User reviews

This deserved to be bigger than Paranormal Activity, in my opinion. Way more original, better writing, and an event that's not too wild to the point of being unbelievable.

Not a big fan of found-footage, but this one gets a pass. Watch it if you dare!

A small town on the coast of Maryland has a bizarre outbreak of some kind in the middle of their 4th of July festivities. The symptoms are strange, disgusting, and quickly don't add up. The hospital can't figure out what it is. Within 24 hours the town is in chaos, surrounded by the national guard, and quarantined. A small town novice reporter was on scene covering the 4th of July and she describes what happened with the help of her own camera footage as well as other digital evidence pieced together from a variety of sources.

It has some of that Blair Witch camera work which I normally despise, but for this documentary style flick it worked really well and I think this is the best example of its genre I've seen.

The thing about this is that once we come to understand the origin of this outbreak it sounds like something that really could happen. The chain of events that cascaded into this disaster was surprisingly complex and at the same time very on point with the risks industrialization poses to the environment and to us! I don't think I've seen a threat in a horror movie this well thought out in many years. It all made sense once you understood what was happening but it definitely comes out of a blind spot in the horror realm.

This is not simply a mutated flesh eating infection, a curse, or anything quite so simple but neither does it have the histrionic level drama that some horror junkies need these days. This is weird horror in the realm of the real.

I never thought I'd say this, but I was glad when I found little discrepancies in the portrayal of the collapse of the infrastructure, hospital and police procedures, etc. While watching it, my mind was going into overdrive trying to find reasons that 'this isn't real; this really couldn't happen like this.' There were a couple of scenes that were chilling in how similar they were to actual news stories. I felt an emotional outpouring of sympathy for the victims. It was like watching one of these catastrophes like hurricane Katrina or hurricane Sandy where you just feel so bad for the people involved. Of course the difference was this was a bit more bloody and once you come to understand the nature of the biological danger it goes to a whole new level of revulsion.

I kind of wanted to see holes in it to find some respite from the growing anxiety. I felt like some of those holes were there in a couple of gratuitous shock value scenes that fell a little flat, and in the response from the government. But when you look at the lack of response hurricane Katrina got in the first 24 hours…maybe one of those holes isn't so big after all, though the conspiracy-style cover-up in the movie was a bit much.

All in all, this film will make your skin crawl!

Creature feature meets Found Footage. This is a little gem and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Pleasantly surprised. Worth far more than it's 5.something IMDb rating. A strong 7/10. Horror fans will like. Not your usual crud. My only criticism is that it didn't quite give me the redemptive conclusion that I craved.

This film made me scared not because it had actual scares, but because it was realistic on so many levels! This could happen! The way it made sense was the most chilling thing about it. I went in expecting it to be another flick about some kind of a virus or a biological weapon, etc. To my surprise, it was way simpler than that and much more terrifying! Very recommended.

.. I just feel if this has been filmed in a traditional way rather than going down the found footage route, it would have been even better, although to be fair, as found footage films go, this is my second favourite, my favourite being the Brit chiller 'The Borderlands'.

There's nothing outlandish in the storyline, all seems quite plausible, and the way it's done all seems believable.

The special effects are rather convincing, and often quite gory.

Acting is first rate, and have to say watching it in 2023, seems to have given the film an added edge. Having been to a beach resort recently and seeing things floating in the water I'd rather I hadn't, it does make you wonder about our oceans.

Definitely worth a watch.

I realized tonight that there's a built in problem with mockumentary and found footage films. Whereas regular films create their own subtly pliable reality where disbelief can be stretched and molded as long as it's kept in context; mockumentary and found footage films ask us to believe that this is *our* reality - not a created one where things might work just a little bit differently.

So let's say you're watching an regular horror movie and something happens that doesn't quite gel with our real world - let's say a cop goes up to a house, leaving his partner in the car, gunshots are heard in the house and the cop says "I'm going in" but the partner, instead of calling for backup and then going in with him - as would be standard common sense, let alone protocol - sits in the car and waits and waits instead...

In a regular film you might be able to let that go.

But in a film that's entire style and purpose is an attempt to make you believe it's real - errors like this take on a much greater importance. In fact, they're absolutely inexcusable, and that's why The Bay sucks.

It's a shame too, because the actual found-footage and documentary style is directed well, with a lot of care and attention paid to realism. I'd go as far as to say this was the best handled "reality" film footage I've seen to date.

