Chopped between two found footage films for a Halloween party watchlist and the wrong pick killed the whole vibe

Last minute choice between The Bay and As Above So Below for a group of friends who never watch these. Picked The Bay because I thought the eco-horror angle would be fresh. Big mistake. Half the group got bored by the fake news reports and one guy fell asleep 30 minutes in. Should have gone with As Above So Below since everyone loves claustrophobic catacomb stuff. Anyone else had a pick that bombed with a crowd?

2 comments

2 Comments

lewis.drew26d ago

@Susan_ward hit it on the head about The Bay being a solo headphone movie. I learned that lesson the hard way when my group started checking their phones like it was a work meeting. The fake news format works fine if you're into that stuff, but at a party? Total snooze fest. One buddy even asked if we could switch to a "normal movie" halfway through. I should've just gone with the catacomb panic like you originally planned, claustrophobia is a crowd pleaser every time. Now I'm the guy who killed Halloween vibe because I wanted to be artsy with eco-horror.

susan_ward27d ago

22 years ago I still remember picking The Blair Witch Project for a Halloween party and three people walked out claiming it gave them motion sickness. So I feel your pain on miscalculating a crowd. The Bay is one of those movies I think works best alone with headphones where you can appreciate the slow burn, but in a group setting it just falls flat. For future parties I've learned to always screen the first ten minutes with whoever is hosting first, just to test the energy. As Above So Below definitely has that immediate grab factor with the narrow tunnels and panic, hard to go wrong there.