In Sacramento, the dilapidated and abandoned Lincoln High School building is reportedly haunted. With rumors abound of murderous teachers and demon rats, more than one camera-toting, would-be ghostbuster has made his or her way into its hallowed halls to sniff out the true story.
The latest, paranormal investigator Wes Wheatley (Jesse Janzen, Cry_Wolf), is shooting the pilot for a reality show. Because an impromptu exorcism on a local housewife just isn’t enough, a trip to Lincoln High it is, thanks to a loan of keys from the landlord (The Room’s Greg Sestero). To amp up dramatic tension the crew finds lacking, they’ve roped in Wes’ former partner without his knowledge: his long-estranged sister (Leah Finity), a psychic medium.
The footage for their eventually unsuccessful (or is it?) first episode makes up the bulk of Infrared. What our elders say about not judging a book by its cover can apply to this found-footage movie, too. Fresh off their COVID-lockdown comedy The Other Girl, Robert Livings and Randy Nundlall Jr. not only share duties as writers, directors and producers, but bring that film’s entire cast along for this wild ride. Perhaps that behind-the-scenes familiarity and comfort with one another allowed everyone to make something more special and surprising than the FF subgenre usually gets (and rarely so deserves).
The performances really push Infrared toward standout status. Janzen brings a manic energy to his Wes’ self-absorbed petulance, while Sestero proves quite funny in his character’s cluelessness and Finity makes us feel every awkward moment of sibling rivalry. Moments of comedy remain true to the story, though; this is, after all, a horror film — one that, by its end, so skillfully turns alarming, you may not want the camera to keep peering around corners so quickly. —Rod Lott