Butterfly Kisses is Haunting Beauty
At their best, horror films confirm our worst fears and stimulate our imaginations, whether in the form of mythic creatures, time-tested folklore, or the paranoid notions that rattle around in the collective unconscious. They make something that could otherwise be laughed at into something real.
That said, a lot of genre fare misses the mark completely. The slightest tonal or aesthetic misstep can send a film careening into the abyss of disappointment (it’s a lot like comedy in that way). There’s nothing worse than making it to the halfway point – or even the very end – of a movie, only to have a promising build-up squandered.
When it works, though, horror can be a thing of haunting beauty.
Such is the case with Butterfly Kisses. Written and directed by Erik Kristopher Myers, it’s the best found-footage film since 2013’s Mortal Remains, and joins the top tier of found-footage movies, period.
Found Footage Done Right
The dread-filled pleasure of this particular subgenre is in the innately multifaceted nature of the narratives: first, the primary story and the filmmakers’ M.O. is established; second, how the filmmakers implicate themselves as the primary story begins to unravel; and finally, the obsessive drive to uncover truth in the face of growing desperation. Found footage presents a palpable danger in which the assumed power of wielding a camera is no protection against the inexorable, fatalistic pull of the uncanny.
The power of many found footage films is based on a predisposition toward skepticism – that nothing bad will actually happen – and much of their success hinges on how compelling an argument they make to the viewer. The notion of “The Other” infiltrating our plane of existence is usually not considered by the characters until it’s too late (the lost campers in The Blair Witch Project; the trapped apartment-dwellers in [REC]), at which point they are forced further and further toward a point of no return.
The approach of increasing, inescapable desperation lends these films a chilling power.
Fueling Tension
Forced, unnatural acting can undermine the “reality” of a found-footage premise, and Butterfly Kisses succeeds in giving us lived-in characters that feel true to life. From the actual footage shot by student filmmakers Sophie (Rachel Armiger) and Feldman (Reed DeLisle), to struggling, frustrated father Gavin (Seth Adam Kallick), who “discovers” their footage and sees it as an opportunity to launch his own languishing film career, to Myers and his documentary crew, everyone looks at the camera without winking at the viewer.
Gavin in particular is an interesting, multi-layered study – decked out like a hipster douche and armed with a defensive attitude, he is revealed to be flawed and financially desperate; when his grinning, wide-eyed façade begins to crack, it adds even more dread to the proceedings. Ditto Sophie and Feldman, who begin with a pitch of youthful go-getter excitement before finding themselves catapulted into the unknown.
Myers does a fantastic job of using skepticism and doubt as methods for fueling tension. His central conceit – an urban legend known as “Peeping Tom” who appears at the opposite end of a railroad tunnel – brings comparisons to Candyman, but one of the major reasons Butterfly Kisses resonates is that it also works as a high-quality alternative to the major-studio incompetence that clogs the multiplex.
Unlike Slender Man, which took $10 million to recycle tired clichés and jump scares without putting any effort into world-building or believable characters, Myers’ film is a prime example of how low-profile indies can actualize horror’s potential best of all. Without consideration for craft, performance, or intelligence, millions can (and will continue to) be flushed on soulless horror product that takes its audience for a bunch of idiots. And, in addition to all the subtle, slow-burning macabre elements on display, Butterfly Kisses also features one of the best jump scares in recent memory (James Wan, take note). Now, to get more eyes on this…
4 out of 5 stars
Butterfly Kisses is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
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Jonny Numb
Jonny Numb (aka Jonathan Weidler) is far from a social-media celebrity, but his mom thinks he’s cool. His morally questionable tactics for gaining attention can be found on full display on Twitter and Letterboxd @JonnyNumb. He also co-hosts THE LAST KNOCK podcast with Billy Crash.
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(Butterfly Kisses poster from Gravitas Ventures.)