When most people think of director Barry Levinson, they most likely think of films like Good Morning, Vietnam or Rain Man, the latter of which won him an Oscar as Best Director of 1988. Now, he’s completely shifting gears by bringing us a found footage thriller entitled The Bay.
Today, thanks to The Film Stage, we have the first trailer and poster for the film, which stars Will Rogers, Kristen Connolly, Kether Donohue, Frank Deal, Stephen Kunken, Christopher Denham and Nansi Aluka.
The official synopsis reads as follows:
The quaint seaside town of Chesapeake Bay thrives on water; it is the lifeblood of the community. When two biological researchers from France find a staggering level of toxicity in the water, they attempt to alert the mayor, but he refuses to create a panic in the docile town. As a result, a deadly plague is unleashed, turning the people of Chesapeake Bay into hosts for a mutant breed of parasites that take control of their minds, and eventually their bodies. A brutal and harrowing creature feature for the 21st century, THE BAY chronicles the descent of a small town into absolute terror.
My first impression of the trailer is that it’s The Crazies meets Slither, and since neither of those were particularly good movies, I’m not really ready to get my hopes up for this yet, despite having Levinson behind the camera.
I was hoping that this tiresome found footage fad was starting to die off, with Paranormal Activity being the last parasitic remnant, but now even someone of Levinson’s talents are getting caught up in it. Hopefully he can at least do something new with it, though that may be wishful thinking.
The Bay is set to premiere at The Toronto International Film Festival as part of Midnight Madness before coming to theaters and Video on Demand on November 2nd.
Check out the trailer and poster below and let us know what you think in the comments.
