Upcoming Found Footage Horror Will Make You Sick As You Root For The Bad Guy

What sets Looky-Loo apart from its contemporaries is how it thrusts you into the unnamed killer’s (billed as Looky-Loo, and portrayed by Zink) warped solo odyssey in a way that makes you actually want to root for him. Going into the viewing experience, I knew full well that I was about to watch a slow-burn story about a man who would eventually claim victims for some sort of warped and sadistic film project he was working on. But since we only see what he’s seeing from a first-person perspective, it’s very easy to become emotionally invested in the idea of not getting caught.

After all, if Looky-Loo gets caught, then that means I’ve also been caught, and the show’s over.

The premise for Looky-Loo is a simple one, and at first you’ll find yourself getting bored as our hero (read: villain) creeps up to window after window without uttering a single word of dialogue. However, it doesn’t take long for a pattern to be established, as he quickly transitions from simple voyeurism to breaking-and-entering. Still, at this point, he’s relatively harmless because he’s entering and exiting empty houses and leaving undetected.

Matters continue to escalate as the film progresses, especially when you realize he has plans to return to these residences after he cases them out.

Unlike other found footage films like The Blair Witch Project or The Taking of Deborah Logan, we’re not working with a group of people who report their findings to their cameras. In fact, there’s hardly any dialogue in Looky-Loo at all, making everything all the more disturbing as you try to piece together Looky-Loo’s master plan. This lack of dialogue is further complimented by the absence of a clear timeline, or any other insights into the stalker/killer’s daily life.

Like I said, we only see what Looky-Loo sees, which is what he’s filming, and some quick glimpses of his editing setup. Without having a grasp on a proper timeline, I was immediately led to believe that he was filming the interior of his victim’s homes so he could meticulously study the floor-plans before returning to carry out his murderous impulses.

The deliberate lack of insight into Looky-Loo’s personal life outside of his “project” constantly made me wonder what kind of activities he was getting into when his camera wasn’t recording. For all I know, he lives a normal, unassuming life, goes bowling, plays board games with his friends, and goes to his parent’s house for Sunday dinner.

The second-hand suspense I felt whenever Looky-Loo narrowly escaped being detected by concerned neighbors and authorities was palpable because he’s clearly in the wrong, but the movie’s fiction projects his acts of voyeurism and violence so aggressively onto the viewer that I couldn’t help but want to see it through.

During moments of unsettling silence, the quick “hey what are you doing with that camera” is enough to make you jump out of your seat because Looky-Loo has been outed, meaning you have also been outed.

When Looky-Loo reaches its many points of no return, you’ll feel trapped; you’re an accessory and a witness to his crimes, all while his subjects are blissfully unaware of what’s to come.

GFR SCORE

Looky-Loo is a difficult watch, but a rewarding one if you have the patience for it. There were multiple times where I reached out to the screen and silently mouthed the words, “no, don’t do that.” But since I have no control over the narrative, and can only be a witness, the feelings of powerlessness, and eventually, acceptance eventually washed over me. While Looky-Loo continues to peer into the lives of his soon-to-be victims, all I can do is peer into his life while the story unfolds.

If you’re looking for the next found footage horror film to get under your skin, be on the lookout for Looky-Loo this coming winter. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.