I saw a strange ad on Instagram, this is where it took me…
I was on Instagram late one night looking through my friends’ stories when an unusual ad popped up. It was a brief clip for some indie horror flick I’ve never heard of, complete with a review quote underneath. This isn’t all that out of the ordinary on its own; in fact I’d already grown accustomed to seeing advertisements for both indie and mainstream films while scrolling on Instagram.
But the reason this film ad in particular caught my eye was because of what it had in store: grainy, low-quality camcorder footage showing the POV of someone slowly walking up to an open doorway at night, leading into a dark room. Another doorway can be seen on the wall just past the first, through which I could make out what looked to be a person standing perfectly still, however most of their features—including their face—were just out of view; the quote that came with the clip read, “‘VCR Willie’ is pure analog dread…”
Intrigued, I clicked the link in the ad. It took me to a simplistic page headed with the text “CHOOSE YOUR FORMAT.” The only options available were DVD, VHS tape, and flash drive.
The DVD option displayed a brief synopsis of the movie: “It started as a dream about a camcorder. Then I woke up and found that exact camera on my kitchen table. I pried the cassette out and hit play. It wasn't just footage—it was the nightmare itself. And now, I'm passing it on to you.” It also listed the film’s special features, like “Unrated Footage Not Seen in Theaters.” That’s when the story gets weird, because I don’t recall hearing about a movie named VCR Willie ever showing in theaters. Stranger still, when I looked the movie up on Letterboxd I couldn’t find a page for it (and there still isn’t one, even as I write this).
So, we have a creepy ad for a low-quality found footage movie that has no Letterboxd page, with a nonexistent theatrical run, that you can only buy on a DVD, VHS, or flash drive via a sketchy website. Sounds like something straight out of a Creepypasta, right? Anyone in their right mind would probably have closed the tab, never to return, lest they become the next internet urban legend.
But not me. No, everything I had just witnessed about VCR Willie was right up my alley. It was the kind of enigmatic nightmare film I always knew I’d been craving, yet had never truly found. So, what else was I to do except buy the DVD and gather some friends for a nighttime viewing of VCR Willie.
After receiving what has got to be the scariest looking DVD I have ever owned and joking with my friends about the possibility that we were all about to watch a snuff-film (a thought that had crossed all of our minds at least once), the time finally came to watch it. Did VCR Willie live up to my expectations? Sort of, yeah.
The film nails the very specific atmosphere that dreams and nightmares have, which is in no small part thanks to its low-quality found footage aesthetic. I’ve always felt that the worse a movie’s camera quality is, the scarier it is, and it seems that VCR Willie agrees. Combine that with the weird, nonsensical logic of the film, along with its surreal acting, and it really did feel like someone had captured a nightmare on camera. It’s because of this that I’m willing to forgive some of the strange moments that almost took me out of the film, since it all somewhat makes sense within the context of a dream.
Besides, even with those odd moments—or perhaps thanks to them lowering our guard—this film still managed to scare my friends and I on several occasions throughout. At first I was worried that maybe VCR Willie wouldn’t be as scary as I had hoped, especially in a group setting. But it knows how to catch the viewer by surprise, even when you think that you’ll see it coming. Some moments made us jump or yell, while others sent a chill down our spines.
However, this effective atmosphere, great scares—and some really good acting from some of its actors—are all VCR Willie really brings to the table. The film is a collection of brief, no-budget vignettes by the youtube channel Alexanderthetitan, often set in the same apartment and with many of the same actors throughout. Because of this and the film’s dream-logic, there is very little substance here. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; the film achieves exactly what it set out to do, which is to be a nightmare caught on camera; my friends and I had a great time watching it, and like I said, it’s got some really effective scares throughout. But that’s about it.
Still though, even if it doesn’t stick with me for very long, I’m glad I took a chance on VCR Willie. Here’s hoping that if they make any future tapes that they’ll improve on what they’ve done here, and that they might have a bigger budget to do so.
VCR Willie can be watched on YouTube or purchased on DVD, VHS tape, or Flash Drive for $30, $100, and $33 respectively on https://www.vcrwillie.com/distribution.
