Butterfly Kisses Review (2018)

Synopsis

Butterfly Kisses tells the story of Gavin (Seth Adam Kallick), who stumbles upon a box of videotapes by 2 film students Sophia (Rachel Armiger) and Feldman (Reed DeLisle).

These tapes delve into an urban legend known as The Blink Man (Also known as Peeping Tom), and Gavin sets out to prove its authenticity.

My Thoughts

Butterfly Kisses isn’t really your typical found footage horror film, as it’s a blend of found footage inside another found-footage story, while being presented as a documentary, and it gave me some Lake Mungo vibes.

Despite juggling different stories at once, the film stays engaging and doesn’t turn into a complete mess like many found found footage movies do that attempt similar.

The urban legend in question states that a person can summon The Blink Man by staring down the Ilchester Tunnel at midnight, for one hour straight, without blinking, and once summoned, he will get closer to the victim each time they blink until he kills them.

Now who can not blink for one hour? Seems impossible, but also makes it plausible that if you can actually do this, that something might just happen.

In terms of the story, you know where the two students story is heading, but with Gavin, there’s a sense of impending doom, making us wonder where his journey will take him, and this helps keep it interesting.

Though the focus is on Gavin’s character for a while, the suspense does slowly build up as the story unfolds, and the whole concept behind the film is pretty creepy.

This is very much a character driven film, and is done really well, as we watch Gavin’s struggles as he attempts to validate the footage and his obsession to prove it is all real and the knock on effect it has on his life.

We even get an appearance by Eduardo Sanchez, one of the directors of The Blair Witch Project, as himself, to discuss the evidence that the footage is fake.

Director Erik Kristopher Myers uses the urban legend backstory really well too, as he tries to convince us, the viewers, that it is all real as we watch along, and the mythology of it all is expertly crafted and reels you in with the concept and characters at play.

Overall it’s a pretty well done film, that is interesting and quite clever too, that will reward you if you have some patience, as the film does take its time to really get going, but it is all very much worth it in the end.

Good Points

Strong Character Development: Gavin’s journey throughout the film is an interesting watch and really well done, and Seth Adam Kallick plays him superbly.

Atmosphere/Tension: The atmosphere and tension grows as the film goes on, and keeps you fully engaged and interested about what is going to happen next.

Intriguing Urban Legend: The Peeping Tom legend is an interesting one and is portrayed really well within the film.

Bad Points

Pacing Issues: The focus on the character development can sometimes slow down the story, and those who don’t like a slow pace might give up watching this before they should.

Lack of Scares: If you want lots of scares, Butterfly Kisses won’t deliver with that.

Tone: The film does zig-zag a bit and doesn’t really maintain a consistent tone.

Is It Worth Watching?

I really liked it, and thought it was a well done film and if you like found footage type films, this is one I personally recommend you watch.

But I also appreciate it probably won’t be for everyone either.

Butterfly Kisses On IMDB
Butterfly Kisses Trailer

Where To Watch

Tubi (Free)

Director and Cast

Director – Erik Kristopher Myers

Main Cast – Seth Adam Kallick, Rachel Armiger, Reed DeLisle, Daniel Furst, Eve Young, Eileen del Valle, Kaleo Okouchi