A Cold Grave is a found footage movie that has all of the tropes that are found in the sub-genre – for better and worse. After his sister Kaylee (Tatum Bates) goes missing in the woods, Roger (Benjamin L. Newmark, Forest of Death) decides to search for her. He also decides that he is going to record everything.
Even as found footage goes, there is a lot of focus on Roger. That is often the case with these types of films – all of the attention is on a few characters and in creeping the audience out. A Cold Grave has its share of scares, but it is the attention paid to its lead that stands out.
Interestingly, A Cold Grave is more about Roger than it is about his missing sister or any of it’s frightening moments. Eventually, it becomes clear that this is his story. In a bold decision, all of Newmark’s dialogue is improvised. This does lead to some unintentionally humorous moments – the trailer is filled with them – but it works more often than not.
Though A Cold Grave moves at a nice pace, it does fall into the same trap found footage films often find themselves. There are moments where little seems to be going on. Even the best offerings have this issue – but it is particularly noticeable here. At times, it completely derails things and completely ruins immersion.
The production may be the best of anything released by DBS Studios. Director Brendan Rudnicki creates an appropriately spooky atmosphere and there are some nice makeup effects. Even though there is not much depth to the characters, the cast hold their own. It all makes for an easy watch.
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