‘Afflicted’ is Dark, Violent and Scary (Review)

Written by: Daniel Hadley

Directed by: Derek Lee, Clif Prowse

Cast: Derek Lee, Clif Prowse, Baya Rehaz

It was right after I saw an entire S.W.A.T. team get shredded from the first person perspective that I uttered the word “badass” for around the fifth time; I realised that found footage can still be awesome. Chronicle was a great found footage super hero movie, Afflicted is like Chronicle‘s evil older brother, its dark, violent and scary when it needs to be.

Shortly after Derek and Clif go on a round-the-world trip Derek hooks up with a mysterious woman and shortly after he begins succumbing to a strange affliction. He gets stronger, faster and incredibly agile but he also becomes more aggressive and at times, deadly.

First off the performances here are great. Clif and Derek (played by Derek lee and Clif Prowse respectively) really come off as best friends and considering they both wrote and directed the movie together something tells me their friendship extends beyond celluloid. Next are the effects and they are fantastic, a very nice blend of practical and CGI and during the action scenes they look great, better than great actually, this is a really impressive looking film.

A lot of the action is filmed from the first person perspective, something that REC 2 did briefly as well as the remake of Maniac. At first I thought it might be a little disorientating and even annoying but after a little while I loved it, this is one of the most immersive and visceral horror movies I have seen in a very long time. The action is fast, brutal and most impressively, the action is all done in one continuous shot. like I said, Badass!

The only thing that lets the movie down just slightly is the story. Not to give away too much but after Derek discovers what he is the movie takes a very predictable turn and follows a very well-trodden path. If the movie had taken a more original direction I would be hailing it as a modern classic but unfortunately Derek Lee and Clif Prowse play it safe.

This is a great debut feature from a (clearly) very talented double team and aside from a partially disappointing story it’s a damn near perfect found footage horror movie.

Rating: 4/5