Review: Found (2012)

First I´d like to thank Scott Schirmer for providing me with a screener.
Marty (Gavin Brown) is the ideal fifth grader. He gets good grades, listens to his teachers, and doesn't start trouble in class. But a darkness is beginning to fall over Marty's life. The kids at school won't stop picking on him, his parents just don't seem to understand him, and now Marty must grapple with a terrible secret that threatens to destroy life as he knows it -- his big brother is a serial killer! Brotherly love is put to the ultimate test in this emotional coming-of-age story that descends into full-blown horror. Found is written by Todd Rigney and Scott Schirmer who also is the director. The acting is excellent and Ethan Philbeck is just brilliant as Steve (Marty´s big brother) and he´s one of the scariest characters I´ve seen on the screen for a very long time. It´s professionally shot and edited with really strong, beautiful and sometimes haunting imagery. The soundtrack is fantastic and chilling! I must confess that I didn´t know much about this flick before pressing the play button and I found a refreshing new take on the serial killer genre as this is equal parts drama and horror. It´s a slow burner, I think that some might be put off by the pacing which is pretty slow but I enjoyed it as it only helps build up the characters and make us care. There are some really suspenseful, terrifying and downright disturbing stuff in this. Let´s just say that the end is shocking and a true example of hauntingly effective horror. Found is gory but not all the kills/violence occur on screen but I actually think that this works in it´s favor. I don´t wanna give anything away but in a sort of a way, even if I´m a gorehound at heart, I actually prefered that certain scenes stayed off screen and in my opinion it only increased the impact. But gorehounds have no need to worry as there is some really nasty stuff on screen, not for the squemish, and the fx are top notch! There is full frontal male nudity and female topless nudity. There is a few "sexscenes" (actually it´s the wrong word to describe it), again I don´t wanna give anything away but they ain´t for the squemish.
This review is based upon a passwordprotected online screener.
Rating: 7 out of 7. Found is a fantastic flick and it will, without a doubt, be one of the best flicks I´ll watch this year. It´s a very well made, very well acted coming of age flick in the horror genre. It´s Scott Schirmer feature film debut and what a debut it is! This is one director that I´ll be keeping an eye out for in the future. Even if I´m a seasoned fan of the horror/exploitation genre I do find the ending of Found truly haunting and it will probably stay with me for some time. Found gets my highest recommendations, now make sure to catch it when it is showing near you. This is a must watch!!

/JL