13 Sherwood Avenue (2023) Review – An AI-Infused Found Footage Fumble
13 Sherwood Avenue: Quick Verdict
The Verdict: A conceptually interesting but ultimately flat entry into the found footage genre that struggles to turn everyday technological glitches into genuine terror. 13 Sherwood Avenue succeeds in providing a relatably frustrating look at smart home integration, but fails to elevate its paranormal elements beyond the level of a routine hardware malfunction. While Chris Sims delivers a grounded and natural lead performance, the film is hampered by a glacial pace and a repetitive structure that drains the scares of any potential impact. It is a 2.5 star effort that feels more like a creative experiment than a fully-realised horror movie. Despite the decent writing and natural dialogue, the lack of tension and under-developed backstory makes it difficult to recommend to anyone outside of dedicated found footage completionists.
Details: Director: Richard Mansfield | Cast: Chris Sims, Caroline Nash, Kelly Goudie | Runtime: 1h 12m | Release Date: 2023
Best for: Fans of “screenlife” horror, viewers who enjoy ultra-low-budget indie projects, and anyone who has ever wanted to shout at their Alexa.
Worth noting: The film is part of a prolific output from Mansfield, who often utilises single locations and limited casts to produce multiple found footage titles a year.
Where to Watch: Available on Amazon Prime Video and Tubi
Rating: 2.5/5 Stars
(Natural acting, unique AI hook, but let down by repetitive scares and poor pacing.)
Welcome to Knockout Horror. Today we are reviewing English found footage horror movie 13 Sherwood Avenue.
Table of Contents
A slightly different plot
This is one of a few different movies all made by Richard Mansfield and all following a similar outline. 13 Sherwood Avenue actually deviates somewhat from Mansfield’s typical formula. Instead of somebody investigating a haunted house, we have a home AI system seemingly communicating with a spirit. This lead to all sorts of shenanigans and scares for our resident protagonist David (Chris Sims) as he struggles to come to terms with what is happening.
“Instead of somebody investigating a haunted house, we have a home AI system communicating with a spirit. It’s pretty much your standard Alexa experience for the most part.”
The home assistant sends messages he didn’t want it to send, it ignores his requests, it does things he doesn’t want it to do and so on and so forth. It’s pretty much your standard Alexa experience for the most part.
David goes through the all too familiar issues that most people are probably used to when they decide to transform their home into a smart home. With how much I have to repeat myself to Alexa and my fiancée, I feel like a parrot (the perils of a very deep voice, I guess). I sympathise with David’s plight. Does it make for good horror, though?
Just a bit silly
Being perfectly honest, not really, and why would it? While the idea is, at least, somewhat innovative, the real fear with home assistant systems is snooping and spying. Not them engaging in intimate liaisons with the undead.
“The core concept here is flawed because it is just not at all scary. The real fear with home assistants is snooping and spying, not them engaging in liaisons with the undead.”
If anything untoward happens with Alexa, I just see it as one of the quirks of this type of service. Being completely honest, they are a bit shit.
They mishear you, they do things you don’t want them to do, and sometimes they speak to you unprompted. Hell, every time I ask Alexa to “open the bar” she greets me with a loud “MEOW!!” before opening an app called “Box of cats”. It is infuriating but never even remotely scary. The core concept here is flawed because it is just not at all scary.
Extremely slow
On top of that, 13 Sherwood Avenue‘s pacing can only be described as glacial. A big part of the problem here is that the weird system glitches and so called scares start happening straight away. There is no build up or attempt at scene setting. No crafting of tension or atmosphere and no moments of normalcy to contrast the horror scenes against. The movie begins and within minutes things are going wrong.
This results in the 1 hour and 12 minute runtime being crammed full of mundane scare after mundane scare. Something which you become numb to almost immediately and leads to the movie feeling twice as long as it is. There’s only so much you can do with a few home assistant devices and a couple of cameras. Certain techniques are drastically overused and lose their effectiveness instantly. While others never manage to come close to being scary.
A fairly interesting story
Everything that happens in 13 Sherwood Avenue is very self contained and lacking in scope. The story is pretty interesting but doesn’t have room to breathe. Mansfield does try to keep things dynamic with a somewhat amusing social media influencer side story but this does little to help outside of providing a few laughs.
There are hints at a somewhat interesting backstory which ties into the plot later on. But it isn’t really fleshed out or given any time to develop. Leading to it feeling like a lot was left on the table.
The story here has potential and is pretty easy to engage in but it really falls apart due to the paranormal elements. 13 Sherwood Avenue would have benefited from being more of an exploration into human paranoia rather than spirits hijacking electronic devices. It is a slave to its desire to be a ghost story. Something that works to its detriment. I would have preferred to learn more about David and the things he has been through, rather than spend so much time focusing on red glowing AI assistants and things creeping around in the background.
Technically fine
Mansfield’s writing and direction is okay. Dialogue feels pretty natural and he hits on some of the more comical moments of conversation between the limited cast. Camera quality is decent though I didn’t appreciate some of the perspectives and the almost fish eye lens nature of many of the shots. There is something of a screenlife feeling to the movie in parts which I enjoyed. It is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me.
Pacing is poor. This movie drags tremendously in parts and lacks in high points. So few of the scares work that it become a laborious exercise in watching one man yell at his home assistant devices. If I wanted to watch that I would slap a mirror in front of myself as I get on with my day.
“If you have a high tolerance for no-budget found footage, you might find this a suitable gap filler. Otherwise, I can’t imagine you will find a great deal here to enjoy.”
Acting is fine. Chris Sims seems pretty natural on camera and does a good job for the most part. Caroline Nash, as Amanda, is good and seems very confident in her line delivery. Her interactions with David feel very natural and Kelly Goudie gets a few laughs as influencer Jenna-Marie thanks to her character’s rather abrasive nature.
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
The Good
- Natural Dialogue: The script avoids the forced, stilted conversations common in low-budget horror, making the interpersonal dynamics feel genuine.
- Lead Performance: Chris Sims is likable and relatable, carrying the film’s solo sections with a naturalistic on-camera presence.
- Innovative Hook: Using a home AI system as a medium for a haunting is a fresh take on the classic ghost story, even if the execution is lacking.
The Bad
- Glacial Pacing: The movie starts its “scares” too early and lacks the necessary build-up to create actual suspense or atmosphere.
- Repetitive Scares: The film relies on the same few technological glitches over and over until they become more irritating than frightening.
- Undercooked Plot: There are hints of a compelling backstory that are never explored, leaving the viewer with an unsatisfying sense of incompleteness.
The Ugly: The “Glowing Red” AI. The visual cue for the possessed device is so overtly reminiscent of a generic sci-fi cliché that it strips the device of any grounded, real-world creepiness.
Should You Watch 13 Sherwood Avenue?
Only if you are a hardcore fan of the found footage format and enjoy seeing what can be done with zero budget and a lot of imagination. It is a 2.5 star film that is harmless and well-acted but ultimately forgettable. It fails to capitalise on its unique AI premise, resulting in an hour of watching a man argue with his electronics. It’s an okay time-filler, but far from a must-watch.
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