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There is always something exciting about discovering a new voice at film festivals. In fact that is what festivals should primarily be there for. Sometimes these voices bring with them familiar ideas but done so in a new way or with their own unique history that brings a genre into different territory. WHAT HAPPENED TO DOROTHY BELL a found footage film may be in a genre that  already has plenty of films to both support and bring down the genre of horror that seems to be a good stepping point for first time filmmakers. Danny Villanueva Jr.’s second film (and after several shorts) is a welcomed new addition to found footage in taking a common trope of urban legends and bringing it down to a more intimate level. A film less focused on the excitement a legend can bring and rather the pain behind the tales as well as the real people that may or may not have inspired the stories. Many found footage films find a group of thrills seekers basically poking the paranormal bear trying to hopefully get a glimpse of something on their (often) outdated handheld camera. Villanueva Jr. however takes a much needed kinder approach in one person’s determination to understand a past family member who has left them and the pain and confusion that still resides.

Ozzie Gray (Asya Meadows) is searching for answers. Once a rambunctious child Ozzie now spends most of their time dedicated to finding out what happened to their now deceased grandma Dorothy Bell (Arlene Arnone Bibbs). Ozzie, who documents their days, is trying to find answers after their grandma experienced strange occurrences that often left many people and things destroyed. Ozzie themselves has scars on their face, a result as we learn was due to a stabbing done by their grandma as a child. Villanueva Jr. bounces back between old analog filmmaking and modern day camera work and computer cameras. The film greatly benefits from its opening segment involving a playful game of hide and seek between Ozzie and their grandma. Villanueva Jr.’s patient directing in these moments make for some of the most intense found footage scenes I’ve seen in years. Instead of the usual closeups, shaky cams and heavy breathing, Ozzie as a child is not nervous and simply just playing with their grandma so instead all the tension is brough on us the audience well aware this game wont’ end well. It’s also a fascinating look at how simple life can be for a child well unaware of the dangers or demons that inhabit the world.

While the film never reaches the same tension level as those opening moments, there is a strong emotional arc of Ozzie throughout that allows us a somewhat behind the scenes look at your favorite urban legend stories. There is a moment where Ozzie themself searches through online threads and website dedicated to the scariest places in America and their urban legends, but WHAT HAPPENED TO DOROTHY BELL is not focused on the possible instead it focuses on the reality. The reality here is that even if something was wrong with their grandma it still left a never ending impact on Ozzie’s family. Ozzie has pushed away their parents and even when their father (Michael Hargrove wonderfully heartbreaking) does try to reach out its met with anger and frustration for lack of answers as well as that still childlike behavior that maybe they themselves were the problem, not the adults. These family wounds are built on as Ozzie attends therapy via zoom with their therapist (Lisa Wilcox) and while Ozzie appears to like the routine, Villanueva Jr.’s script does a good job at executing that no amount of therapy can make up for the few answers Ozzie holds.

WHAT HAPPENED TO DODORTHY BELL? stumbles as it finds itself in more conventional found footage territory. As Ozzie revisits the library where their grandma spent so many of her year’s in, the film uses the normal loud jump scare tactics, but even with some familiarity Villanueva Jr. has better success when the shots are at a standstill and the audience finds themselves searching every dark boo stack for their own answers or glimpse of Dorothy. For a film that points out the humor in some of these urban legends, the filmmaker also has a fun time engaging in the same behavior. At almost ninety minutes DOROTHY BELL has just enough scares and emotional beats to make for an exciting watch that feels like a guaranteed re-watch come spooky season. It will be refreshing to see what Villanueva Jr. does next because while Ozzie may not find the answers to everything they are looking for the audience has definitely found a new voice in horror.

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WHAT HAPENED TO DOROTHY BELL? HAD ITS WORLD PREMIERE AT THE 2024 FANTASTIC FEST FROM HOW BIZZARE PICTURES.