The Gracefield Incident is a found-footage horror film written, directed, and starring  Mathieu Ratthe that establishes its structure early, opening on a recorded conversation between Mathew (Ratthe) and Jessica Donovan ( Kimberly Laferriere ) a couple expecting the birth of their first child when a car comes out of nowhere and t-bones them. After a short view of the damage, the film cuts to a year later and Mathew has an ambitious project in the works. It turns out that as a result of the crash, Mathew lost an eye and he has been working on the development of a bionic replacement made from a prosthetic eye and a camera salvaged from an iPhone. How a hobbyist is able to develop an implant a perfectly functioning artificial eye with wireless video and recording features that his body will not reject is not explored in detail, but this bit of science hand-waving is used throughout to allow the film to continue its found-footage approach when the handheld cameras aren’t appropriate or lack sufficient video quality for a given scene.

The Donovans are looking for a bit of R&R after what must’ve been a challenging year, so they decide to head off to Mathew’s boss’s cabin out in the woods along with two other couples, Joe ( Victor Andres Turgeon-Trelles ) and Liz ( Laurence Dauphinais ), and Trey ( Alex C. Nachi ) and Julia ( Juliette Gosselin ). There are rumors of bifoo…bigfee…sasquatches in the area, however, and after unearthing a mysterious alien artifact in the woods, they start to realize that there is something out there, and it isn’t friendly. What follows is a competently made, briskly-paced ride that tries to do some new things but is held back by some hokey performances and the long-dead horse that is the “found-footage movie of people lost in the woods” trope.

There is an attempt made at character development here, which is more than can be said for a lot of films in this genre, largely centered around the tension between Mathew and Jessica regarding their feelings about moving on after the loss of their child and Mathew’s feelings of helplessness as his friends and family become the prey of this unknown horror. While the structure is there and the film does give its leads a story arc, the emotional impact is bludgeoned by Ratthe’s performance, who occasionally nails the strong-willed leader role, but frequently falls into a Shatneresque, aggressively dramatic, “look at me, I’m acting!” persona that can be distracting.

There are a lot of ideas here, particularly with regards to the monster, which in addition to being a physically menacing behemoth also possesses the ability to manipulate electrical devices (including analog watches, and in one scene, pantry doors), control minds, and leap tall buildings in a single bound. Have to give them points for trying something a bit different, but it does start to feel as though the monster can do whatever the scene calls for rather than having a cohesive design. It also has a propensity for using balloons as a means of communication including in an eerily-shot scene where the cabin has become filled in red balloons, which had me concerned for a moment that they also had Pennywise to contend with along with their existing problems.

There are scenes like that which show some artistic direction, but otherwise it’s got your standard found-footage aesthetic. The CG elements, however, rise above the expectations I typically have in these films and through a combination of restraint, particularly in the early scenes where the monster is only scene in parts and from far away, and some solid modeling work, manage to create a pretty convincing impression. It isn’t perfect, there is still that instant giveaway CG sheen and some floaty animation, but overall the work done here far outclasses your typical indie fare.

The supporting cast doesn’t receive the sort of development that our leads get, mostly serving as additional camera men so the film can diversify its shots and as monster fodder, but they do a decent enough job with what they’ve got and none of the characters are particularly unlikable. The sound work is similarly passable, with solid ambience and creature sounds.

The Gracefield Incident is not deserving of it’s current 0% on Rotten Tomatoes in my humble opinion and on most accounts rises above expectations to be one of the better movies of its type I’ve seen recently. Whether an above-average “found-footage in the woods” movie is worth an inclusion in your October festivities is debatable, but you could do much worse.