The set up for The Black Tape mixes the home invasion and found footage sub-genres. It tells the story of an intruder that breaks into a family's home to terrorize and kill them while making a home made murder video. The premise of the film is that you are watching the killer film his own work.
The creepiest part of the whole movie is that the killer is so thorough and focused and obsessed with the chosen family that he set up cameras to film them at home when he isn't even there and sometimes enters the house just to secretly film them. So we see the family going about their everyday lives...and thinking they're safe. There's something deeply disturbing about knowing people are close to being killed and also knowing they have no idea. And the killer here isn't content with just killing them, he secretly drags his plans out over a period of several months in order to torment and completely tear the family apart. It's a clever and complex script that I was pretty impressed with from first time writer/director Ramone Menon.
Unlike some very low budget films, The Black Tape doesn't suffer from lack of a soundtrack. It has plenty of original music that has a dizzying and threatening sound to it that I thought fit the film very nicely and added to the sense of dread. The distorted voice of the killer and the masked look as well were also very well conceived.
Each scene has a date on the bottom right corner of the screen to copy the look of a camcorder. Keep an eye on these dates as the sequence of events play somewhat out of order, but the editing always goes back to show how things happened or what led to what. It's a smart plot device because it demonstrates the silent and sizable role the killer plays in the life and events of the family without them even knowing.
On the technical side of things, the film looks very clean and sharp and the sound is clear, loud, and understandable. The editing is also done in an organized and skillful way that is meant to mimic messy, amateur cuts from a camcorder. Nothing about the film looks or feels cheap and that's a giant credit to the filmmakers given the reported budget of the film.
If there are any weaknesses in the film I would say it was the acting. Don't get me too wrong here, the acting is serviceable and by no means bad, I just felt that the range of emotions didn't always match up with the extreme situations shown on screen.
In the end, I was thoroughly impressed with The Black Tape. It's a disturbing and creepy portrayal of the unexplainable evil that men can possess and a very well made film with a script that gives credit to the audience instead of playing stupid for them. And patience with the film more than pays off. Check out this indie horror flick if you're looking for something that mixes two popular sub-genres and surprisingly creates a fresh take on both.
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