Do Not Watch review

By Simon Thompson

Director Justin Janowitz and writer Ryan Toyama’s Do Not Watch is a well-acted and well-directed piece of found footage horror which sadly falls a little flat in terms of pacing. This is a shame because unlike much of the other found-footage horror I’ve come across this is a film which attempts to do something new with the sub-genre, and given how anodyne much of found-footage horror usually is, this is something to be commended itself.

The plot of Do Not Watch takes place across three different decades. Plot A involves a production crew in the present day making a documentary about a scientific research crew that went missing; plot B centres around an investigative duo looking into what happened to the previously mentioned film crew and the shady producer in charge; and plot C constitutes the footage from the VHS tapes that the film crew from plot a are investigating.

The problem with Do Not Watch is that in its sparse one hour and twenty-seven minute running time tries to balance too many narrative strands at once- with any of the three plot points previously mentioned are perfectly capable of being individual three-act narratives in themselves.

The acting on the other hand is excellent, with special praise going to Alix Angelis and Adeotokumboh M’ Cormack in their roles as the investigators into the production, and to Garth Wynne Jones as the shady producer in charge, giving a performance that I could best describe as being a cross between a disgraced Tory cabinet minister, a sinister Swiss Toni like figure, and the Master from Doctor Who all at the same time.

The cinematography in Do Not Watch is also extremely impressive, seamlessly transitioning from a clear and bright look during the sections involving the production crew and the investigators to a grainy and washed-out one during the VHS footage sections, with the purposeful low-tech look and era-accurate clothing being a nice touch.
Overall, despite some of its flaws Do Not Watch is a decent piece of found footage horror which could have and should have been longer to be able to balance out its various narrative strands properly. If you’re a fan of this style of horror, Do Not Watch is worth a quick glance for the strength of its visuals alone.