Horror Movie Review: Amber Alert (2012)

Amber Alert has such an excellent premise, one that makes you question just what you’d do in the same position. It’s just a pity that it’s nothing more then an average found footage horror with constant bickering between the main characters.

Let’s get this out of the way first. Amber Alert is a found-footage movie and we really don’t need any more of them. However, considering the movie’s story it works up until the final few minutes where it falls into the same tired tropes.

An Amber Alert or a Child Abduction Emergency is a child abduction alert system used by the police.

A group of friends see a car that matches a recent alert so decide to follow the car while they wait for the police to arrive. However, the more they get involved the more dangerous the situation becomesS

Is this actually a child abduction? something worse? Or just a case of mistaken identity?

Amber Alert has positives. Its solid premise and decent acting makes it more then watchable. The black screen with text suggesting this is part of a police report is actually kind of convincing once the movie gets going and early conversations between characters make them more relatable.

It all goes wrong once they see the car in question on the highway. This is where the bickering and arguing starts. Then it keeps going and going and going…half of this film is two characters arguing incessantly and it gets so jarring that it becomes really tempting to just stop watching.

It’s not the only fault with the movie though.

The police in this film are inept and their reactions considering the amber alert are somewhat unrealistic. Then we have the finale. The tension has been turned up but the filming quality has been turned down. Shaky camera work, darkness and an ending that just comes about. I wasn’t even sure what happened until more text appeared explaining exactly what just took place. It’s unsatisfying.

As far as found-footage horror movies go, there are so much worse and the story alone makes Amber Alert worth watching. Just be prepared to turn your volume down once the bickering begins.

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