A common tag that we hear thrown around the film circles is “so bad that it’s good”. Some popular examples of the genre are Troll 2, Sharknado, and Birdemic. This is a genre that has existed for decades with fans of these films being less vocal about their love for them but now everyone can feel loud and proud. In the case of Urban Fears there is no doubt it is bad, with everything from the acting to the camerawork being laughably awful. However, when we look at the film as a whole not only are all the right pieces there but with some fine-tuning, this could not only be a competent film but a good one.

In true film school fashion, the director takes a page from  Pulp Fiction and shows multiple characters’ stories separately told, that slowly but surely intersect as the film continues. The film opens with a girl encounter a ghost that emerges from her passing a chain post on her phone that warns of death if she does not repost. Next, a young man named Jason ignores his father’s warning of the maniacs that come out after dark and is stalked by a masked man. Meanwhile, the house sitter who is watching Jason’s home is accosted by a possessed doll that wears the dried face of Jason’s mother. Finally, the story is bookended when the house sitter’s boyfriend is confronted with the same chain post ghost from the beginning.

The most curious thing about this film, what in my opinion gives it the so bad its good title, is its ability to be painfully boring and hilarious at the same time. From moment to moment you will be asking yourself why this scene is going on so long or why was that terrible line put in? Each moment becomes both irritating and interesting making you want to know where else is this movie going and how will it mess up next. Lines like “he told me to not look in the basement, but he asked me to do laundry” exist and then the film forces the audience to watch her tediously do laundry. I found it occasionally amusing but if you don’t unabashedly enjoy so bad its good films I could see people finding this movie grating and amateurish.

Considering I had never heard of the director, Nicholas Michael Jacobs, I did my research and was surprised to find out he was only twenty years old. If this film was by an established director I would say it was a mess on a script, technical, and acting level.  On the other hand, considering this is only the second film made by a young filmmaker it is not only coherent but on its way to being well realized. All the beats needed to make this a good movie are there the only thing that isn’t is the technical skill and cinematography know-how. The director’s next project is a series of shorts and I think that is the next perfect step in his growth as a filmmaker.

While I think Urban Fears would play really well with a group of friends on a bad movie night, like my friends do, there are far too many moments of long drawn out segments that kill the pacing. If there is anything I hope the director learns in his next project it is when a sequence is going on for far too long. If he can learn that as well as some new filming techniques I can confidently say that his next few projects could be worth looking out for.