THE BAY DVD (2012)
SYNOPSIS: The quaint seaside town of Chesapeake Bay thrives on water; it is the lifeblood of the community. When two biological researchers from France find a staggering level of toxicity in the water, they attempt to alert the mayor but he refuses to create a panic in the docile town. As a result, a deadly plague is unleashed turning the people of Chesapeake Bay into hosts for a mutant breed of parasites that take control of their minds and eventually their bodies. A brutal and harrowing creature feature for the 21st century, THE BAY chronicles the descent of a small town into absolute terror.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Barry Levinson doing a found footage horror movie? Unlikely as that may sound, the director of such acclaimed films as “Rain Man” and “Wag the Dog” collaborates with the producer of the ‘Paranormal Activity’ movies to deliver an environmental thriller that uses the found footage format. We were sceptical too we must admit, but having seen the movie, we must say that we are duly impressed.
Herein lies a director who understands that the appeal of the format lies in its ability to bring the viewer first hand into the thick of the action as it would have unfolded; and with that in mind, Levinson uses not one perspective but multiple first-person amateur footages from around the town of Chesapeake, Maryland, to piece together the ill-fated events of July 4th 2008 that were subsequently covered up by the Authorities.
Framing the proceedings is novice TV reporter Donna Thompson (Kether Donohue), who was an inexperienced student going out and around town filming on the day when all hell broke loose. Speaking directly into the camera to address us, she explains in a grave tone how all the footage we are about to see was confiscated in the wake of the mass tragedy and only recently leaked via a Wikileaks-type website.
Our interest piqued, Levinson uses Donna’s voiceover to establish the various recurring characters - the mayor (Frank Deal) who was responsible for doing nothing to avoid the events of that day; the doctor in the ER at the hospital (Stephen Kunken) who stayed behind to help the townsfolk and eventually died; as well as a couple (Will Rogers and Kristen Connolly) travelling via yacht into the town to visit their parents. A word of caution though - Levinson doesn’t so much as develop the characters as use them as a barometer of just how serious things have gotten.
Indeed, the whats and whys of the story take precedence over the whos, but rest assured that we will not reveal any spoilers here. Suffice to say though that Levinson and his screenwriter Michael Wallach keep the proceedings realistic through and through, and instead of trying to spin some big conspiracy theory or turn the movie into some sort of creature feature, they offer a real possibility of just how our foolhardiness at taking the environment for granted might just result in disastrous consequences.
Like a well-coiled spring, Levinson ratchets the tension as he reveals bit by bit of just how the ecological catastrophe came to be. Truly commendable is how he maintains coherence throughout the film despite cutting between multiple timelines to provide a more well-rounded perspective of the disaster; and though comparisons might be drawn to Steven Soderbergh’s viral epidemic thriller ‘Contagion’, Levinson opts for more dramatic excitement through some gory and graphic images that is likely to leave the faint-hearted squeamish.
Some glaring loopholes aside (most significantly, why everything had to take place over the course of one single day), Levinson shows in ‘The Bay’ how the found footage format need not be merely a gimmick; instead, with the right story and the right choice of first-person angles, it can be an effective technique of conveying immediacy and urgency. Even if it does mark an unusual detour for the filmmaker, it is an inspired move that marks one of the best found footage films we have seen in recent years.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The Dolby Digital 2.0 audio is befittingly rough and realistic for the movie, while visuals are clear and pristine as far as the footage allows.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Gabriel Chong
