Man Finds Tape (2025) Along with Small-Town Found Footage Cosmic Horror
Title: Man Finds Tape
First Non-Festival Release: December 5, 2025 (Theatrical Release)
Director: Paul Gandersman, Peter S. Hall
Writer: Paul Gandersman, Peter S. Hall
Runtime: 84 Minutes
Starring: William Magnuson, Kelsey Pribilski, John Gholson
Where to Watch: Check out where to find it here
Small-town secrets are the bedrock for horror. There’s something skin-crawling about the thought that great danger exists everywhere and no place is too isolated for horror to strike.
Lynn Page (Kelsey Pribilski) has always found her brother Lucas’s (William Magnuson) hi jinx to be irritating, so when he calls her up about a mysterious tape, she’s skeptical. As he describes his situation, however, she believes there must be something to his story. She packs up to return to their small town where Lucas remains. Once there, Lynn finds herself embroiled in a bizarre mystery that threatens to unearth many unsettling truths about their town.
A slow-burn, psychological descent into the bizarre, Man Finds Tape blends different filmmaking styles to tell its unsettling mystery.
The mystery of Man Finds Tape plays out in its methodical approach to its horror. Paced with precision, the bite-sized clues behind the terror of this small Texas town betray something more sinister than initially meets the eye. Man Finds Tape keeps its cards close to its chest, refusing to indulge in the specifics of its antagonist until its explosive finale. Allowing tension to brew and audiences to guess what is happening to the good people of this town makes for a captivating story.
Everything links back to the institution that powers this small town, like many others, its church. Growing up in a place similar to Larkin, Texas, it is easy to see how the horror of Man Finds Tape settles into the sleepy town. Using the church as a catch all for small-town corruption, the rot is exposed for the scandal and danger that it poses. By then, it’s nearly too late. A clear repudiation for uncritical acceptance of religious authority, Man Finds Tape posits how the harm reaches far beyond church service. It isn’t just in the ways that sermons affect those sat in the pews but how the darkness envelopes the entire town. Infecting others like a virus, Man Finds Tape shows that the real horror is dogmatism.
By using its mixed media approach, Man Finds Tape breaks free from the usual confines of found footage to expand its unsettling story of a town besieged by an unknown force. Amassing footage from a variety of sources, Man Finds Tape truly forces its characters, and audience, to search in high and low places to construct its fuller story when traditional found footage means wouldn’t make sense. Done similarly in other found footage films, Man Finds Tape manages to find reasonable ways to paint this picture. It’s in these departures from the first-person format that allow the fear to burrow in further. By expanding the scope of how the footage is attained, Man Finds Tape reaches the omniscient cosmic horror that it portends through the breakdown of its mystery.
The distinct atmosphere of the small town brings the horror to life in a grounded yet unexpected way. Lifting from various niche fears, Man Finds Tape blends seemingly unrelated ideas into something fresh. Tryctophobia, mind control, and the unsettling accumulation of various footage helps elevate the stakes and reinforce the feeling of danger that permeates. Awash in sinister imagery that is carefully spliced together, Man Finds Tape culminates in a shocking and unexpected confrontation that fuels its aura. It never quite meets the intensity it projects but there’s enough darkness swirling underneath the lens of this mixed found footage horror to recommend.
A strange and thoughtful horror mystery, Man Finds Tape plays with genre conventions to make something special. Strong cinematography, compelling performances, and a captivating story differentiate Man Finds Tape from other small-town mystery-based horror. It doesn’t quite tie its threads together in the neatest way, but it does end on a high note all the same. There is power in specificity and Man Finds Tape carves its own niche with a flair for the dark and dramatic.
Overall Score? 6/10
