October is slowly becoming the month of Found Footage for me, probably because these horror movies feel so incredibly real. Take The Hem, for example: a documentary film crew tempts fate when they investigate the legend of a haunted church and its dressmaker. And like a seamstress, this movie cuts away at the fabric of their lives.
A documentary crew investigates a haunted church on the verge of collapse with one condition: they must be out by dark.
The Hem, IMDB
We start off with the film crew recording b-roll of a cattle drive through Old Fort Worth. Asking around about the local legend of Isabelle Rose and the Southside Church (aka, “the Rose Chapel”), they are met with scared locals hurriedly excusing themselves from the conversation. Only one man is brave enough to take them to the rundown building — but on two conditions: pay cash upfront, and be out before dark. While exploring, the crew begin to unravel the secrets of the fire she was thought to have caused, and why they should have never gone there in the first place. Texan detectives are there to clean up their bloodspatter after their deaths.
Like I referenced before, The Hem is a found footage film that gives us the perspective of both the film crew and the detectives, which I enjoyed; usually we see only one side of the “story,” or the found footage is interlaced with 3rd-person elements or intertitles. In that same realm, the characters were believable enough and I didn’t once question why they were still filming. On a personal note, the DJI camera was a nice touch — I have one myself and am familiar with turning the gimbal between selfie and front-facing mode. A touch of realness is always appreciated!
I also loved how dark The Hem was. While other films would suffer from not seeing the action, The Hem did the darkness justice. What’s more is that it made sense. Here the crew was, in the middle of an abandoned, decrepit building that was once set ablaze, looking for signs of a ghost. Of course it’s going to be dark! It added a constant chill, especially with the camera rotating back and forth, leaving me guessing and waiting anxiously for Isabelle’s ghost to appear.
Isabelle herself was a sight to see as well. Dressed in a wedding gown and standing menacingly in dark corners or at the bottom of stairs, her apparition gave The Hem‘s camera crew a worthy opponent. The only thing I would change is not even a change at all; I wanted to hear more about the fire, more about Isabelle. In a way, I felt like the crew at the beginning: trying to piece together information from unresponsive locals.
But that didn’t bring down The Hem at all for me in the end. It’s a solid found footage flick that didn’t stray too far from others in the subgenre, but still gave new life to it. With an old building in disarray, a ghost hellbent on revenge, and a film crew in over their heads, The Hem was a great addition to my October watch list!
The Hem will be releasing soon on SVOD.
Why did she start the fire?
Y’know, there admittedly is a little context missing about the fire starting. She could have done it willingly. It could have been some evil forces working in the background. It’s up to your interpretation!
I just saw the movie and decided only to watch it because it was filmed in Ft Worth. Loved it!! I can’t figure out how it kept my attention and it wasn’t location as it mostly takes place in an old church. , but it left me entertained. I would recommend this movie for others to watch !
That’s awesome, glad you liked it! I haven’t been to Ft. Worth, but perhaps I will go one day and see how it compares to the movie.