Afflicted
Directed byDerek Lee, Clif Prowse
Produced byChris Ferguson, Zach Lipovsky
StarringClif Prowse, Derek Lee
CinematographyNorm Li
Edited byGreg Ng
Music byEdo Van Breemen
Distributed byAutomatik Entertainment, Téléfilm Canada
Release dates
  • September 9, 2013 (2013-09-09) (TIFF)
  • April 4, 2014 (2014-04-04) (Canada)
Running time
85 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish
Box office$121,179[1]

Afflicted is a 2013 Canadian found footage film that was written and directed by Derek Lee and Clif Prowse, and is their feature film directorial debut. It had its world premiere on September 9, 2013 at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it won a special jury citation for Best Canadian First Feature Film. Lee and Prowse also star in Afflicted as two friends whose goal to film themselves traveling the world is cut short when one of them contracts a mysterious disease.

Afflicted received a theatrical and video on demand release on April 4, 2014.

Synopsis

Childhood friends Clif and Derek have decided to venture all over the world to film their travel web series “Ends of the Earth”. This endeavor is made more poignant because Derek has AVM, which could cause his death at any moment. Initially their progress is fairly uneventful, but soon Derek begins to grow increasingly ill. It is initially thought to be from the AVM, but it soon becomes apparent that this is something new and dangerous. The two must now try to find out what is going on with Derek and what they can do to potentially stop it from progressing.

Cast

Production

Filming took place in Barcelona, Paris, Italy, and Vancouver on a limited budget.[2] Funding was raised through a small grant and through Prowse and Lee's family and friends.[2] Afflicted was their first feature length film, as the two had previous only created short films together.[3] The movie's original concept was initially planned to be a web series akin to Lonelygirl15 or EverymanHYBRID, where the two would make posts and upload videos that would seem ordinary but grow more bizarre over time.[3] Of the concept, Prowse commented that "You'd eventually have all these gaps because eventually the characters would stop posting and then the feature film would be this skeleton key that would click at the very end that you'd present."[3] They chose to make Derek's disease vampirism, as they felt that vampires are usually in "very stylized, cinematic, often melodramatic, and romanticized films" and were not traditionally filmed otherwise.[2][3]

As the two were not familiar with filming in the found footage genre, Prowse and Lee found the filming challenging and commented that they had a lot of respect for the crews of films such as Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity.[3][4] They commented that their choice to star as the film's protagonists helped make the process easier, as it allowed them more freedom to shoot and re-shoot scenes.[4] Lee commented that his role of "Derek" was very physically taxing due to the weather in Italy and the demands of the role.[2]

Promotion

The film's trailer is notable for showing a selection of the characters' "travelogue" scenes in reverse order: Entry 206, Entry 185, Entry 163, Entry 151, and so on, each scene suggesting the horrors that are growing throughout the story. Germain Lussier of www.slashfilm.com wrote, "The Afflicted trailer might be one of the best Hollywood has released in a long time. Unlike traditional trailers, which are presented linearly, this one starts at the beginning, jumps to the end and works backward, showing how two friends’ trip around the world goes horribly, horribly wrong."[5]

Reception

Critical reviews for Afflicted have been mostly positive and as of April 7, 2014, the movie holds a rating of 86% on Rotten Tomatoes (based upon 21 reviews).[6] We Got This Covered rated the film favorably, as the film did not deal with "zombies, plagues, or flesh-eating viruses" and had "beautiful cinematography and clear, crisp pictures" as opposed to "swirling cameramen trying to give us motion sickness".[7]

Box Office

For its opening weekend, Afflicted opened in 44 theatres, and grossed $68,300, for an average of $1,552 per theatre.[8] As of April 13, 2014, Afflicted' has grossed $102,851.[9]

Awards

References

  1. ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=afflicted2014.htm
  2. ^ a b c d Turek, Ryan. "Exclusive Interview: How Lee & Prowse Pulled Off the Ambitious Afflicted". STYD. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d e Pierce, Scott. "Interview: Reviving Found Footage In Afflicted". Movie Pilot. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  4. ^ a b Whittaker, Richard. "Feeding the 'Afflicted'". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  5. ^ Lussier, Germain (March 4, 2014). "Afflicted Trailer and Poster: Found Footage Horror With a Superhero Twist". SlashFilm. Retrieved May 17, 2014.
  6. ^ "Afflicted". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  7. ^ Donato, Matt. "Afflicted Review". WGTC. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  8. ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/
  9. ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=afflicted2014.htm
  10. ^ "'Afflicted' Trailer and Poster: Found Footage Horror With a Superhero Twist". Slash Film. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  11. ^ "Competition Official Fantàstic Selection". SFF. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  12. ^ a b c "The Fantastic Fest 2013 Award Recipients". AFF. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
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