I’m Haunted (2022) Movie Review - Micro Budget Paranormal Bore

Welcome to Knockout Horror. Today we will be reviewing micro budget, found footage, paranormal, horror movie I’m Haunted from 2022. Coming by way of Edmonton, Canada, I believe, this movie is part of our Horror on Tubi feature. 

Paranormal Vlogging

I’ve been quite surprised by how watchable some of the movies in our Low Budget Horror on Tubi feature have been. I’m Haunted, unfortunately, is not one of those watchable horror movies. Following the story of a woman, called Genesis, vlogging the mysterious events taking place in her apartment. This is one of those horror movies that couldn’t possibly feel lower effort. It might seem like I am being a bit unfair, saying that. But a movie simply existing doesn’t mean it is, instantly, deserving of praise.

I’m Haunted feels extremely low effort and not low effort as in “a film maker working within the constraints of a tight budget”. Low effort as in a film maker putting together a derivative and poorly fleshed out story. Writing a dull script and cutting together a series of videos in the most haphazard way possible. 

The Worst Thing About Found Footage

I hate to say it, being a big fan of the genre, but found footage is somewhat guilty of dragging horror movie making down a bit. This is a sub-genre that leads absolutely anyone to think that they can make a movie, regardless of whether or not they have an interesting story to tell. Regardless of whether they can write a script and regardless of whether they understand direction. Some of the found footage movies floating around are utterly terrible, others are just plain boring.

The strange thing is, Brandon Rhiness, the director of I’m Haunted is not an inexperienced film-maker. In fact, he has numerous writer and director credits to his name. He is actually making a living off of this. Don’t get me wrong, the vast majority of them seem to be knocked out from his apartment. Feature the same actors, garner about a 4/10 on IMDB from the few people who bother to review them and each one is likely filmed over the course of three days. But still, he has been doing this for awhile. Which begs the question… 

Why is I’m Haunted So Bad?

I’m Haunted is just a classic example of lazy story telling and dishwater dull production. It is the lowest form of found footage. A woman sits in front of a camera and recounts a number of paranormal experiences. Things bang on the wall and strange people appear at the door, rinse and repeat. It’s been done a hundred thousand times before and 99.9% of those times it was done better than this. Every single horror cliche you can possibly think of has been crammed into this movie.

We have creepy children crawling in front of cameras, a priest performing an exorcism, a woman wearing a cross to fend off evil spirits. Spooky rituals designed to curse people. It’s all so incredibly over familiar. I really hope I’m Haunted isn’t representative of the director’s film making skills because if innovation was an infectious disease, Brandon Rhiness wouldn’t need an inoculation. He is already immune. Not a single facet of this movie is even remotely original and not a single facet isn’t borrowed from a much better film. I’m Haunted is the Ali Express of horror movies, full of cheap copies of much better made products.

Just Not Very Good

There are, unfortunately, a lot of technical issues here. The movie is, obviously, supposed to be a woman filming on her webcam. That doesn’t actually appear to be the case, though, as she frequently switches between filming at her computer and filming using her phone with no loss of quality. Which begs the question, if this was filmed on proper camera equipment, why is the audio so terrible?

Movies that are filmed vlog style still tend to use separate audio recording equipment. You can often see the mic packs under the actor’s clothes. They also tend to be filmed in rooms that have undergone some type of acoustic preparation. You know, to avoid the tinniness, horrible hissing and nasty echo that this movie has. None of that has been done here. The audio has been captured straight into whatever camera was used for video in a non-sound proofed room making for a fairly awful sounding film.

That’s not all, though. There are lighting issues, the camera is, often, overexposed, many of the plot points are completely farcical. The movie entirely lacks in scares, scripting is poor, dialogue is awkward, especially between multiple characters, and our protagonist is utterly unlikable. She is vicious about the people around her, self obsessed and incredibly difficult to relate to. On top of that, she never seems to be particularly phased by anything that is happening to her. Instead choosing to brush the “supposedly terrifying” events off with a chuckle and a smile. It makes it extremely difficult to invest in her situation.

Originally an Episodic Series?

Interestingly enough, it seems as though I’m Haunted was originally released episodically. I am gonna suggest it was probably a case of each individual vlog being released as part of a web-series. With the entire collection of vlogs, eventually, coming together as a movie. I’m not sure because I can’t seem to find it anywhere. This is probably the explanation for the lack of continuity and the autoplay nature of things, though.

I understand that this is supposed to be a woman vlogging her experiences. But the way this movie is filmed and cut together is incredibly lacklustre. The movie suffers tremendously for its lazy journey to movie format. Sequences play out, one after another, without context and without connection. It is literally as if someone pressed stop on one video and start on the next. There are no transitions, no written notes to denote time and date, no dialogue from the vlogger to open scenes up. Just a bunch of videos set to autoplay, one after another.

I’m Haunted is nothing more than a woman talking rapidly into a camera about what happened that day. I get it. It started as an episodic series, but this just feels cheap. This type of production stinks of content farming. Monetising a product in every way you can while actually putting in the minimum amount of effort possible. I would have greatly appreciated extra scenes being filmed exclusive to the movie. As well as some additional editing to solidify the timeline. This just feels lazy.

Any Positives?

I suppose there are a couple of positives here. Despite playing a completely unlikable twat of a character, Elizabeth Chamberlain seems to be comfortable in front of a camera. She has decent line delivery and seems pretty confident. This movie didn’t feel retro-scripted, I am assuming Chamberlain was reading from a script, but if she was improvising then she does a good job avoiding dead air. She has very clear elocution, as well, making her easy to understand. 

Some of the other performances were okay. I like that the movie actually had a solidly constructed ending, something that seems to be lacking, as a whole, in found footage. I appreciated the fact that certain scenes were filmed in different locations. Keeping the picture, at least, somewhat fresh. I was also impressed by the size of the cast given the micro budget. I am not sure that I’m Haunted is a solid indication of Brandon Rhiness abilities as a filmmaker. But he clearly doesn’t struggle for inspiring people to work for him. The actors involved all seemed very loose, as well. Suggesting a great onset experience. 

Should You Watch I’m Haunted?

There just isn’t a whole lot positive to say about I’m Haunted a very few reasons to watch. It is cliched, derivative, unoriginal, lacking in scares and difficult to invest in. There are technical issues, the story isn’t particularly interesting and it rips off every horror trope ever. Additionally, it features unlikable characters and a story that frequently trails off into the realms of farce. If you are desperate for some low budget paranormal stuff, give it a try but, otherwise, this is a safe skip.