Michael Goi’s Megan is Missing (2011) often gets called out as ‘one of the scariest movies ever made. Recent rumblings on social media exclaim “Megan is Missing is on Tubi… you HAVE to watch it”. I’m a skeptic, mostly because most (not all) found footage is a total snooze fest. Even more concerning is the near certainty that I will have to witness some measure of sexual violence towards young women.
But hey, @HorrorLovesBeth say that it is the scariest movie she had ever seen. She certainly has the bona fides in the found footage department and she recently started posting on X in her panties, so she’s an expert… right?
What the Heck Happened to Megan
The film unsurprisingly details the disappearance of a 14 year old girl name Megan (Rachel Quinn) shortly after she began talking to a mysterious person named Josh over the Internet. Her friend Amy (Amber Perkins) tries her best to uncover what happened to her friend before getting pulled into Megan’s disappearance much deeper than she could ever want. The film is pieced together through clips of video uncovered during the investigation. Unfortunately, this film’s evidence leaves absolutely no question whatsoever where Megan went missing. In it’s descent in to exploitative torture porn, the films also intersects with the problems of juvenile drug use, the dangers of the Internet sexual abuse.
Zzzzzz… Found Footage
Found footage films are either hit or miss. Mostly they consist of low budget acting and even worse execution. So often they unravel into frantic scrambling and vertigo inducing shakey cams. Those that avoid the shakey cams leave the viewer asking, “How is the camera so stable while that person is being disemboweled.”
Still, there have also been some absolutely phenomenal found footage films, so I am saying that there’s a chance.
This unfortunately falls into the poor acting variety. Not that any single performance is terrible. In fact here are a few fleeting moments that land extremely well. Yet, the light dusting of cringe across all of the performances cashes checks against the viewers emotional bank account. The film never really feels real, and the stakes never feel as high as the director intends.
Torture Porn Masquerading as a PSA
As the story goes, Michael Goi based Megan is Missing on several real life cases that befell young women. Accordingly Marc Klaas of the KlaasKids foundation and real-world father of a tragically victimized daughter, Polly. Upon its release it was originally marketed as an educational film, supposedly warning against the dangers of the Internet.
I have no doubts on the sincerity of intention, but gawd is this movie an awful way to send a message. This film unabashedly takes on some of the most torturous violence that could be levied against young women. It is sum of all fears that any parent buries deep within. If the goal is to get a message out, this one way to ensure that the people that need the message never see it.
At the end of the film, it all feels very exploitative and opportunistic.
Some High Points (Spoilers)
Michael Goi does a fantastic job of building suspense through Checkov’s Gun. Checkov’s Gun refers to a literary rule that says if there is a gun on the wall in the narration (any object for that matter), it damn well better be used before the end of the film. Goi uses this technique extremely well in two places:
The first is during a scene where Amy sits beneath a bridge lamenting the loss of her best friend Megan. The bridge is a place the she and Megan would spend time contemplating life. During this scene, a shadow can be seen moving on the hill above. The movement is so slight as to be innocuous. It’s so subtle and matter of fact that it almost seems dismissible. It is not until later that Goi unveils the sinister nature of what might have otherwise been an innocent passer by.
The second is even more foreboding. Eventually the film leads to a hidden dungeon in an undisclosed location. As the action covers every corner of this basement, one detail stands out. A 55 gallon blue plastic barrel sits in the hallway like a flashing blue light with an electric mariachi band on top. The action takes the audience by this barrel at least 20 times, every time the viewer wonders if it has some significance. It’s significance is eventually revealed and is absolutely horrifying and shockingly well done.
Michael Goi is completely successful in making me never want to see this film again. The contents of this film are so unsettling, so sad and so emotionally depraved and its nearly impossible not to be impacted by it. I hate him for this because it feels so sleazy and cheap getting there. Megan is Missing is not a great movie. It is not as profound as it wants to be. Still, it gut punches so hard that it is hard to shake. It easily found a spot on my short lists of films to never see again.
The ending is painstakingly hard to watch, both for its implications and also execution. I found myself very disturbed by what was on screen, but I was also begging for it to end because I was mentally done with it all… not to mention a final scene that feels like it will never end.
Megan is Mid
The world of horror is filled with cups o’ tea. This one is of the “NOT MY” variety. I have a pretty strong aversion to watching women succumb to brutal sexual assault and violence; especially when the goals is to make that violence as unsettling as possible. It had the same depravity as The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007) and less than of a modicum of the intrigue.
That all being said, I don’t think that the topic should be taboo… I just don’t like it. Other people are less triggered and I strangely understand this. The point is, Megan is Missing may be YOUR cup o’ tea. It’s not really a bad movie, its just not a great movie that was made in bad taste. I’d recommend leaving Megan wherever she is at because finding out what happens to her is going to haunt you.
What is the scariest horror movie you have ever seen? @CACox97Cookies asked me this last week, and it’s Megan is Missing for me! #MeganIsMissing #horrormovies #horrorfilms #horror #horrorflicks #horrorfan #horrorcommunity #horroraddict #scariestmovie pic.twitter.com/MhcLkgZxcN
— BethLovesHorror (@HorrorLovesBeth) June 17, 2022
One Response
Found footage is so hit-or-miss, but when it misses, it whiffs big time. I’d rather watch interesting “real” documentaries like Missing 411, which can be creepier and scarier than the “fakes.” My favorite found footage is Exists (2014), but I have a soft spot for Sasquatch.