Why then, would Barry Levinson settle on such a stupid script? The entire thing is riddled with bizarre errors, things that just wouldn't happen in our real world (the world the film asks us to place the context in). Things like the CDC being a NASA style call center where the five guys who take the calls are also the disease detectives, biological experts, and seemingly also authorized to make national security decisions. Or that the death of 700+ people in a single day in a town of thousands could be silenced with a simple financial payoff, or even smaller things like a high powered lawyer not checking her cellphone for 8 hours.

So ultimately, very well acted, very well directed but completely derailed by a script that's dumber than a box of rocks.

I'm not sure how this is rated only in the 5's, but this is definitely one of the better found footage films, one of the only few that actually make you forget it's a movie rather than a documentary. If you're into this style of horror, definitely recommend.

I really enjoy animals run amok movies, and this is a different take on that, I try and watch it at least once a year, good acting, good effects, good movie...

This movie was just a waste of my time and the studios money. I understand filming these movies on handy-cams and shots that are meant to be from CCTV cameras are the in thing, but really. The whole plot of the film was just straight crap, It was so basic and just stupid that it makes me question WHAT NEXT!!. The lead actress is BAD, the shooting style is bad, the editing was pathetic BUT this movie could have be made into something good with the right person in front and behind the camera. You are better off just staying away from this movie and waste your cash on Paranormal Activity or Chernobyl Diaries..It really was a let down...

At first, when I saw that it was one of those films made with footage from web cams and handhelds, I cursed the found footage genre and was ready to be disappointed. After watching it, I must say I am glad I did and that people responsible for the low IMDb rating didn't really watch the movie.

The truth is that this is not really a found footage film, but a documentary type of horror. The premise is that some government secreted video footage has leaked to someone who montaged them in order to show "what really happened". And what happened is a biological outbreak. The film is trying to be realistic and it manages to do that, while the slow pace that some accused works perfectly for the film's ultimate and terrifying outcome.

Bottom line: I will keep this film in my permanent collection. I don't know what people that rated it 1 smoked, but it was probably infested by parasites :-) It may also have been the setting for me: a slow night with no one around, perfect for watching horror. If you are tired of dumb monster movies and boring killer in the woods crap, this is the film for you.

The acting was pretty bad (with some exceptions) the story was very derivative, and the dialog was cringe-worthy. I feel the only reason they used "found footage" format was to save money in the post production, although some of the special effects and make-up weren't THAT bad. What really got to me was how bad the "science" was. Everything said that was suppose to be factual or scientific was just so mind-numbingly stupid and just plain wrong, I had to roll my eyes and slap my forehead. At the end of the movie my eyes hurt and I have a bruise.

If you have less than a 10th grade education, love found footage, love infection/horror movies and have seen everything else in the genre, maybe try this movie if you are really bored. Otherwise, just turn on a random SyFy original and chances are it will be much better than this.

It was only a matter of time before the found footage craze drew a bona-fide name- brand Hollywood filmmaker into its ongoing vortex. The story behind "The Bay" is that the US government cover-up an--outbreak that wiped out the town of Claridge, MD in 2009. All cameras and footage related to what happened were confiscated by the government, but now someone has compiled and the truth about what happened in Claridge, MD beings to leak out. Although this is placed in the horror genre-- containing some tension and gruesome moments-this is comes off more of an eco-scare.

The footage is a combination of the news filming of Stephanie and her cameraman, as well as other various form's of camera footage.This combination of POV adds an element of interest and realism to the film, expanding the storyline beyond what could have been achieved by a single camera held by a single individual. The movie jumps around town to give more comprehensive coverage of the crisis--sort of like if "Contagion" was told from a first-person point of view, and isn't nearly as good. The film follows the findings of a pair of marine biologists, who discovers species of benign organisms that appear to be evolving--into something more mischievous.

Levinson seems more interested in spreading a green message--than terrifying.viewers. There's nothing wrong with that, but audiences lured in by the trailers may be disappointed despite being well produced. The best found footage films "Paranormal Activity" and " "REC"s", immerse you fully in the hellish situation, and make you feel as if you're part of the terror. "The Bay" simply never does that, but it's an admirable attempt at something a bit different.

