We may take this kind of content for granted these days, but there was a time when amateur travel blogs were revolutionizing online media. Back during the late 2000s, for the first time in history, internet users were given access to the unfiltered reality of regular people travelling across the world without being limited by the point of view of a commercialized Travel Channel TV crew.
These down-to-earth adventures may have led to some unfortunate incidents as unprepared content creators became involved in international controversies (such as the infamous Logan Paul suicide forest incident), but they also led to a demystification of different cultures as internet users felt more connected to the rest of the world.
That’s why it’s surprising that so few genre filmmakers took advantage of this emergent format to tell spooky stories. After all, there’s nothing scarier than becoming involved in a bad situation while stranded far from home. And if you need an example of how this format could be used to tell an effective freaky story, look no further than Derek Lee and Clif Prowse‘s Afflicted – an underrated found footage thriller that has a lot more up its sleeve than you might initially suspect and that I’d like to invite readers to revisit with me.
Originally envisioned as an ARG hot on the heels of online hits like Marble Hornets and LonelyGirl19, Afflicted was meant to bridge the gap between Derek and Clif’s amateur shorts and their aspirations as feature filmmakers. With the aforementioned rise of travelogues, the Canadian duo thought that there was potential in telling a slow-burn horror story that only revealed its supernatural nature after viewers were already invested in the world and characters.
The project soon ballooned into something much bigger as the team decided to incorporate a more body horror-centric take on vampirism into the project. They also realized that they would need a more traditional budget in order to make it all seem convincing. That’s how the web series morphed into a major motion picture, with the duo raising funds through government grants and family investments. In true guerrilla fashion, Derek and Clif would also opt to write, direct, and star in their feature in order to cut costs even further while still maintaining full control of the project.
In fact, their commitment to authenticity ended up becoming one of the flick’s greatest assets, with a budget rumored to have been around $300,000 forcing the filmmakers to actually embark on a real trip to Europe, and then improvise much of the film in real life instead of hiring traditional actors and relying on an immutable script.
This experimental gambit worked out for the best, as not only was the directing duo left with a kick-as movie at the end of the experience, but their very first trailer went viral in a way that few indie productions could ever dream of as internet users connected with the premise. While I’d argue that the film never got the marketing push it deserved, its huge collection of accolades suggests that I’m not the only one who frequently includes it in “top ten found footage films” lists.
In any case, after a successful festival run, Afflicted was released in limited theaters in April of 2014. In the finished film, we follow Clif and Derek as fictionalized versions of themselves as they embark on a classic Eurotrip after Derek is diagnosed with an AVM that can kill him at any moment. While their trip initially promises to be the adventure the duo had always dreamed of, with Clif recording everything as part of an interactive travel blog, things take a turn for the worse when Derek is assaulted by a Parisian woman and begins to grow ill. As Derek’s symptoms get stranger, Clif begins to suspect that whatever is wrong with his best friend can’t be dealt with in a regular hospital.
What follows is a surprisingly versatile found footage yarn that juggles tropes from superhero movies, supernatural horror flicks, and the aforementioned travel vlogs and combines it all into a singular eerie experience. From Derek discovering his emergent bloodlust to high-octane chase sequences as the main duo attempts to escape the authorities, you’re never sure where Afflicted is headed next, and that’s why it’s so much fun to watch.
Of course, the whole thing only works because both our leads have that infectious kind of brotherly rapport that can only be developed over years of earnest collaboration. Derek’s condition only feels dangerous because we know what’s at stake if it all goes wrong, and there’s a heartbreaking twist towards the final third of the film that simply wouldn’t have worked if these characters had been played by anyone else.
That’s not to say that the speculative elements of Afflicted aren’t impressive on their own, with the movie boasting several simulated feats of supernatural strength and agility that I still can’t wrap my head around even all these years later. The found footage approach only enhances these moments, especially as Derek becomes more comfortable with his newfound abilities.
My only real gripe with the experience comes from the fact that it loses a bit of steam towards the finale as the story shifts gears and embraces the tragedy of Derek’s predicament. While the excessively dour ending is somewhat mitigated by the mid-credits sequel bait, I actually feel like the movie was originally building up to a more climactic confrontation before budgetary issues got in the way.
Regardless, these blemishes aren’t enough to distract from the miraculously immersive romp cooked up by Clif and Derek. Like the very best found footage projects, Afflicted‘s preference to actually do instead of pretend puts it one step ahead of its POV competitors.
That’s why I’d still recommend revisiting this one even a decade after it first dared to deconstruct both vampire stories and excessively cheerful travelogues.
Afflicted is currently available to stream on Paramount+.
