Archive 81 review: Is the found footage of Archive 81 scary?

Archive 81 opens on a woman begging into the camera, frantically making her plea through the distortion spat out by a mid-’90s camcorder. It is cramped. Flickers are evident, as well as black noise lines. We are primed, in this moment, for a series that’s in touch with the limitations of old media and the things that may hide in its flickering crevices. The footage in question is ostensibly part of an anthropological project on residents of the Visser apartment building, and it’s being restored by analog enthusiast Dan Turner (Mamoudou Athie) at the behest of a shifty benefactor. The tapes, which were destroyed in the fire at the Visser and too fragile to be transported by him, must be done remotely.

Melody Pendras, a grad student who produced much of this footage is shown as the woman. In the beginning, she is only visible in the grainy video that she took. It contrasts starkly to the sharp, current scenes with Dan fiddling around with his tools, unwinding tape and removing cartridges from his gloves. Dan digitizes each tape one-by-one as the series progresses. He then learns that the Visser is home to an occult.

Before that though, Archive 81 Something unexpected happens. Not halfway into the first episode, we unceremoniously leave the confines of Melody’s viewfinder and watch her point the camera around a New York City street. The found-footage conceit melts away, the crummy picture quality traded for a past whose clarity hardly differs from the show’s color-desaturated present. It’s a contrast that’s jarring in all the wrong ways, indicative of the show to come: a story bursting with evocative potential that largely misses the opportunity to use its multiple forms of media to their fullest extent.

Image courtesy of Netflix

Although found-footage films have been around for a while, their golden age is long gone. This genre was overtaken by more generic, cheap films which tended to be released in Januarys and Octobers. Nowadays, this format is rarely used, but it does occasionally appear to complement a traditional story, such as a novel. Archive 81. Certainly the format has limitations, and it’s not difficult to imagine that Archive 81’s halfhearted employment of found footage may be a concession to those limitations — the podcast it’s based on is made up entirely of in-universe audio recordings.

Because of tiny details such as inexplicable music cues or the fact that it seldom offers any reason to stop filming, found footage has a reputation for not holding up under scrutiny. Sensitive conversations are frequently and easily recorded through slightly open doors, and the camera always falls in such a way that we still get a look at the gross, scary things the camera-holder couldn’t face. Maybe it’s better for Archive 81to eliminate most of the problems and not endure all the stress.

But the show’s solution doesn’t smooth over that awkwardness — in fact, it invites it, requiring us to watch Melody awkwardly tote her camera everywhere. From the typical first-person viewpoint, it’s not something we think about as often. Seen from the outside, it’s strange to watch someone point her camera at people who are all curiously on board with being invasively filmed.

However, Melody is easier to empathize with when she can be seen in person, rather than just looking at her through a pair of mirrors or hearing her voice. Although the show presents one character solely through found footage it seems that this format is effective in creating an atmosphere. But, not when stretched over eight episodes. We must see Melody in order to understand her. And when we’re seeing and identifying with her, moments like another dinner guest clawing at her own face gain an additional layer of concern. Melody the person is what we fear more than Melody behind the camera.

Clifton Prescod/Netflix

When done right, however, found-footage horror can be incredibly effective, puncturing the filmmaking conventions we’ve grown numb to through repeated exposure. Not only does a film like Koji Shiraishi’s Nooi: A Curse The gritty imperfections in old media are used to build a convincing world. It uses footage from games and other formats, as well as text onscreen, to show itself in a sensationalistic, amateurish manner before any truly bizarre things happen. Even the actress who plays one of these characters is a part of it.

Likewise, Blair Witch ProjectFamously, the documentary on TV that made these events real featured interviews with documents and a backstory. These touches are effective even in less effort: The Poughkeepsie Tapes presents itself as a true-crime documentary that intersperses a serial killer’s gruesome home movies into the action, while The TunnelAs it follows a hapless news team, the program uses interview footage and security camera footage.

Finding footage is best used to draw people in, so that they stop worrying about the implausibilities and tricks. Instead of ignoring them completely, we use their obstacles to our advantage. You are the main character of Koreatown Murders DeathHe is a constant film-maker that is causing him to be vile. A Diary of the Dying includes narration from the film’s editor, who explains which cameras were used and why she has added music for effect.