The Bay is a pseudo-documentary about the events taking place in the town of Claridge on the shores of Chesapeake Bay, where an epidemic occurred on July 4 - the mutated parasites Cymothoa exigua moved from fish to eating human flesh. Years after the tragedy, documentary filmmakers are trying to put together all available material about the terrible incident. The film's budget was $2 million. The filmmakers decided to show some originality within the genre and collected filming not only from a couple of cameras, but from many. Reporter's camera, police car camera, teenager's mobile phone, street surveillance, and others. At the same time, the hand of the master is felt - the director is Barry Levinson ("Rain Man"). The film turned out to be interesting and exciting. Everything is edited like a real documentary. The events are shown by footage of the journalists filming the report, and footages of the police, doctors, ordinary residents of the city. Despite the use of different camera techniques and different characters, you do not lose the essence of what is happening. On the contrary. All attention is drawn to the events on the screen. The cast also deserves praise. They play very naturally. There is simply no one to find fault with. There are no famous actors in the caste, but they are not needed either. The whole atmosphere of chaos, fear, and panic is conveyed wonderfully. Aside from the person on whose behalf the narration follows (Kether Donohue as Donna Thompson), there are no central characters. They are all just parts of the big picture. "The Bay" became a good horror film about an environmental disaster. One of the best representatives of the genre in 2012.

This movie was terrible. It wasn't frightening whatsoever and the environmental message it's trying to put across is poorly implemented and clumsily presented.

They also appeared to do no research whatsoever into infectious diseases and protocols, and have a poor grasp of science. My favourite quote has got to be "maybe it's some kind of viral bacteria!" It moves too slowly, doesn't take full advantage of the medium/film technique and the intro is badly scripted and completely generic.

The "monsters" are kind of gross and interesting I suppose but all in all, watch something else.

Following the devastating pandemic that transpired in the real world, I'm absolutely petrified of any content that deals with similar subjects. I am aware that this is a well-acted parody documentary (mockumentary) and that the events described are not factual, but guess what? Not all of it was made up! There is some truth to it.

Water Pollution, Chemical Waste, Farm Animal Excreta, they all pose serious threats to our surrounding environment. This may not appear significant at the moment, but who knows what may take place in the near future? Thousands of lives could be placed in jeopardy on a single day as a result of a minor leak that could have had disastrous consequences.

These events are frightening because they could happen at any time to anybody at any point and by the moment we comprehend what is actually happening, it will be too late.

For a movie that claims to be somehow similar to the Paranormal franchise this is pretty decent. While it still has the obvious flaws (convinience of the "found footage", sound enhancement for some of the horror/shock moments), it does convince with its "story". Plus while it may sound very strange and out there, this is actually more believable than haunting houses, because it actually dives into science (if you'll excuse the pun I'm using).

The acting is OK, the script isn't the best, but overall I liked that it underplayed the main theme, rather than being too on the nose. The effects were good too, characters not acting "rational" is something we almost grew accustomed to.

Found Footage style films are seemingly very marmite - if you can hack the mix of shooting styles i.e. 'news report', 'CCTV' etc then I would highly recommend giving this a go.

Personally I found the main lady a bit...over the top, but she doesn't feature too strongly so it's only a minor irk.

The film itself has a nice build, before reaching a successful climax. I liked the basic concept, and think it did well on a small budget.

Creepy with a little visual gore to heighten the experience.

An underrated horror with just enough reality to convince you going in the water might not be a good idea.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love "found-footage" films. Read the summary and thought "Yeah, let's give it a go". Seen Blair Witch, The Tunnel, Rec and all those films.

This is quite possibly the worst of the lot. After half an hour, I couldn't stomach the cheap "scare tactics" any longer, the music was silly, the actors weren't that good and this looked like a film that my kid sister would make. I'm not going to spoil anything, but the only thing going for it was possibly the plot. However, everything else was so bad that I started skipping through the movie after half an hour. All I can say is that I'm glad I did.

Boring.

I liked it. Most horror movies depend on something supernatural and implausible to get their chills, but this one makes only modest science-fiction leaps from real ecological problems facing Chesapeake Bay to something truly creepy. Sure, its innocents-at-risk central subplot is hokey, but what do you expect from a horror movie? (We all need someone to identify with.) I think its use of the found-footage technique, by which it pretends to be a documentary, increases both its plausibility and its scariness. I can't judge how well or how fairly it publicizes the ecological problems facing Chesapeake Bay, but it makes for a zinger of a horror movie.

This is an ecological horror/thriller about a virus affecting a small town. It's a familiar tale and uses mainly 'home footage' to tell the story. This means you have to get used to constant shaky pictures which can be a bit annoying. However in this case the shaky footage does add somewhat to the general air of panic that follows the outbreak.

The basis of the film is quite disturbing in that it might not be a million miles away from reality due to the damage man is doing to the environment. The action flows along at a brisk pace and most of the scenes are realistic and not for the squeamish. Although not an out and out horror it does have a nice air of tension, some gore and a few jump scenes.

For a relatively low budget film I found this to be a very good effort. It kept me glued and most importantly of all it was entertaining throughout. It's not groundbreaking by any means but this is an above average Eco-thriller that is well worth watching.