The Upper Footage

January. 31,2013      
Rating:
5.1
Trailer Synopsis Cast

'THE UPPER FOOTAGE' is the first film experience of its kind. The film is an edited version of 393 minutes of recovered footage documenting a young girl's tragic overdose death and subsequent cover up by a group of affluent socialites. What started as a blackmail plot played out over YouTube, became Hollywood's biggest drug scandal, turned into a heavily controversial film property that was rumored to be held by some of the biggest names in Hollywood. Now, after playing itself out in the media for 3 years it is finally making its way to the public.

Similar titles

The Lock In
The Lock In
In the spring of 2010, a church lock in at First Baptist Church was organized by Pastor Chris. In the first hour of the lock in, one of the students, Justin, had an unusual “incident” and was “inconsolable.” It was reported that he calmed down and kept to himself for the remainder of the event. Two days after the lock in, Justin reportedly broke down to his parents that he experienced something “evil” at the lock in. He also claimed he captured everything on tape. After watching the footage, the parents met with church leaders to discuss criminal charges they were considering filing against the church for child endangerment, neglect and torture.
The Lock In 2014
Safer at Home
HULU
Safer at Home
Two years into the pandemic, a group of friends throw an online party with a night of games, drinking and drugs. After taking an ecstasy pill, things go terribly wrong and the safety of their home becomes more terrifying than the raging chaos outside.
Safer at Home 2021
Synonymous With
Synonymous With
A student's increasingly intimate line of questioning causes his interview with a local horror host to take a vulnerable turn.
Synonymous With 2021
Death of a Vlogger
Prime Video
Death of a Vlogger
An ambitious vlogger experiences the dark side of the internet when his latest video, which features an alleged haunting, goes viral.
Death of a Vlogger 2019
The Case of: Dakota Moore
The Case of: Dakota Moore
A trip to California leaves a popular travel video blogger the victim of a stalking after one of her local followers becomes too close for comfort.
The Case of: Dakota Moore 2022
51 Degrees North
51 Degrees North
When Damon Miller, a talented, young London filmmaker becomes involved in the disturbing research surrounding Near-Earth Objects he stumbles onto the discovery that the Earth stands on the brink of an extraterrestrial disaster.
51 Degrees North 2015
Babysitting
Babysitting
Looking for a baby-sitter for the night, Marc Schaudel entrusts his son Remy to the care of his employee Franck, a straight man. But the thing that Marc doesn't know, is that Franck is getting 30 years old this weekend and that his son Remy is a very capricious child. The next day, Marc and his wife Claire are awakened by a call from the police. Remy and Franck are missing, and the house is totally devastated. The police finds a camera in the leftovers. Marc, Claire and the police start watching the video that has been recorded the day before during the night and find out what happened to Franck and Remy.
Babysitting 2014
Cloverfield
Prime Video
Cloverfield
Five young New Yorkers throw their friend a going-away party the night that a monster the size of a skyscraper descends upon the city. Told from the point of view of their video camera, the film is a document of their attempt to survive the most surreal, horrifying event of their lives.
Cloverfield 2008
Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire
Prime Video
Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire
Set one year after the events of Hell House LLC II, the hotel is on the verge of being torn down when it is purchased by billionaire Russell Wynn as the new home for his popular interactive show, Insomnia. He invites journalist Venessa Sheppard and her crew to record everything happening inside the hotel leading up to the performance - but they soon encounter a more nefarious plot, one that threatens to unleash a veritable hell on earth.
Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire 2019

