Site 13 (2023, director:
Nathan Faudree & Tony Urban; script:
Nathan Faudree & Tony Urban;
cast: Nathan Faudree, Tony Urban, Katie Gibson, Leila
Dean, Kelly Ray)
Professor
Nathan Marsh (Nathan Faudree) is obsessed with "Devil's Circles."
These circles exist in fields and forests throughout the world.
Twenty-six in all. Actually, they don't look so devilish to me;
just some dry circular patches surround by healthy grass. But
Marsh thinks these circles are portals to ... somewhere.
So Marsh recruits a small investigative team of students from
Miskatonic University (yes, Site 13
is Lovecraftian horror) and drives to the nearest circle, which is
in Pennsylvania. He discovers that the temperature is different
within the circle. And when he ties a dog inside the circle
overnight, the dog -- and the stake it was tied to -- is gone by
morning.
My initial expectations for Site 13
were mixed. The film is marketed as both "found footage" and
"cosmic horror." I
rarely enjoy found footage, but I love Lovecraft.
Thankfully, Site 13 isn't
really found footage. The students' investigation is shot in found
footage style, but not most of the film, which really begins when
Marsh awakens in an asylum ten years after his investigation. He's
been catatonic all that time, having been found in the field ten
years earlier. Alone. It seems that whatever took his dog also
took his team.
Most of Site 13 is Marsh being
examined and questioned by two nuns. Occasionally, the nuns play
portions of the "found footage" to jog his memory. Sometimes the
nuns confer among themselves.
Yes, two nuns. These nuns are also psychiatrists or some such, and
they run the asylum. Well, Sister Margaret (Leila Dean) does.
Catherine (Katie Gibson) quit recently because her patient
committed suicide. I call her a nun, but she's really an ex-nun.
These days she's to be found drinking in bars. Catherine is a
cynical, hard-boiled, noir sort of nun.
The asylum itself is an impressively huge building, but that only
emphasizes Site 13's low
budget. Sister Margaret appears to be the sole administrator,
doctor, and staff. The patients are few.
Despite the low budget, Christopher Steinberger's cinematography
is admirable. Site 13 has many
beautifully composed and atmospherically lit shots. Alan Rowe
Kelly's editing moves the story at a brisk pace. He occasionally
uses MTV style quick cuts for impressionistic effect, but it's not
overdone to the point of annoyance.
Sound design and visual effects are also first rate. The
extra-dimensional, cosmic monster is not wholly original in
design, but it's appropriately Lovecraftian. No, it's not Cthulhu;
don't ask me to try and spell the name spoken by Marsh. Nor will I
say where the portals lead, only that the answer blends Christian
and Lovecraftian concepts.
Acting is a mixed bag. Faudree (who also co-directed and co-wrote
with Tony Urban) is quite good as Marsh. Urban also acts, but his
part is small and unremarkable. Dean and Gibson are acceptable,
but sometimes speak in a stilted, artificial manner. Kelly Ray is
decent as Marsh's love interest, Kelly. (Yes, the actors who
appear in the found footage portion play characters with the same
names.)
Ultimately, Site 13 is Faudree
and Urban's passion project. It began life as a found footage
short film in 2003. Then after 17 years, the two men shot the
additional (non-found footage) material around the old found
footage. So Site 13 is not a
found footage film at all. Which is very good, because
found footage usually s*cks.
The two men learned much about film production in the intervening
years. Site 13 is a
fast-paced, atmospheric Lovecraftian thriller. Some of the dialog
is hokey, but it's overall a highly entertaining film.
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Professor
Nathan Marsh (Nathan Faudree) is obsessed with "Devil's Circles."
These circles exist in fields and forests throughout the world.
Twenty-six in all. Actually, they don't look so devilish to me;
just some dry circular patches surround by healthy grass. But
Marsh thinks these circles are portals to ... somewhere.