LEAVING D.C. (2012) Desperate to leave city life behind him, Mark Klein (writer/director Josh Criss) takes the plunge and moves from hectic Washington D.C. to serene Anole, West Virginia. Isolated country life agrees with Mark as he shares a semi-daily video diary with his friends to show off his seventeen acres of woodland—but his quiet homestead is interrupted when he finds a totem of animal bones in the nearby woods. This is followed by visitations of someone (or something) banging on trees and even playing a flute in the dead of night. Mark finds the strange incidents fascinating—until the noises increase in proximity, seemingly getting closer to his bedroom window. Criss wisely avoids the jump-scare cliches that have come with many found footage films in the wake of Paranormal Activity (2009) and instead places a lot of focus on Mark as a trustworthy character—a smart move considering Mark is only one of two people in the entire movie. Much like The Blair Witch Project, Leaving D.C. remains grounded in reality and uses backstory, mystery, and a reliance on the viewer’s imagination to create an atmosphere of isolation and dread. A smart and suspenseful slow burn. B+ (Currently available to rent on Prime.)
Below is a link to a Zoom interview I had with filmmaker/writer Joshua Criss in early 2021. He discusses his inspiration for Leaving D.C. and his love for truly unsettling horror films. Criss’s novel, The Moving Soul, is currently available on Amazon.
