The Borderlands (2013)

I am my own worst enemy. Despite frequently voicing my dislike of found footage films, I still picked up British horror flick The Borderlands because it featured an actor I'd heard of before (a rarity in most no-budget found footage films).

Gordon Kennedy (from Robin Hood and countless other British TV shows) is Deacon, a member of a team of investigators from the Vatican who investigate claims of miracles. In this case they are sent to an old, but recently reopened, church in the West Country where the young village priest, Father Crellick (Luke Neal) is making claims of supernatural activity.

Deacon has been saddled with non-religious technical assistant, Gray (Robin Hill), who starts off as the single most obnoxious and annoying character you could imagine, but by the end of the film transforms into an almost sympathetic character.

The film suffers from many of the usual faults of the found footage genre, with the most insulting being the belief that it doesn't need to explain what's happening because "that's just what was shown on the film".

Quite early on there's an implied animal cruelty sequence that nearly made me turn the film off in disgust - not that you see anything, but the sounds are revolting. I'm glad I stuck with it, especially as this barbaric act by the local hooligans turns out to be a red herring that the film could have done without.

But it does demonstrate the importance of audio in the story. Much of what follows is a lot less on-the-nose.

As Deacon's investigations progress, there are strong hints about a backstory to what is occurring and dark practices that have gone on at the site in the past, but the climax of the piece, while a visual thrill ride, doesn't tell us anywhere near enough to figure out what it is we are supposed to be seeing.

Sadly, this isn't the only weakness in The Borderlands. For example, there is no rational explanation for why - after a shocking suicide - Deacon returns to the church to further his investigations... in the middle of the night!

Then, when Deacon's mentor, Father Calvino (Patrick Godfrey), is flown in to assist our heroes,  they again, return to the church - which appears to have no working lights - as the sun is setting.

Ultimately, the found footage/shaky-cam gimmick is a hindrance to the story writer/director Elliot Goldner is trying to tell. I strongly believe that if this story had been shot as a straight horror movie it could have been another worthy addition to the canon of unnerving British rural horror.

But as it stands, the only real shocks come from a couple of cheap jump scares, which undermine the moments of actual tension and some of the subtler attempts to send chills down the spine of attentive audience members.

There's clearly a bigger story here than we are shown - particularly the influence that whatever is under the church is having on the nearby village - but it's only ever hinted at when it should have been brought to the forefront.