Often, it’s good to know what’s going on in a film. Thankfully, Malibu Horror Story ensures the viewer is acutely aware of the plot, background, and minute details of every detail that the viewer should know as-is: knowledge should be known. Jokes aside, Malibu Horry Story, lends itself as another entry in the found footage horror film genre. Written, produced, and directed by Scott Slone, Malibu Horror Story prides itself in believability but lacks merit in its pacing.

To begin–with what I found to be credible–the writing, acting, and world-building are all impressively believable. The film follows a team of ghost hunters, Josh Davidson (Dylan Sprayberry), Matt Thompson (Robert Bailey Jr.), Jessica Cooper (Rebecca Forsythe), and Ashely Ryan (Valentina de Angelis), who are investigating a supernatural disappearance of a group of teenagers: Jake Torrance (Tommy Cramer), Carlos Garcia (Hector Gomez Jr.), Carter Conley (Veno Miller), and Tyler Clifford (Jacob Hughes). Each character was satisfyingly believable. I never thought any of the actors were doing a lousy job. The world design in how the news and articles displayed all felt authentic. With occasional hiccups, the writing never felt too unrealistic or out there. 

Despite this, during the film’s first half, I was barely, if at all, invested or engaged in the movie’s plot. It wasn’t until an hour in when the cards were finally revealed, leaving me feeling drained and discontent for an entire hour before finally seeing something “scary.” In which, to give it credit, it was. My heart was pounding, and I felt a cold shiver throughout my body for a decent amount of time. However, as scary as it all was, it was predictable all the same. The first hour of the film was ripe with exposition after exposition. Repeating and consistently hammering in information that could’ve just been a 10 to 15-minute segment. The same information had to have been carouselled like a rotisserie chicken at least 10 times when I got what I was supposed to “get” on the first rotation.

Additionally, certain aspects of the film lighting and camera work brought me out of the experience, with the entire first half being filmed the same. Considering how the whole first act was supposed to be multiple scenes filmed with other cameras and different people, it all had the same production quality and lighting. That is what I noticed most, even more so than the exposition I was supposed to have shoveled into my mouth. Some scenes also felt unnecessary, with certain gratuitous scenes in the exposition that try to demonstrate the teenagers’ personalities but end up being wholly extra and are seemingly included to add “sexiness.” Nor was I attached to any of these characters due to their shallow natures, despite the incessant setup.

To give credit where it is due, the second half of Malibu Horror Story successfully delivers a suspenseful and truly gruesome experience. Yet, the 30 minutes of terror is quickly overshadowed by 60 minutes of choke-full exposition that spoon-fed into oblivion. The occasional blunders in the film’s writing and acting are not too occurrent or problematic; however, sadly, I still could not find myself engaged in the film’s opening act and was left disappointed by its end due to its self-induced predictability.