Welcome to Knockout Horror and to another entry in our Horror on Tubi feature. Today we are reviewing Found Footage horror The Lost Vlog of Ruby Real from 2020. While yesterday’s movie, The Andy Baker Tape, was quite watchable, this movie most definitely isn’t.
More Social Media Themes
As you may be able to tell, The Lost Vlog of Ruby Real taps into that “oh so common” found footage trope of social media. There are so many of these movies around at the moment. Some of them, like Deadstream and Lexi, are decent. Others, like today’s movie, most definitely are not. The Lost Vlog of Ruby Real focuses on a group of social media influencers.
Heading into the Vancouver woods. Three social media personalities are determined to dispel an urban legend. It is said that a tree located deep in the woods has the ability to transport people to another dimension. Becoming a recent online viral trend, the so called “tree game” involves circling the tree before disappearing. Ruby Real aims to debunk the trendy myth and gain a few followers in the process. Only, it appears there may be more to the legend than she thought.
Devoid of Scares
The vast majority of this story takes place in the woods. A classic setting for a horror movie, right? Exactly! The woods are creepy, there are plenty of opportunities for scares and the scene sets itself. Only, these woods aren’t creepy at all. In fact, they are beautiful. The movie takes place in the height of day time with plenty of lighting and beaming sun. The woods are open and inviting, full of gorgeous streams and scenic vistas. It all just looks like a pleasant day out.
Which speaks to one of The Lost Vlog of Ruby Real’s major problems. This movie just isn’t at all scary. Sure, if you buy into its story, you may feel a little creeped out but the story itself is so poorly formulated, relying heavily on one specific element, that there is very little to invest in. Scenes featuring characters acting strangely are peppered in to unsettle the viewer but it really doesn’t work at all. Prompting laughter on more than one occasion rather than the desired scares. It’s all incredibly bland and very boring.
Full of Tropes
My fiancee and I played a found footage horror drinking game, that we made, while watching this. We did the same thing with The Andy Baker Tape and went straight onto The Lost Vlog of Ruby Real when that movie was done. The basic idea is to take a drink whenever a certain found footage trope takes place. We had hit over 20 tropes in under 25 minutes while watching this. Leaving us with a pretty serious buzz and some slight concern about how much worse it would get.
The Lost Vlog of Ruby Real hits on practically every found footage horror trope going. Bringing almost nothing new to the table, it wears its influences on its sleeve. Something that is all too apparent as it basically recreates The Blair Witch Project condensed into one afternoon. Everything here is so painfully familiar and incredibly lacking in innovation. All Found Footage is guilty of this, to some extent, but this movie takes it to a whole new level. I suppose some praise has to go to its plot but even that feels like the plot of Blair Witch just with a different explanation.
Attempts to bring some, poorly fleshed out, science fiction and Lovecraftian elements to the story fall flat. Leading the movie into a cycle of stuttering and repeating itself. All while the characters act oblivious to what is going on. In fact, it takes our cast nearly the entire movie to realise what is going on and, by then, its too late for them to do anything about it. Worse than that, however, is that it is too late for the viewer to give a shit. Especially considering the fact that most people will realise what is happening 15 minutes in.
Annoying Characters
It really doesn’t help that the characters here are utterly unlikable. Ruby Real acts like many social media personalities; over the top and obnoxiously loud. Feeling completely two dimensional and impossible to care about. Her co-host, and camera operator, Steven Lane. Is awkward, lacking in personality and uses the word “Same” so much you want to strangle him by thirty minutes in. And their third wheel Cali Carson seems like she is only there because the actor who plays her agreed to appear in a g-string for one brief scene. Can’t hate the hustle, I guess, and it is a very nice g-string.Â
Acting is equally as bad. Zachary Macdonald, who plays Steven, is completely unbelievable as a social media influencer. The guy struggles so much when it comes to looking at the camera, it was actually putting me on edge. His eyes skip around like he is in the middle of peddling Fentanyl laced cocaine to kids. Not to mention his complete lack of personality.
Taylor Pfeifer also seems a little awkward on camera. While having more personality than Steven and, let’s not forget, showing off her bum. She still feels a bit unnatural and a bit uncomfortable in her line delivery. Some of that may be the script or having to improvise but it is noticeable in a number of parts. Jennifer Tong seems to be a lot more experienced and far more comfortable on camera than her costars. She does an okay job despite her fairly unlikable character.
Sub-standard Direction
Direction is incredibly mixed. Whereas I can give credit for the short runtime and shooting the movie under the bizarre circumstances that encompassed the year of 2020 There are a lot of issues here. Pacing feels all over the place, the movie seems to repeat itself even more than is necessary for a time loop film. There are too many scenes where little happens and Matt Kincses resorts to having his characters engage in shouting matches far too often. Much like The Blair Witch Project but without the long, drawn out, build up and the slow brewing interpersonal tension.
Some direction could have sorely been used when it comes to performances. A brief word to Macdonald to engage his eyes on the camera would have been helpful. A few scenes really needed re-shooting, as well, given what takes place. A scene where Cali runs up to one of the characters feels really awkward, impacting the scare factor majorly. Characters teleporting all over the place looks utterly ridiculous, as well.
Should You Watch The Lost Vlog of Ruby Real?
There’s no good reason to watch The Lost Vlog of Ruby Real. This is just another one of those Found Footage horror movies that people would point to as an example of how bad found footage is. Poorly developed and annoying characters, sub-standard acting, a silly plot with no scares and absolutely no reason to invest in what is happening. Despite some, potentially, interesting themes, there is so little to recommend here. Just give it a miss.
