They’re Watching has an interesting enough pedigree to draw in curious viewers. It’s the brainchild of Micah Wright and Jay Lender, two creative who’ve worked on a diverse range of video games, graphic novels, and Nickelodeon shows like Angry Beavers, Hey Arnold, and Spongebob Squarepants. Sounds like they’d have an interesting take on the tourist horror niche, huh? Well, not really. Besides what Mr. Disgusting called a “batshit insane” climax, They’re Watching is a tedious found footage outing bloated with unlikeable characters and tonal see-sawing that makes it tough to invest in the story.

The film follows the crew of the home makeover show “Home Hunters Global” as they check out a restored cottage in the fictional town of Pavlovka in the real country of Moldova. You know the type of show I’m talking about – where you can watch rich people bitch over what color marble countertop they need to achieve orgasm. Pavlovka is a simple town where folklore runs deep in the cobblestone cracks. Think the North York Moors from American Werewolf but with Eastern European accents and witch lore instead of wolves. Admittedly, it’s a great locale and premise thus far.

The young, brazenly attractive film crew arrives to check in on artist Becky (Brigid Brannagh) and her boyfriend Goran (Cristian Balint), who moved into a rotting hovel in the woods one month prior to filming. When they first moved into the place, the sleazy real estate agent mentioned that its previous owner was also an artist – a tidbit that pushed Becky to sign on the dotted line despite the appalling condition of the house. After a month of sprucing up, the joint is now an adorable little cottage, but with the physical makeover of the house came a spiritual change within Becky.

The show’s crew is made up of actors (David Alpay, Kate Banks, Mia Faith, etc.) who put in decent individual performances. There’s just zero chemistry when they’re all in a room together. Take Banks for example. She plays the producer who acts like the führer and curses like a sailor. I think we’re meant to laugh every time she says fuck, like hearing a grown woman in a pantsuit curse is funny on its own. She’s a meant to be a grating character and Banks nails it. But there’s no harmony between her and the others, so watching them interact becomes irritating.

Luckily since they’re playing a professional TV crew, the found footage aspects of the film aren’t made up of disorientating shaky cam shots or blackhead exposing close-ups. These folks know how to use a camera.

The problem is for about 70 minutes there’s nothing interesting to shoot. The crew parties it up with the locals, gets kicked out of a church, and bickers in hotel rooms. The script takes some surprisingly somber turns, mainly dealing with Alpay’s tour in Iraq. It’s these flaccid dramatic beats that bog They’re Watching down when it should be building up tension. These scenes of grave drama occur at all the wrong times – expelling viewers from what should be a web of tension, rather than sucking us in.

When the aforementioned anarchic climax does occur, it’s like a Wright and Lender were like “fuck it, let’s go out with a bang.” They hit us with a kitchen sink tsunami of CGI, blood-splattered POV shots, and a gluttony of gore that seemingly comes out of nowhere. This sequence manages to be jaw-dropping and mystifying at the same time. It’s like a gory apology from the filmmakers for boring us for the past 70 minutes.

It’s all too much too late though. With some proper tension beforehand, the chaos of the finale would feel like more than just gleeful horror insanity. Maybe that’ll be enough for some viewers, but I couldn’t help but feel that everything leading up to the ending was a sincerely missed opportunity.

They’re Watching is in select theaters and digital platforms March 25.