By Melissa Antoinette Garza
I had wanted to see The Bay since I originally saw the trailer. When I heard it incorporated the events that happened a few years back when a massive amount of birds fell from the sky and thousands of fish floated to the surface dead. The mainstream media never provided a compelling reason for the strange events that occurred. Some religious groups believed that God was upset with the world. Others thought that the government and military were testing some sort of compound or mechanism. Everything was discussed. It could have been pollution, chemical warfare, the weather, or any number of other solutions.
With all of those possible scenarios, I thought a horror movie could have a field day creating a conspiracy filled scarefest. Sadly, I was disappointed with the end result. It isn’t that The Bay is a horrible movie. It just lacks in every conceivable area.
The film opens with our protagonist and news reporter Donna Thompson (Kether Donahue) sitting in front of a screen advising that she is going to explain the footage we’re about to watch. The movie shifts to her in July 4, 2009 interviewing citizens at a festival. It’s easy to see that everyone is in a patriotic mood enjoying the sunshine in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland. There’s a dunk tank, an eating contest, and everything one would expect to see at a small town event.
Suddenly, the woman who was having fun in the dunk tank is covered with a horrid red rash and yells for help. Soon there are more victims and the festival becomes a place of chaos.
At the hospital, those suffering from the ailment are interviewed on camera. As there is no known cure, those infected are told that they need to have their limbs amputated. Some can’t be saved at all and die.
As the water is discovered to be the source of the disease, researchers begin to look there for the cause. A dead fish is examined and found to have large white insects that can only be described as the child of a slug and maggot. It looks like the poor fish suffered from Oral Myiasis which is a disgusting condition I just discovered while writing this review. It’s a rare condition which impacts animals and humans. In the back of the throat one can see living maggots as the tissues and organs of the infected has become infested with larvae of Dipteran flies. Gross, right? I could have lived my whole life without knowing that existed. Nonetheless, this entire film is basically about that.
After we find out that the larvae has infected the water and that the government were fairly aware their supply was in poor condition, the movie dies. There are moments it becomes mildly interesting. For example, when we find out the town’s water was given a D-. Sadly, the movie really doesn’t do anything with the information. There really isn’t a showdown of the villain and protagonist. There isn’t the powerful confrontation that was needed. The “villain” was dull.
In a film like this, we need someone who knew of the risks and not only didn’t warn anyone, but rather put people in the dangerous situation to begin with. For example, the mayor of Amity in Jaws (1975) who insists on keeping the beach open or the conscience and compassion lacking Dr. Victor Brandt (Christopher Toyne) in Cell Count (2012) who watches people suffer on an experimental drug he administered knowing the ramifications could be deadly.
There is a need in horror to have the villain be dark and evil and diabolical. Even if they have a conscience it needs to be skewed. There needs to be a motive that though insane can be psychotically justified. The presence of an actual fight with the bad guy is necessary. Here, there was no tension. There were no moments of cheering for the good guys. It just lacked.
Cell Count was in many ways very much like The Bay except the creators of that film created a memorable horror production by using excellent writing, a fast pace and a captivating cast. Slugs: The Movie (1982) is another example that follows a similar plot yet is far superior. It focused on interesting characters, an over-the-top fun factor and most importantly it was primarily dialogue driven. All of those are qualities are all but missing here.
Though this movie went the route of semi found-footage it was just unable to capture any level of realism. Certain dialogue was not only unrealistic but downright awkward. In one scene, Donna watches footage of herself where she comes across a man with his face ripped off. His eye flinches so it’s obvious he is alive and in torturous pain. She runs away. Rather than comment on how awful it was for that man, she makes fun of the way she’s running and says if it weren’t so sad it would be comedic. Another strange comment is made in the beginning when she asks why no one had told her that the pants she was wearing were tight. It’s almost as though she was trying to make fun of her fashion as if the footage was from the 1980s. She said it the way someone would make fun of a perm they had 20 years ago. The issue is that the footage was from 2009. More than that, it just makes her sound like a vain bitch. Here we are watching nearly everyone in town suffering from a horrible deadly disease and she’s commenting on her wardrobe.
Overall, the movie is watchable. It isn’t horrible. It’s unrealistic in some areas and slow in others. They definitely try too hard to make it feel as though it is ‘true footage.’ That’s just been done too many times. They need to step away from that format and go back to just making films.
In many ways, found footage movies are copouts. It’s a way that the filmmaker can describe a situation to someone in an interview format without having to do the actual writing so that the viewers can experience it themselves. It’s lazy.
There are exceptions to the rule and at times a found footage film is done well. Grave Encounters (2011) is an example; but usually we are burdened with a movie that just plain sucks. They’re better than the torture porn that is the Saw series, but not by much.
I wouldn’t necessarily steer clear of this one but don’t go out of your way to see it either. Cabin in the Woods (2012), The Hole (2009), The Woman in Black (2012), and The Innkeepers (2011) are all better choices if looking for a late night interesting horror flick, but if you’re a true fan who has seen everything – you could do worse.
Scared Stiff Rating: 5/10
