REVIEW: “Bodycam” (2026)

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I stopped enjoying the shaky-cam horror style a while back, but director Brandon Christensen does something interesting with it in his new film, “Bodycam.” The entire movie is shown through the body cameras of two police officers, with a few shots from their car’s dashcam. While it feels a bit like a trick, it actually creates a sense of realism and justifies the filmmaking choice.

Christensen skillfully uses found footage to create a truly immersive experience, much like the best films in this style – it effectively blurs the line between reality and fiction. While the film does rely on some common tropes, like shaky camera work during intense scenes and frequent first-person perspectives, these don’t detract too much from the overall effect. For the most part, Christensen keeps the audience engaged and often creates a sense of suspense.

The film centers on police officers Bryce Anderson and Jerome Jackson, who are sent to a troubled neighborhood to check on a potential domestic disturbance late at night. Arriving at a dilapidated house among the local residents—known as “tweakers”—they find no one answers the door. Hearing a cry for help, they cautiously enter, flashlights and guns ready, unaware of the horrors that await them.

During the search, officers uncover some disturbing evidence. This leads to a tense situation where Bryce shoots a man who suddenly attacks him from the darkness. Jerome wants to report the incident immediately, but Bryce, worried about negative publicity and public backlash, convinces him to create a false account of what happened instead.

A strong tension quickly builds between Bryce, who is afraid, and Jerome, who is certain of what he believes. However, something far more dangerous begins to stalk them, refusing to release its hold. The group of addicts whispers a chilling warning: “If you take something from him, he’ll take something from you.” This is where Christensen shifts his detective story into a truly frightening blend of the supernatural and the occult.

Several supporting characters appear, like Bryce’s wife Michelle, who is pregnant, a tech expert named Esposita, and Jerome’s mother, Ally, who seems surprisingly aware of the unfolding events. However, the two main officers remain the focus, and their investigation leads them down a disturbing path. Though fundamentally a horror story, the narrative also touches on issues like police responsibility and the powerful hold of addiction.

I’ll be honest, like most found-footage films, the initial impact of “Bodycam” started to fade as it went on. But the director, Christensen, made a really smart choice – he wrapped things up around the 75-minute mark, which meant it didn’t overstay its welcome at all. That pacing not only kept the whole found-footage style feeling relatively fresh, but it also kept the story moving and the tension building. Ultimately, I found “Bodycam” to be a genuinely tense and creepy Shudder Original, and it really does offer something new to a formula that’s often felt stale.

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2026-03-09 17:57