FOUND-footage horror film Bodycam, now streaming on Shudder, follows two police officers as they investigate a domestic disturbance in a dilapidated neighbourhood, largely populated by “tweakers” (methamphetamine addicts).
Directed by Brandon Christensen, this low-budget production was filmed in derelict locations in Alberta, Canada, which certainly adds to the foreboding sense of detachment that prevails throughout.
Officer Jackson (Jaime M Callica) and Officer Bryce (Sean Rogerson) attend a potential disturbance on the wrong side of the tracks, in the rougher and more forgotten part of town. On their way to the 911 call, Jackson tells his partner how he grew up on these broken-down streets. Bryce is unimpressed by this confession and suggests with disdain that it is full of “tweakers”.
When they arrive at the scene, things quickly take a more Hell House LLC turn than anything of a Law & Order dimension, as the two coppers are plunged into their very own dark night of the soul.
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Their call-out goes to hell on a handcart when Bryce, a Trump supporter if ever there was one, accidentally discharges his weapon in the creepy basement of this malevolent abode and kills a man and his infant child. He then tries to involve Officer Jackson to help him cover up his crime, but before they can dispose of the evidence, more blood is spilled when the child’s zombified mother enters the fray, and events spin out of their control.
Christensen wastes no time with frivolities, his budget certainly doesn’t allow for it, so instead he gets straight down to the heinous action as a night of terror sees these boys in blue pursued by a dark and nefarious force. Their bodycams, which holds the evidence of their crimes, now serves to record their last moments, as an evil they cannot comprehend, and its army of satanic tramps, hunt them down to make them pay for their sins.
Their haunting mantra, which runs throughout the film, “You take something from him, he takes something from you”, rings true in the latter parts of the film as you feel the life being sucked right out of you. Tedious and shopworn for the most part, it definitely isn’t the most arresting of found-footage horror movies.
(3/5)