THE STORY – A guard vanished on his first night at an old psych hospital in 2023. His bodycam footage shows unexplainable incidents that continue to baffle investigators.
THE CAST – Paul Syre, Mark Anthony Williams & Danielle Kennedy
THE TEAM – Nicholas Pineda (Director) & Katy Krauland (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 87 Minutes
Found footage horror has taken us all over the world, from the backwoods of Maryland to the catacombs of Paris. The only thing more varied than their locations is their level of quality. When done properly, they can be some of the scariest, most effective types of horror films, as in the first and third “Paranormal Activity” movies. When done poorly, they can be some of the cheesiest, least effective horror films, as in every other “Paranormal Activity” movie. Now, director Nicholas Pineda brings the subgenre to an abandoned hospital with his feature debut “Infirmary.” Is it scary? At times, yes. Is it cheesy? At times, yes. But the directorial choice that most contributes to it feeling like a generally underwhelming – or rather, disappointing – endeavor is the way it abandons necessary principles of found footage filmmaking, instead going for cheap ploys to scare the audience.
The soon-to-be-demolished LA hospital in question is staffed by just three people who make up the only named characters in the film. There’s Lester (Mark Anthony Williams), the beyond-grumpy old-timer security guard, and his boss, Ms. Downey (Danielle Kennedy). Our main character is Edward (Paul Syre), a young man looking for work after being recently discharged from the military due to an injury. The film begins at sunset, with Edward arriving for his first shift as the new member of the security team. After reviewing his strangely incomplete paperwork with Ms. Downey, Edward starts training with Lester. The more established security guard is none too happy to be dealing with the younger addition to the staff, and takes him on a tour of the hospital’s empty hallways and wings. As he explains, there are some areas he simply won’t go into because of their bad vibes. However, Lester’s hesitation doesn’t extend to all inherently creepy areas of the building, as he gleefully shows Edward the chapel and the morgue, among other spooky spots.
Every found footage film needs its own unique, oftentimes belabored explanation for why this footage, before it was “found,” was captured in the first place. Here, the explanation is more believable than most films of its kind. “Infirmary” is constructed entirely of security camera footage (apparently this hospital had some good funding, as the cameras capture not only full-color video, but sound as well) and bodycam footage from the chests of Lester and Edward. Is it pretty unrealistic that a seemingly bare-bones gig like “overnight watchman at a condemned hospital” would have a uniform that most police departments would envy? Perhaps, but it’s excusable.
But not all of the film’s unrealistic aspects are so dismissible. The first thing shown onscreen is an FBI warning, presupposing that the footage that makes up the film is evidence in the case of two deceased individuals who were discovered on the hospital grounds. It specifically mentions, “The material is presented in its original and uncensored form.” Uncensored? Sure, there’s some not-network-television-friendly language. But in its “original form”? That’s misleading. Pointedly, the film makes egregious use of sound elements that discredit the idea that this footage is even trying to be authentic. From early on, droning non-diegetic music is heard. Later, jump scares are accompanied by typical Hollywood aural stings. It’s a disappointing choice that too many found footage films resort to, as it completely breaks the illusion of the faux documentary style. Notably, the best, most well-renowned found footage films don’t deploy such strategies – “The Blair Witch Project” gets more genuine scares out of twigs snapping than a movie like this could ever hope to earn from corny music cues. When films like “Infirmary” take the easier but less artistically fulfilling route of inserting sound effects and musical scores, it telegraphs to the audience that the filmmaker (or the studio releasing the film) lacks confidence that the scares they’ve constructed will actually frighten the audience. It’s one of the most frustrating trends in modern horror filmmaking, and “Infirmary” is worse for giving in to it.
Disappointing filmmaking choices aside, “Infirmary” still manages to evoke genuine tension throughout its characters’ journeys. Despite the film’s soundscape’s best efforts to undermine its tension, it knows there’s something instinctively frightening about a darkened hallway lit only by a weak flashlight. “Infirmary” uses this scare tactic over and over, and it’s almost always terrifying. The film trains the audience to scan the long, lingering shots of the hospital supposedly taken from security cameras, looking for something that shouldn’t be there, much like the security guards are paid to do. Pineda and writer Katy Krauland also make a smart choice in selecting the villainous figures who terrorize our human characters: creepy medical mannequins frozen in unnatural positions. They’re introduced in the red light of the chapel’s stained-glass window, and it’s not long before they start popping up where they absolutely should not be. The hospital itself similarly helps create a creepy atmosphere. Much like the now-famous “Backrooms,” the building seems to hum with an uneasy, yellow-green hue that permeates throughout the desolate hallways.
Similarly unsettling is how intensely unpleasant Lester is. He doesn’t have a single thing to say that isn’t barbed or offensive, and he spits almost all of it in Edward’s direction. He’s the kind of person whose inner life is so clearly rotted that he takes it out on everyone around him; he’d probably only get along with someone like Pansy from Mike Leigh’s “Hard Truths” (although she’s unquestionably written with a more well-rounded characterization). Mark Anthony Williams commits fully to Lester’s nastiness, which is admirable but doesn’t make him any easier to follow for most of the film’s runtime. Unfortunately, our leading man Paul Syre is less effective as a central screen presence. His portrayal of Edward’s military training, which occasionally appears, feels truthful, but he doesn’t show the frightened intensity needed to fully sell some of the film’s scarier moments.
Much like navigating America’s healthcare system, “Infirmary” is a mixed bag. When it works, it’s undeniably functional. But too often, misguided decisions keep it from being a truly potent and effective experience.
