Keep Watching (2017)

Directed by Sean Carter. Starring Bella Thorne, Natalie Martinez, Ioan Gruffudd, Chandler Riggs, Leigh Whannell, Jared Abrahamson. [R]

Another home-invasion-by-masked-killers horror film, this one “twisting” the found-footage gimmick to outlandishly implausible extremes by having the victims’ home be somehow equipped with hundreds, if not thousands, of tiny hidden cameras that see everything that happens. Unfortunately, the viewer has to see the same, which means lots of fuzzy imagery, hideous angles and lens effects, and grimy video filters (remember when directors of photography were hired to make the picture look crisp and clean?). Moody teen Thorne and her family are terrorized by a small pack of creeps who leave strange gifts and big X’s on the floor like they’re playing the dumbest game since E.T. for Atari. Clueless filmmaking craft renders the suspense scenes as brittle filler and the shocks/attacks are entirely incomprehensible; without a motivated foe or likable protagonists, what’s the point? As movie title advice goes, do not heed.

17/100