DAYLIGHT (2013)

Daylight (2013)
Directed by: David McCracken, Joel Townsend, Kaidan Tremain
Written by: David McCracken, Joel Townsend
Starring: David McCracken, Jennifer Bacon, Josh Riedford

DAYLIGHT (2013)
Available to rent and buy on TheHorrorShow.TV

When Child Protection Services worker Jennifer Borman and her team investigate a series of child abuse cases, what they discover is far more complex than they could have imagined.

DAYLIGHT is a small-budget indie film that plays out as a found footage flick. Introducing the ‘documentary’, a man describes some horrific murders and disappearances, with only two camcorder tapes found which give some insight into what events took place at a house in the small town of Daylight. The rest of the film consist of these two tapes. The first of the tapes are recordings made by the CPS workers, who must document their investigations in any child abuse case. This sees Jennifer and fellow CPS workers, David and Josh, interviewing the child victims, their friends, family, teachers and associates in a bid to discover some evidence of who is to blame for the bruises on the bodies of promiscuous teenager Susan Ellroy and young Sydney Irons. The main link between the two cases is Father Patrick Andersen, a priest who Susan helps in after-school class for the youngsters, and who visits the Irons household on a regular basis.

For an indie film, DAYLIGHT is quite an interesting one, and whilst it doesn’t quite give a fresh spin on the found footage genre, it does intrigue with its disturbing, realistic storyline. However, the editing, rushed shake of the camera and the flitting from one scene to the next made for difficult viewing. Whilst I understood the jist of the movie, keeping track of who was behind the camera, what timeframe the action was occuring in and what was actually happening during the scene, proved to be an unwanted struggle. By the time that the slow-burning plot reached its peak, the confusion intensified to a point that viewing enjoyment was significantly lost. Despite this, some good ideas were introduced, that only served to confuse me even more, but I could appreciate them for what they were worth even if they didn’t exactly pay off.

In regards to acting, the cast of DAYLIGHT do a reasonable, with Jennifer Bacon providing the lead dominance as Jennifer Borman. Jeanine Cameron seems to enjoy the vulgarity spouted by her troubled character Susan Ellroy, who’s turbulant past is explained by her worried mother, Kris Ellroy (Kriss Zinn). The supporting cast are convincing enough in their parts despite a weak script, with Patrick Andersen, as the priest of the same name, coming across as the strongest character of the bunch.

If supernatural found footage films are your thing, then you might find lots to enjoy from this movie despite the chaotic confusion. Those who suffer from motion sickness might struggle a bit towards the final half hour, but some dramatic scenes are worth holding out for if you can manage it.

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