KEEP WATCHING (2017) * ½

A killer installs hidden cameras inside unsuspecting families’ homes and watches them.  He then murders them live on camera and broadcasts it on the internet for the world to see.  Bella Thorne is a typical teenage girl who hates her new stepmother.  She also happens to be the killer’s next target.

Keep Watching is basically The Strangers remade as a Found Footage horror movie.  It relies heavily on the hidden camera gimmick, which is a double-edged sword.  Some of the camera placements give us a handful of interesting angles.  I particularly liked the shot from inside the microwave (although you have to wonder how the hell the killer rigged it up).  Other times, the cameras should’ve been easily seen by any and all of the family members.  The camera that’s mounted onto flashlight is the most obvious example.  (Although this leads to an OK sequence involving a Polaroid camera.)

Like most of these things, you have to wait an awful long time for something to happen.  The thing is, you know exactly where it’s going the whole time, which makes the wait feel even longer.  Even the big “twist” is a foregone conclusion, but the movie seems to think it’s pretty damned clever, so it drags it out as long as humanly possible.

I basically only watched this for Bella Thorne.  Unfortunately, she isn’t nearly as well-utilized here as she was in Amityville:  The Awakening or The Babysitter.  The supporting cast, which includes Chandler Riggs, Ioan Gruffudd, and Leigh Whannell are decent, although they aren’t strong enough to carry the movie throughout its slower passages (of which there are many).