Reviews

Livestonth
2013/01/31

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

... more
Voxitype
2013/02/01

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

... more
Marva
2013/02/02

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

... more
Geraldine
2013/02/03

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

... more
avelinov
2013/02/04

First off let me say I'm a fan of the found horror footage genre. Having watched not only the popular ones such as Blair Witch, Grave Encounters, REC, etc. I also really enjoyed watching the less well known Haunted Poland, Severed Footage, Exhibit A, etc.Often I find the ratings of found footage films rather low as they are not to everyone's taste. However, with UPPER I couldn't understand what all the hype is about. At best I give it a 4/10 as I am a fan of the genre.This film distinguishes itself from other such movies by its astoundingly shaky and out of focus camera. For instance, in the last third of the film, when they are driving towards Greenwitch, there are about 5 min of unfocused black screen with only shouting in the background. I was about to brush this off as an irritating feature due to the lack of night vision of the camera - when suddenly it is revealed that the camera does have proper night vision.As for the plot, there isn't much. Basically it's obvious that something will go wrong. There was quite some tension among the "friends" to begin with that I was't surprised (contrary to some) that there would be a whole lot of arguing when something does hit the fan.To be fair found footage films aren't famous for their plots, however the tension in them towards the end is always palpable. UPPER on the other hand left me rather board all the way through. I honestly can't find any comparison with for instance the Blair Witch Project, which towards the end got me very freaked out. UPPER is in the drama genre and weak at best.My advice, watch this if you are a fan of found footage films, otherwise skip. Definitely not worth a second look.

... more
Guillermo Bosque
2013/02/05

Summary: The Upper Footage is extremely boring at times, but its impressive final act compensates for it flaws. 60/100 (C+)If you are not a fan of the found-footage sub-genre, you will be disappointed with this flick. The Upper Footage is strictly for hardcore found-footage movie fans. It was quite boring and requires lots of patience. It relies on realism and it did a good job because everything looked very real, even though it was obviously fake. The dialog was repetitive at times, also the profanity was constant and annoying at a certain point. But the film boasts enough intense moments and drama to mildly succeed, most of it was in its third act. I watched the first half of the movie with my sister, she was bored, extremely bored. I was a bit disappointed with the first half of the film because nothing happens. However, the second half is impressive and the tension begins, although it is still somewhat slow.The first half was a total bore, the second half was a little bit more entertaining but quite slow too. Another problem is that the characters were not interesting enough to keep us entertained. There was not enough entertainment here, 60% of the film is people saying the F word like a thousand times... literally. I was like "meh" during the first 40 minutes, and some other parts in the second half. The entire movie was filled with people arguing about things that I did not care. It was just dull, but then I was shocked. The last 20-30 minutes were very impressive, the final act was very similar to The Blair Witch Project. It was shocking to me because I am a huge fan of that movie and this film was very close to it, in terms of realism.Surprisingly, most of the characters in the final act became kind of likable, especially that blonde girl and the dude that was recording, they were quite smart and believable, the other guys were good too. I also loved a line near the end of the movie from the blonde girl: "I can smell her". If you have seen the movie you know what I mean. The payoff was good enough to me. There was a scene involving a chilling scream near the very end, it was pretty neat, well-done and brilliantly directed. In conclusion, the last act was a decent payoff. While most of the film is a total bore, the final act was impressive, refreshing and looked very realistic. Director Justin Cole has a new fan, I am looking forward to his new projects. (C+)

... more
Aaron Bartuska
2013/02/06

By far the worst movie of 2014, and one of the worst movies I've ever seen in all of my years of cinema going. I found out about this little flick because the official Twitter account followed me (you know a movie is gonna be great if it makes an direct attempt to get you to watch it). I followed back, thinking "hey, why not, I'll support a little indie film." As I read more and more into it, I became incredibly interested. The reviews were raving, comparing it to some of the best found footage movies. Every fan-based review of it was also very positive, leading me to believe that it must be pretty good if EVERYONE is talking about it. So, I got pretty pumped. The idea of this being the "first film experience of its kind" compiled of supposedly real footage of a young woman's death was intriguing to me. I guess I'm sick and twisted, but I was sold. Well, I just watched what is being called one of the most important films of our generation. This brings me back to a little flick called 'Megan is Missing.' Marketed towards scared parents and teens, this film aimed to scare people out of talking to strangers on the internet. All it made me do was laugh. It was my second least favorite movie up until that point. Now it's my third. To be completed honest, Megan is Missing is a masterpiece compared to this and I would watch it any day because it is entertaining. All 'The Upper Footage' is is a bunch of pretentious young upper class city kids snorting coke and saying some of the most racist, homophobic and sexist things you can imagine. Oh, but it's alright, because it's a MOVIE and we're not SUPPOSED to like these characters! Well, you can't market your movie as a real thing and then use the excuse that it's just a film to say whatever the hell you feel like. And if the characters are unlikeable from the start, NOTHING IN THE MOVIE MATTERS. I had no sympathy for a single character throughout this whole movie. I did not care one bit what happened to anyone. So, the "plot" is that a girl named Jackie parties with a bunch of idiots and dies, so they have to hide the body. It is a lovely adventure full of domestic violence, f-bombs in every sentence, out of place fast food stops, and... that's about it, because literally NOTHING happens in this entire movie. There is a four minute long shot of hair. Only hair. There's is a whiny blonde spitting out phrases like "I wanna go home" and "I don't wanna be here" in the most annoying high pitch voice you can imagine for the entire last half of the film. If this sounds good to you, by God you are going to love the hell out of this film. Needless to say, I have unfollowed the Twitter account. The Upper Footage is probably the most unpleasant film I have ever had the displeasure of sitting through and I would recommend it to absolutely no one. It actually pains me to see this getting praise. If this is considered a good film, there is a part of me that almost wants to stop being a film critic.

