Raindance – Vue Cinema, Lower Regent Street, London – up to and
including June 27 – 33 rd Film Festival. “The Lost Episode”. Canadian film.
82 Mins.
“Assembled by XPU$HER and made available through the Black-Torrent
Release Group, The Lost Episode offers traumatic and disturbing films taken at
an incident of a police ride-along on Halloween night 2004. Officers Paul
Massaro and Terrence Williams drive around the quiet streets of Franklin, and
things are not as they should be!
The Lost Episode presents supposedly raw 2004 footage from a police reality
show’s ill-fated Halloween night patrol with two unsuspecting officers. Initial
calls are regular urban disturbances, captured in the era’s distinct, grainy 4:3
video. But as events rapidly escalate, deeply sinister forces are clearly at play.
Director Nick Wernham masterfully uses the found footage conceit, effectively
recalling the raw intensity and visceral dread of classics like The Blair Witch
Project or [REC]. Its dated, 4:3 video quality and the cameraman’s
claustrophobic, unsteady POV create an unsettlingly authentic and immediate
immersion. The film subtly yet relentlessly orchestrates dread, every peripheral
glance making suspects of those beyond the main officers. What begins as a
gritty police procedural cleverly morphs, wrong-footing expectations as it
chillingly turns into palpable horror.
The mockumentary’s dual-layered performances are notably convincing as
officers navigate infectious paranoia. Disparate call-outs skilfully weave
together, exposing a chilling conspiracy that preys on past traumas. The limited
perspective expertly amplifies the growing unease and sense of an ever-
deepening, deep-seated plan.
Slow-burning, The Lost Episode builds to an electrifying, paranoia-fuelled
climax where reality itself becomes untrustworthy. It’s an effective found
footage horror that unnerves, proving the format can still deliver potent scares
with cunning precision.

Penny Nair Price