Sunday, May 20, 2012

Megan is Missing







Megan is Missing uses the way-too-popular method of “found footage” for the basis of the movie. Megan and Amy are best friends who share little in common. At 14, Megan is already sexual active. She lost her virginity at 10, was abused as a child and she doesn't get along with her mother. She frequently attends parties where she trades sexual favors for drugs and alcohol. Amy, on the other hand, is a 13-year-old virgin, who loves her parents and puts up with Megan. 

Megan meets a boy online, who tells her that his web cam is broken. They continue chatting because she sees a picture of him, and she even lets Amy sit in on one of their chats. Every time they talk online, she turns on her web cam so he can see her. She gets mad when they make plans to meet at a party, but he explains that he was there but too nervous to see her. After they make plans to meet a second time, Megan mysteriously vanishes. Not long after her disappearance, Amy too goes missing. 

If you think that sounds like a Lifetime movie, fear not! The last 20-25 minutes of the movie are pure horror fare. The police find a video camera, which shows them what happened to the girls after they disappeared. Suddenly, Megan is Missing shifts from a documentary-style flick to one that falls under the torture porn banner.


Megan is Missing has an interesting premise. After all, teenage girls do disappear and despite the warnings, some teens girls still reveal far too much information online. It was interesting enough that it kept me watching instead of working, which is hard for many modern horror films to do.

I'm not a fan of the found footage genre. I hated The Blair Witch Project and most of the recent films made me roll my eyes more than jump in fear. This one was interesting because the director did little to convince you that you were watching real footage. The premise of the movie is that everything in the film came from footage found during the investigation. Unfortunately, cell phone cameras and high-quality video cameras do not look exactly the same as they did here. That might be why I enjoyed the movie because I wasn't constantly exposed to fake footage made to look like a cheap cell phone camera.

Most Shocking Moment

I don't want to ruin it for anyone, but the reveal of where Megan is after her disappearance is easily the best moment in the movie. Even though I knew it was coming, it still made me jump a little.

Megan is Missing is currently available on Netflix. If you have a little time free, give it a try.