Review: ‘The Andy Baker Tape’ tackles collective loneliness and influencer culture
Bret Lada’s new found footage film supplies plenty of irresistible scares.
Found footage is a treasure trove of tricks ‘n treats. A genre first introduced with 1989’s The McPherson Tape, and later perfected with The Blair Witch Project, the grainy low-budget offerings have a way of worming into the deepest and darkest recesses of humanity’s greatest fears. Whether it’s the violation of secret rituals and customs that brings you great dread, or unexplainable bumps in the night from your attic, or perhaps a road trip gone awry, you’ll find anything and everything you seek. In The Andy Baker Tape, writer, director, and star Bret Lada spins a deranged tale about influencer culture, unearthing the past, and desperation for human connection.
Lada leads as slightly obnoxious YouTube star Jeff Blake. His passion is food and connecting with people, even if his motivations are not always sincere. In pursuit of landing a lucrative deal with the Food Network, Jeff devises a food tour up and down the eastern seaboard. Along the way, he finally connects with his long-lost half-brother Andy Baker (Dustin Fontaine), who he’d tracked down after an extensive ancestry report. His research takes him out to Hamilton, New Jersey, where Andy lives on the outskirts of town, down an isolated backroad. The definition of a recluse, Andy is a lumberjack type. He wears blue-jean overalls and works on cars. His goofy, boyish charm is infectious. He’s fairly innocuous at first, and it’s evident he’s never been on camera before.
Jeff invites Andy to take control over the camera as a way to break the ice. Andy blunders a few scenes, much to Jeff’s red-faced frustrations, but he’s trying his best. Once he acclimates to the situation, Andy soon bubbles with wit and presence. A night of conversation and camaraderie ensues, and they couldn’t be closer. The following morning, Jeff sets his sights on the next stop: Baltimore. Andy, who often takes out-of-town mechanic gigs, suggests they carpool together, so he can be dropped off at a garage on the way. Initially skeptical, Jeff eventually warms up to the idea, and the unlikely duo set off on the open road.
And well, it’s a road trip neither will soon forget. As their relationship grows even closer, Andy descends into obsessive madness with each blurry mile marker. Tempers flare. Harsh words are exchanged. Yet the kinship both feel for one another is worth striving for — until things take an unexpectedly violent turn in the second act. Jeff must fight for his life, a futile effort once Andy reveals his true self. He disarms you with his charisma, in a Ted Bundy sort of way. That’s the most horrifying variety of killer there is.
The Andy Baker Tape takes cues from 2014’s Creep and smothers on thick thematic layers about the relentless rat race for clicks and likes, while oozing a particularly personal tone. For his part, Jeff encompasses the worst of influencer culture; he carries a big ego, and even Andy perceives he’s being exploited for views. Bret Lada expertly weaves Jeff’s abrasive self-importance with Andy’s anguish to be seen and heard. It’s an ironic dynamic that generously feeds the growing, suffocating dread, inviting the audience to see themselves reflected back. The film doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it does contain two very specific moments of sheer terror (if you know, you know). Mark this down as a real gem in the found footage crown. It shouldn’t be missed.
The Andy Baker Tape premieres this Friday (August 5) on the Terror Films YouTube page. It sees a wide VOD release next Friday (August 12).
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