In 1999 a small little indie horror film was released, that became one of the most successful films of all time - The Blair Witch Project. It was the first of its kind, a found footage flick, that has gone on to become a sub-genre all of its own. It was made for less than $200,000, which won’t even pay for the catering on most films these days, and went on to make $248 million at the box office, which is one of the greatest returns of all time in cinema.

It’s no wonder that a found footage bandwagon soon followed, in the hope of emulating its success.

This is the latest, with a twist, as it takes place in a TV studio.

It’s a big night for Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian); he has his own late night chat show, and its sweeps week, 1977. Not only that it’s Halloween too, so he’s pulling out the big guns to try and compete with the king of late night chat at the time Johnny Carson.

So it’s a Halloween special, with a number of spooky guests that will hopefully boost the ratings. But Jack couldn’t have expected the horror to come.

A found tape in a video recorder is a believable scenario, whereas a recording of a live show that was seen by millions, less so. And despite the ‘extra’ found footage of events taking place during the break, which although useful, only compounds the less found and more constructed feel to proceedings. And the more it goes on, the more it comes across as a round peg being frustratingly forced into a square hole.

Perhaps the film would have worked better if they simply ditched the found footage angle, and just portrayed it as normal, as not only would it have made more sense, but more importantly, it would have been an easier premise to swallow.

The script also struggles in places, itself undecided which narrative to follow. That said, none of them are presented in any way that resembles it could have happened in reality, unlike The Blair Witch Project, which always gives off an air of realism throughout.

It’s the kind of project that probably looked better on paper, but the end result is that the found footage theme just doesn’t work in this instance.

It’s also a little top heavy, with it all kicking off in the very latter stages of the film, making it also somewhat rushed. The special effects are fairly fun though, although again, far from believable.

Directors and writers Colin and Cameron Cairnes had a good stab at it, but the resulting ‘found’ footage was better off remaining lost.