Most importantly, however, we are more aware of the possibility of being filmed by an in-film camera and the actions of the actors. NotBe seeing. This format leaves space that could be hidden within the frame, but also allows for things to potentially exist there. It can feel claustrophobic to have a limited POV, which can lead us to feeling appropriately trapped. Fear of what we can’t see is what keeps us from seeing the truth. Archive 81These are all potential areas for the format. The series uses not only found footage but also finds footage that has been reconstructed using old film techniques, such as a silent film made in 1920s or footage taken with a black-and white camera meant for children. It is easy to make viewers feel like they are part of the series. the movie’s space. This is what we love best. Archive 81’s early episodes, when the series will show things like Melody setting up interviews, or idly filming the contents of her own apartment. This eerie glimpse of the past through a camera gradually fades away, leaving it as little more than a buffer in between flashback sequences.

Image courtesy of Netflix

That may sound like a nitpick, but the problem isn’t necessarily about logic. Within the concept of the show, it more or less makes sense; the more Dan watches Melody’s footage, the more drawn in he becomes, to the point where he begins having visions of her. We can rationalize the clear-as-day flashbacks as the sort of thing he sees in his mind; he’s filling in the blanks.

But that’s the issue with Archive 81. The show allows us to see beyond the camera view and see the world very clearly. The show’s visions of past events are clearer than the occluded. These visions lack the ability to suggest the horrors that they are capable of. Imagine this: The Ring It has a decayed tape and distorted sound. This looks awfully like a portal to another world. Then, when a hair-monster crawls out of the television static and into reality, we learn that’s exactly what it is. The imperfection and fuzziness of old media like videotapes or worn strips of film work to obscure the onscreen image, as though we’re trying to view something through a grimy window.

Among independent horror games, it’s popular to imitate the style of rudimentary PlayStation 1-era polygons under a similar ethos — we project powerfully imagined horrors onto the sparse imagery. In fact, analog media was used to achieve similar goals in several movies last year. Broadcast Signal IntrusionIt was inspired by the 1987 signal hijackings, which featured a Max Headroom-clad man. Censor uses cramped aspect ratios and blurry picture to tell a story centered on Britain’s “video nasty” moral panic about the availability of violent horror movies on VHS. The Empty ManWhile the story is set today, it also involves a lot more digging through old media. Images that we find unclear and inadequate create tension. In the same way as many horror movies that feature creepy drawings by children, we find these images disturbing. We imagine what’s not there.

Image courtesy of Netflix

Image courtesy of Netflix

Image courtesy of Netflix

Blurry footage or fuzzy images can add an additional impact to the scene of investigators scouring through the pictures. The camera of a film or a TV show tends to push in on these images until they become grotesque, like they’re not meant to be stared at for so long in such close proximity. The world should not be so still, so motionless; under extended observation, the unnatural qualities grow more and more apparent until it’s all we notice. Archive 81It appears to have some awareness of the effect and indulges in similar tricks. Most of the TV episodes even open with period recreations of things like a ’90s newscast, a movie review show, or even a black-and-white Twilight Zone imitator. The static and noise are supposed to make us see patterns. However, just like the show has dropped the distortion from the found-footage flashbacks in season 1, these moments were only ever a buffer and a small splash of flavor that washed out quickly.

There’s a certain irony to the fact that a Netflix-exclusive series predicates itself on the texture of older media formats. Like similar works, Archive 81 ends up arguing that this media has a tactile quality that isn’t easily replicated by a mouse cursor moving over a folder icon, or the interface of a streaming service. This provides visual action and visual interest to a visual medium. Tapes need to be taken out of players, reels have must be changed, files opened, papers flipped through, as well as file cabinets being open. Many thrillers use this technique to their advantage. There are stacks of paper, tapes and darkroom photos. They provide the physical representation of what a character has done and what they’re up against. Maybe it’s appropriate. Archive 81’s first season never quite puts its finger on the greatest strengths of analog-style horror, that it’s mostly a decoration around what’s ultimately a fairly straightforward horror series.