The Haunted World of Claire Wilmenson S01E01 - Pilot (2013)

Review

Claire Wilmenson is confined to her house due to suffering from a medical condition called Myocardium Integument, which apparently has something to do with chest pain caused by lack of oxygen, (hey we do research around here). Young Claire has become bored with her confinement and has decided to create a YouTube account as an outlet while she convalesces. On the bright side she does get a visit from her Doctor each day, on the dark side this involves lots of injects, insert your own pin cushion joke I've got a review to finish here yo! Okay enough plot lets rock into our first webisode, if you discount The Walking Dead stuff.

To date we have been a bit amiss at not covering one of the emerging new mediums in the horror-sphere, namely webisodes. While still in its infancy the format is seeing some major horror movie Directors adopt the approach, for example Greg Nicotero and Australia's very own Stuart Simpson, as well as any number of new Directors with very limited budgets but a thirst for making their own visions. The Haunted World of Claire Wilmenson fits into the second category with no actual credits displayed for who the Director is, who wrote the scripts, and who is in front of the camera. Okay this may fit with the approach being taken, almost mockumentary, but I'll attempt to get some answers to who the hell is behind a franchise that is now heavily into its second season. We're still waiting on the arrival our DVD release of season one but decided to attacked the pilot episode via youtube.com, see connection at the bottom of the review.

The pilot episode introduces us to Claire Wilmenson, a young women suffering from an apparent mysterious illness that has her confined. She speaks directly to the camera, there's a single viewing angle, and pretty much lays the foundations of the season without wasting anyone's valuable time. She has a medical issue, is being treated on a daily basis by her Doctor, and is getting bored with her enforced confinement. I'm not quite sure where things will go from here, yes am avoiding any web discussions, but no doubt the season will build solidly from this starting point. For those that want additional details about Claire, she is of Italian descent and has an online persona of GialloGirl13.

On the face of things there doesn't appear to be a lot to see here, after all Haunted World would appear to be simply the weblog of some unknown chick from the U.S who is confined to home base. There's nothing to indicate we're about to enter a modern Sunnydale or that Claire could well be our new Buffy. However this is the point of the first episode, it's simply a weblog, nothing more, nothing less, simply an introduction to the focal character. For those veterans of the "found footage" and mockumentary genres this is familiar stomping grounds, the trick in this genre is to make it all seem as natural as possible, this isn't a movie you are watching that was scripted and shot by film makers, it's the real deal, believe it or not this happened. The makers of the pilot nail this requirement, Claire comes across as totally believable, the girl next door who is a little bit bored, she either makes weblogs or takes up dismembering the neighbourhood cat population.

Keeping with the "found footage" approach the editing of the pilot is pretty rough; we're talking no attempt being made to transition between different takes. It all adds to the atmosphere folks, so don't expect a polished production this is home video night shoot on reasonable cameras.

For those wanting the gory horror centric details, well don't get too excited the pilot episode doesn't head into the murky woods. We're talking one jump scene, which I won't spoil, and nothing else in terms of the supernatural sneaking a look in. Similarly we may be in a chick's bedroom but don't expect any naughty bits, perhaps you got the wrong vid from the interwebs if expecting that sort of content. So while we may be talking the start of a dark genre franchise we're not talking the invasion of the paranormal activity demonic entities. By the sound of things we might head into darker country later in the season but for now things are pretty much on the normal plan, so no sparkling vampires are not on the agenda, then again neither are rainbow coloured unicorns, so it's all good.

So what can we expect going forward, fracked if I know, your guess is as good as mine. A few indications however are swirling around already, there's a boyfriend named Branson, a Doctor who visits on a daily basis, a best friend, and lets face facts Ms Claire ain't going to remain confined for that much longer considering she is already bored. Once again I'm refusing to check out what is rocking out on the web in regards Haunted World, but feel free if you want to get the good oil.

While I would like to say the pilot episode of The Haunted World of Claire Wilmenson is the second coming of The Exorcist the truth is it's a pretty rough weblog that does what it needs to do without pushing the boundaries. If you don't like the found footage style of movie making then for sure you are not going to dig the adventures of Claire, but if you are prepared to give the show a decent go then you might just have found a new source of dark genre goodness. The jury is out on this one folks but for sure we'll be rocking on to the next instalment with a good deal of confidence that the show is going to find its voice in due course. Check out the first episode below and if wanting to romp ahead then point your browser at the show's YouTube channel right here.