequences come from old home movies. Villanueva Jr. builds some clever twists on classic found-footage scares throughout but those fuzzy VHS recordings can’t be beat.
“Found Footage is eternally interesting because it breaks so many of our pre-established rules of filmmaking”
What Happened To Dorothy Bell? isn’t the next Blair Witch Project but as a Found-Footage movie, it’s already coming in with a few extra points in the positive column. I’m a sucker for this subgenre, so I’ll happily watch 100 B-Grade Found Footage movies before I watch a top-tier slasher that’s been on my watchlist for over a year. Like ordering the same meal from a fast-food joint even though they’ve completely revamped the menu. I just like what I like. And regardless of whether it has a familiar story structure and some stiff dialogue, I like scrappy new Found Footage movies with creepy grandmas, ouija boards, and evil books of the dead.
Danny Villanueva Jr.’s What Happened To Dorothy Bell? celebrated its World Premiere at Fantastic Fest 2024. Click HERE to follow our continued coverage of the festival and let us know if you love found footage movies over in the official Nightmare on Film Street Discord!
