It doesn't just coast on its gimmick and is worth a try.

Rating: 8/10 (24 February 2019)

I was born too late to get swept away with the hype and the particular way this movie was marketed. Before seeing this movie I was sure it would be terrible. I'm not against found-footage on principle, but everything I read made this movie sound like it would be trash, especially the positive reviews.
I thought that it would just coast on its gimmick and marketing and do nothing but shake the camera and scream. Saying directly to the camera "I'm so scared!" isn't exactly following "show don't tell".
Maybe it's because of this that I was pleasantly surprised. I usually hate improvised stuff, it's insulting to the audience. But here they pull it off just right. The dialogue sounds spontaneous and believable but they edit so that it never gets dull.
The pacing is impeccable too. We move smoothly from the amateur documentary to frustrating situation to a bit of a nightmare. And irritating comments like "this is creepy" notwithstanding, as a slow burn, it is really effective.
We don't get any of the other things that annoy me in horror. It never gets soapy, there are no cheap scares, there is no filler.
I basically knew how the whole thing ends, not the exact end, just the gist of it, and I was still clutching Teddy when things really kick off.
This is a polarizing movie for understandable reasons. I really get that. But this happened to really get the formula right for me.
it might help having low expectation like me but I would say it's still one of the few really good found footages. Better than Paranormal Activity 2, not as good as Creep 1 or 2.