‘8 Found Dead’ Review
Stars: Jenny Tran, Alisha Soper, William Gabriel Grier, Aly Trasher, Eddy Acosta, Tim Simek, Rosanne Limeres, Patrick Joseph Rieger, Laura Buckles | Written by Jonathan Buchanan | Directed by Travis Greene
Opening his feature debut across a long stretch of road, director Travis Greene showcases the isolated location where the story will unfold. Arriving at the secluded desert home she rents out, Jessie (Jenny Tran) intends to clean up after the most recent guests, although those plans are cut short by an unwanted surprise.
After the success story of Zach Cregger’s Barbarian, AirBnB is given no time to rest from the worst-case scenarios depicted in the horror genre. Online influencer Sam (Alisha Soper) has booked a house for a weekend getaway, intending to share her breast cancer diagnosis with her boyfriend, Dwayne (William Gabriel Grier), and their friends Carrie (Aly Trasher) and Ricky (Eddy Acosta). These plans are interrupted when the arriving couples meet Richard (Tim Simek) and Liz (Rosanne Limeres), strangers that also claim to have rented the house.
Entering this weekend with their own baggage, the couples strain to admit that their relationships are not as loving as they claim. While Sam focuses firmly on live-streaming her distressing news, she hopes to reconnect with her friend, yet Carrie intends to network to hopefully revitalize her acting career. No matter how difficult some characters can be, there are humanising moments to show there is more to them than one-note caricatures. Meanwhile, Richard and Liz treat the situation like a game they are eager to play. They use whatever possible to make a hostile situation with the guests, even as apparent bonding moments are used to unearth secrets to use against the unsuspecting couples.
Also in the mix are Bobby and Blake Miller (Patrick Joseph Rieger & Laura Buckles), a law enforcement couple whose divorce is held up by the husband’s reluctance to sign the papers. Arriving at the property in the aftermath of the horrific circumstances, their segment feels the most expendable due to how divorced they largely feel from the unfolding circumstances.
Writer Jonathan Buchanan employs a non-linear timeframe to show the story from different points in time, each relating to the different people arriving at the house. Considering the title, it is fair to say there is less of an interest in surprise deaths as opposed to questioning who survives. While the film tries to keep some surprises, much of the tension is undone when the bodies and method of death are revealed early on. This could have been used to the film’s advantage for an inescapable tragedy, yet it instead feels like a desperate and convoluted try to fulfil what the title promises. When stabbings are treated as minor inconveniences, this is a film which struggles to hold one’s attention.
