13 Cameras (2016)
Starring Neville Archambault, PJ McCabe, Brianne Moncrief
Directed by Victor Zarcoff
With the ever-present threat (and ultimate reality) that someone anywhere, at anytime, could be eyeballing you via hidden cam, cellphone cam, wall cam, toilet cam… well, you get the idea, first-time director Victor Zarcoff uses that very real threat to further make you want to inspect every inch of your domicile in 13 Cameras, and it’s pretty damn entertaining to watch.
So to set this story into motion, we need a happy couple (well, kind of happy), and they consist of Ryan (McCabe) and his freshly-impregnated wife, Claire (Moncrief). Their idyllic new home into which they’ve just moved is lorded over by… how do I put this gently? One of the creepiest son of a bitch to ever peer through a keyhole.
His name is Gerald (Archambault), and at the risk of sounding antiquated, he doesn’t need a keyhole to inject his officious eyes into their business – he just looks at the screen that delivers the feed from one of the numerous cameras he’s set up in their home. As time rolls on (movie-time, that is), Ryan and Claire exhibit the behaviors that any potential parents-to-be might experience: They argue, they nitpick, then they make up. The only problem is that you’d normally think these issues would be contained to the eyes that were experiencing the problems, not the ultra-repugnant innkeeper responsible for the house’s day-to-day operations.
While viewers who might be looking for an abundance of (or even just a few) scares will probably be disappointed, they can certainly revel in the notion that there is a very long, drawn-out sense of smarmy, seedy, grimy undertaking with Gerald’s voyeuristic stylings. After all, it’s not just Gerald who is blatantly invading this innocent couple’s space; it’s us as the audience as well… and now that I’ve confirmed that in type, I feel so dirty.
Archambault is amazingly convincing as the unstable peeper, and what works about his portrayal is that he keeps the lunacy within the lines – never overacting and never stretching the boundaries. This is a guy that could be in charge of the place next door to you or even your home as well.
So, now that I’ve thoroughly skeeved people out to a very uncomfortable level, I’ll go on the record as saying that 13 Cameras is a film that should definitely be given a look, if not for the work of a budding director setting sail on his first cinematic voyage, but for the idea that we all love to sneak a peek every now and then, don’t we? Admit it; you’ll feel better about it.
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Film
Categorized:Reviews
