Review: Horror film ‘Camera Obscura’ buckles under weighty meaning

First-time feature director Aaron B. Koontz’s sci-fi splatter picture “Camera Obscura” has a premise so deliciously wicked that it’s a shame the movie smothers it in “relevance.” What should be a lean, mean genre exercise overloads on context.

Talented young character actor Christopher Denham stars as Jack Zeller, a former war-zone photographer. When his partner Claire (Nadja Bobyleva) buys him a vintage camera, the first photos Jack takes mysteriously appear to show dead bodies — including Claire’s. When the scenarios in the snapshots begin coming true, a panicked Jack arranges to put another corpse in her place … only to see her bloodied image pop up in another crime-scene pic.

This a great idea for a horror film: a troubled soul forced into a string of terrible misdeeds, in the name of saving the woman he loves. But Koontz takes too long to kick the plot into gear, spending almost half of his running time exploring Jack’s PTSD.

“Camera Obscura” remains largely ambiguous about what’s happening to the hero, asking the audience to consider how the horrors of war can alter a man’s perceptions and opinions — which is a worthy theme.

But Koontz lets the message drive how his story gets told. “Camera Obscura” lurches between gory thriller sequences and dreary character development, and never develops any momentum. The movie gets in its own way — burdened with meaning.

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‘Camera Obscura’

Not rated

Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes

Playing: Arena Cinelounge Sunset, Hollywood

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