15 Cameras

15 Cameras

Nastiness in horror movies is analogous to seasoning: it can enhance the flavor if used sparingly, but too much of it can be overwhelming, especially when not properly incorporated. Most modern day horror movies should contain more nastiness; however, not every horror filmmaker should pretend to be misanthropic. But that doesn’t help the creators of “15 Cameras,” a bad horror movie about two young homeowners who suddenly become peeping Toms.

Following “14 Cameras” and its slightly weaker prequel “13 Cameras,” “15 Cameras” is another attempt at playing on viewers’ fears related to surveillance – tiny hidden cameras all over the place! The trilogy of films involves closed circuit filming using secret cameras installed by creepy landlord Gerald (Neville Archambault) inside houses. Gerald is now presumed dead and Archambault died last year in real life, but still some of his properties have several hidden cameras built into their walls and appliances.

Now an urban legend referred to as ‘The Slumlord,’ Gerald (James Babson) sees one unit of his duplex bought up thoughtlessly and for a good price by true crime junkie Sky (Angela Wong Carbone) and her easily scared partner Cam (Will Madden). When you hear Madden’s character called what he literally is named after, you might think there would be something good about an intentionally funny scary movie about how technology affects paranoid and weak-willed youngsters. But that would definitely not be the case; maybe in ways you wouldn’t expect.

On the other hand, “15 Cameras” fails to meet the criteria for being either good satire or an atmospheric mood piece. Both Sky and Cam are presented through a loathing that their creators have towards them or rather cannot stand anything they symbolize vaguely. Such disdain becomes so apparent right from the beginning where while watching a fake poorly done murder series called “The Slumlord Tapes,” Sky and Cam make out, as a voiceover narrator pretentiously repeats the lines that might have made sense in an amateurish YouTube video. (ex: “Her boyfriend Marc, deceased, in the next room”).

Here though Cam is upset over Sky’s seemingly distracted nature; this could have been the beginning of a genuinely hilarious and well-observed interaction but it merely functions as a way to slighting incriminate Sky who barely exists as a supporting character in “15 Cameras.” Thus when Cam disapproves of Sky’s absentmindedness, she instinctively retorts, “That’s a little unfair,” with emphasis on “little” and “fair.” In an establishing sequence, using this take/line reading is simply excessive. In addition, Madden has his own share of overgeneralized characterization like when he acknowledges the house’s sordid past by saying casually, “That’s how you get a place for half the market value,” without any bashful look or irony.

Most part of “15 Cameras” follows Cam discovering hidden cameras and then spying on Amber and Wren (Hannah McKechnie and Shirley Chen), two sexy college seniors subletting the lower floor of the building. It seems that Madden deliberately tries to be funny by making Cam appear lecherous in a kind of “can-you-believe-this-guy” manner through his exaggeratedly awkward smile at various times including when he welcomes his new tenants with no words being spoken between them throughout this montage while classical music plays softly in the background.

The humor in “15 Cameras” is mostly about Cam’s Slumlord’s cameras desperate-to-please attempts to sleep with Amber and Wren. There was a lot of uncomfortable joking man, dick pics? which was done out loud and repeatedly, in order to make the filmmakers appear not only lowbrow but also controversial for those watching their films. Just watch these young hypocrites, so concerned with their privilege yet unable to act on it. (“You guys are /serious/ landlords now!”).

Another thing you should do is notice how many times Sky eats popcorn rather conspicuously while watching her favorite true crime show every week. (She can’t even put the stuff down when she inevitably gets caught at home). Alternatively look at Carolyn (Hilty Bowen), Sky’s sister who immediately followed one of Slumlord’s victims’ social media account just as she complains that the victim has lost all their privacy in the aftermath of “The Slumlord Tapes.” These pseudo-satirical sidebars have no set up nor progress; they are simply a joke in themselves.

Madden’s performance tiresome enough but what makes matters worse is that his wispy character is supposed to bear the burden of most movie’s emotional weight. How could so much of “15 Cameras” be about one pathetically weak guy who becomes an embarrassing voyeur through technology?

All this time spent on skewering Cam are such heavy handed ways that eventually make clear the fact that this film suffers from too little viciousness but more so focus and imagination. “15 Cameras” soaks us in contrived complaints full of repetition and monotony where we have been urged by the film to tsk-tsk at some really bad characters. Such prefab edginess is extremely dismissible as it comes easy like ABCs.

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