Reed Alexander's Horror Review of 'Butterfly Kisses' (2019)

Can we talk about how fucking funny it is, that this is a fake documentary about a fake documentary? I fucking love the fact that they layered it like that. Also, props on the head nod to the original The Blare Witch Project, even including a cameo from director Edwardo Sanchez. I was impressed with how they stayed focally self-aware of what they were spoofing. I don't know how well everyone remembers the marketing campaign of The Blair Witch Project, but they tried to convince the public that a student film, sold to a movie studio, was actually real found footage. It was sort of before the internet was a real big thing. There was no Facebook, or viral marketing. Myspace hadn't been around for very long. The movie was completely sold by hiding the fact that the 'found footage' of The Blair Witch Project was a fake documentary. So the way this is presented is actually quite brilliant.

There's also a lot about this mocumentary that reminds me of American Movie, and the making of Coven. The main character really sells his desperation to make his movie work. I think Mark Borchadrt would be proud of this. You know what this also reminds me of? Digging up the Marrow, in the sense that it's a 'What if this urban legend was real' mocumentary. Adam Green would also be proud of this presentation.

Now, the acting isn't great, but it's on par with horror, so that's not a big deal. The FX tend to be kind of silly, but you work with what you got when you're an independent filmmaker shoe-stringing it.

The plot is actually quite clever. Again, it's a meta mocumentary. The best part is, they don't even shy away from the fact that it's preposterous and easily faked. They come right out and frequently question the motivations of all parties involved, and poke huge holes in the story. But watching it all unravel is actually part of the plot. It's really quite brilliant.

I could certainly recommend this to horror heads. I mean, fuck, if you liked The Blare Witch Project, you'll certainly like this.

SPOILERS!!!

I dig the mythos behind Mr. Blinky. It's like Slenderman, in the sense that he's trying to get close to us through learning about him, also like The Shadow Man with just the general design. And even like SCP-173 with the fact that every time you blink, he gets closer. The way it works, if you stare down this specific train tunnel, from a specific spot, without blinking, for exactly an hour, from midnight on the dot till 1 am, Peeping Tom appears to you. From that moment on, every time you blink, he gets a little closer until he gets close enough to kill you.

Here's the problem with this. Absolutely nobody can hold their eyes open for an hour. I suppose you could come up with a workaround. Maybe tape them open and use a dropper of saline. But who the fuck did that first to find out about Peeping Tom? And why would anyone do that at all? Why the fuck would someone say to themselves, "I'm gonna find a way to stare down this train tunnel for no damn good reason! In fact, I'm gonna do it for an hour without blinking." Who the fuck does that?

But that's how urban legends start. Something highly improbable but technically possible, that makes the imagination run wild. So what doesn't work about the mythos is also what's kinda charming about it. It makes the urban legend seem more real. Like it's something you heard about as a kid, even if you're just hearing about it now.

The best part? At the end, it becomes a mocumentary, about a mocumentary, about a mocumentary.

Yeah, it was pretty good. Give it a try.