... more
Drew Grimm Van Ess
2013/02/07

First of all, I have to mention that I cannot believe that I saw someone online say that this is "One of the greatest movies I've ever seen". I don't know, maybe some people like myself just have higher standards in terms of what constitutes as a great movie. That quote is even more ludicrous than the actual movie.It starts with a lot of summed up footage, showing news reels and clips, interviews, and radio show hosts talking about this mysterious girl doing copious amounts of cocaine on these YouTube clips that leaked online a few years ago. Some rumors even started flying around that it was celebrities. Then there's the name drop of Quentin Tarantino, and his involvement in buying the rights to the video clips, with intent on making a motion picture about them after the girl in the videos, Jackie Spearo, died in a tragic way. Tarantino eventually backed out of using the YouTube videos to make the movie. I hate to burst anyone's bubble, but this whole movie and the controversy behind it is completely a marketing campaign only. There's no truth to it, it's a veil pulled over the viewers eyes to build a fake sense of dread.If you have to trick audiences into liking your movie, that's a false achievement in my book. The feature film will tell you that the videos were uploaded to YouTube as a bribe, and blackmail. When actually, the truth is, the uploads were to cause confusion and start rumors in social media. Having several female celebrities falsely accused of being the faceless woman in the clips, it added mystery and had people wanting answers. The stir it all caused in the media was used to build hype behind The Upper Footage, and make it seem authentic. While it is undoubtedly a rude and aggressive marketing strategy, it worked because moviegoers and people who follow social media outlets actually think it's a true life incident.It's the same exact type of hype that happened when The Blair Witch Project came out, and everyone really thought the actors and actress involved were really dead. What baffles me, is regardless of how real or unreal it is, people really believed they were watching a movie about a dead girl and her last night alive. There's no way this would be released to the public as a motion picture if this were in fact a true event. Some people just aren't as naive as others may think, and can see through a bad lie when they see and/or hear it. This movie ruined people's lives, really?Although I knew the falsity behind the making of The Upper Footage, and despite the fact that it's yet another found footage film, I still gave it a shot. To be quite frank, I was bored for about 75 minutes of the 87 minute run time. It's just a group of rich, racist snobs partying in a limo and and being about as crude and impolite as imaginable. After 25 minutes of nonsense dialogue and the search for a plot, Jackie enters the movie via her date, and her face is pixelated the entire film. The party goes from the limo, to a high-scale apartment, and from there, we get a lot of loud talking/shouting, people acting as annoying as possible, and a ton of drug use. It's the kind of movie where without pausing it, you can get up and get a bite to eat and a drink, pet your cat, check your mail, check your email, and use the bathroom without missing anything of mere close importance.After throwing up profusely, Jackie kicks the bucket. And what do the guys at this party do? They decide to drive her body around for a good thirty minutes (at least it feels as though it were a half hour), all the while recording everything including too much arguing, and whining, and moaning. I gave this flick a fair chance, but any and all entertainment value is lost on me because, I was not amused. I wouldn't think that someone's tragic death and the need to cover the incident up should be so loud ad boring.Then, we get to watch the lead male characters dig a hole for eternity. Most of which is in silence, giving you plenty of time to send a text or check your email again.I'd rather attend a tax seminar than watch this ever again. I don't believe in the hype behind it, and it fails to entertain on almost every level. That is of course, unless your idea of a good movie entails nothingness for 75 minutes, and maybe 10 minutes of watchable footage.

... more