GARRETT VS. BODYCAM

Our Fedora Wizard, Garrett Cook, reviews BODYCAM and proposes the question, was this found footage worth the discovery?

Bodycam (2025)

Two police officers investigate a domestic dispute and there is an accidental shooting. Not wanting to be crucified by the public, the officers attempt to cover it up – only to uncover that the cameras aren’t the only things watching them.

Directed by Brandon Christenson

Written by Brandon and Ryan Christenson 

Running time: 75 minutes

Watched on Shudder via Amazon Prime

Found Footage is a divisive subgenre. On the one hand, it gave us Ghostwatch and The Taking of Deborah Logan. On the other hand, the Bad Ben franchise gives us the opportunity to see what our least favorite gym teacher would do if he moved into a haunted house for ten films. Some of you will nope right out of this one because of the found footage aspect. Others might find the subject matter too close to home. There are plenty of reasons not to watch Bodycam. 

Bodycam concerns a drug bust gone terribly wrong. In a squalid hovel of a home, Bryce(Sean Rogerson), one of the film’s protagonists accidentally shoots a baby after catching movement from what he thinks is an attacker in his periphery. He tries to convince his partner, Jackson(Jaime M Callica) that they need to cover it up and restate the crime scene. When it comes to topically, it’s ripped from our headlines and shows the ugly side of law enforcement. Of course being a horror film and not a noir or a police procedural, horror elements do pop in. The excessive blood on the walls and the creepy mysterious woman who darts through the shadows hint at it from the get-go and do create some real tension..

As the coverup escalates, so too does the creepiness of the world around them. They are mocked by the people they fail to protect, crowds that seem eerie and almost possessed. In the home of Jackson’s mother, things get stronger still and a fairly normal house becomes a seat of real dread. It gets a bit heavy handed but a subject like police brutality doesn’t really lend itself to subtlety. There is continuous reference to a mysterious him and “if you take something from him, he takes something from you.”

Visual finesse is not the strong point of found footage and while there are some cool effects and good set design, there aren’t many impressive cinematographer flourishes. The use of the red and blue lights of the squad car are sometimes used with gravity and poetry to show how much the current situation is rooted on their misuse of their authority as cops. It’s a good motif that isn’t overused and allowed to wear out its welcome. The film definitely deserves some credit for finding so many varieties of lighting without feeling contrived. The same cannot be said of the buzzing and artifacting meant to show you that strange forces are at work. It’s being done to death in Found-Footage, and I hope to see less of it in the future. 

As one might expect based on the seriousness of the film’s topic, Bodycam is not a vehicle for fun or splatstick. It is a dour affair but one that does escalate and get more genrefied as it goes on. Here you find some real occult vibes, some wild surprises and jump scares that don’t compromise the emotional weight of the piece. The ending isn’t a revelation, yet neither is it cheap. There are worse ways to spend your time than a three and a half star Found Footage movie with its heart in the right place and some legitimate chills. 

Garrett Cook is a Bizarro and horror author. He resides in Portland, Oregon with his partner of almost ten years. He has recently begun doing design work for TTRPGs.

PLEASE NOTE: The views and opinions of the staff of Memento Mori Ink do not necessarily represent those of Memento Mori Ink or Crystal Lake Publishing. Thank you for understanding.