Found footage can be a fickle thing. The best examples of the subgenre are typically a flash in the pan — think genre-defining efforts like The Blair Witch Project, or surprise oddities like Ghostwatch. The worst examples, then, are a dime a dozen: cheaply made and covering well-trodden ground without any innovation or juice. Earlier this year, longtime YouTuber Chris Stuckmann finally brought Shelby Oaks, his long-gestating horror film, to the big screen. It was a largely abysmal picture, showcasing the director’s complete lack of imagination as he leaned heavily on familiar genre tropes. The film was also limited in its use of found footage, relegating the format solely to the first reel, commencing as something of a true crime documentary. As 2025 winds down, writer/director team Paul Gandersman and Peter S. Hall look to pull a similar trick with Man Finds Tape, their feature debut. Unlike Stuckmann’s effort, the pair opt to maintain the true crime found footage style for the entire film’s duration, and while they also throw in a number of other horror elements as their mystery deepens, the film can’t quite pull off any new tricks, ultimately doing less with less as they too fail to make any meaningful impression with their work.
In the rural town of Larkin, Texas, Lucas Page (William Magnuson) is a YouTuber who becomes a viral online sensation when he begins his “Man Finds Tape” series, stemming from a creepy VHS tape he finds in his house. When played, the tape depicts footage of Lucas as a child, sleeping in his bed in his childhood home as an unknown intruder enters to observe him. Lucas’ discovery sends him on a downward spiral he seems to have little chance of recovering from, and he’s soon exploring the rot at the heart of Larkin through its harrowing history, including one video of a man willingly letting himself get run over by a van in the middle of the street. Documenting Lucas’ trajectory is his sister, Lynn Page (Kelsey Pribilski), who is making a documentary about his findings, hoping to bring a sense of closure to this chilling saga. The siblings had an unconventional childhood, raised by a pair of videographer parents, and the more they uncover about Larkin’s sordid history, the more they realize everything connects back to one Reverend Endicott Carr (John Gholson), a local televangelist for whom their parents worked.
It’s telling that two of the credited producers on Man Finds Tape are Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, as this is the sort of lo-fi curio that feels completely within the scope of the filmmaking duo’s wheelhouse. In adhering to the the Benson/Moorhead pull toward authenticity and respect for the horror genre, Man Finds Tape’s sticks to the found footage format better than most, playing fair with its liberal use of Zoom calls, security cameras, and cell phone footage, taking great pains to ensure everything is properly sourced. This consideration from Gandersman and Hall is appreciated, with the pair also out to explore a history of notable hoaxes, including the Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot tape and the infamous photo of the Loch Ness Monster, tying them into the narrative of the Larkin Incidents. Unfortunately, there’s little to get excited about here, as Man Finds Tape is otherwise a relatively sedate affair for much of its proceedings, offering little in the way of intrigue or terror as Lucas and Lynn dig deeper into the horrors of their hometown. (It also does not help that Pribilski and Magnuson do not share a lick of sibling chemistry, coming off as a pair of rehearsal actors who have just met for an improv scene for the very first time.) Man Finds Tape also switches gears to body horror in the third act, and while the turn is very welcome, it’s not executed with any particular elan, and, like the film as a whole, is content to go merely through the motions. There’s simply no satisfying whole to be found here.
DIRECTOR: Paul Gandersman & Peter S. Hall; CAST: Kelsey Pribilski, William Magnuson, John Gholson, Brian Villalobos; DISTRIBUTOR: Magnet Releasing; IN THEATERS: December 5; RUNTIME: 1 hr. 24 min.
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