From the SF IndieFest (Feb. 3-13, 2022): Paul Owens' LANDLOCKED
MASON OWENS IN LANDLOCKEDAn ingenious DIY found footage/time travel movieWatch the film HEREI did not cover this festival but was kindly sent some screeners, and came across this title by accident and was intrigued. Using real family home movies and members of his own family as actors, Owens has fashioned a subtle genre-blending found footage/scifi/horror film that's intricate and subtle. It reminded me of Shane Carruth's
Primer (2004), which considering that film's reputation is pretty high praise. Likewise
Landlocked is an example of how a no-budget DIY movie can be more complex and real, more peculiar and ingenious, than a commercial one. (Four Owens family members, including the director and his father, make up the cast; Paul wrote, directed, shot, and edited the film himself.)
The premise: Owens
père has arranged that immediately after his death the family house will be demolished. Younger sibling Mason Owens goes to his now largely empty childhood home to explore. After another brother turns up and points out a hidden closet, he finds a big old video camera that turns out to have magical properties for delving back into the past. Mason becomes obsessed.
Owens worked on the camera/technical crew of Lee Daniels' 2005
Shadowboxer and his 2009
Precious. He also was a writer and director of the five-hour 2012 TV series about video game development, "Amnesia Fortnight."
I wanted to post not an "external review" on IMDb but rather - it seemed more appropriate - a "User Review," a category for which I've been listed as a "prolific" reviewer from times past, but I couldn't figure out how to add one for this film where there are so far none. There are some
External Reviews,/A>, several very enthusiastic.