Phoenix Forgotten (2017)

20 years after three teenagers disappeared in the wake of mysterious lights appearing above Phoenix, Arizona, unseen footage from that night has been discovered, chronicling the final hours of their fateful expedition.

Director:

Justin Barber

Writers:

T.S. Nowlin, Justin Barber

Stars:

Florence Hartigan, Luke Spencer Roberts, Chelsea Lopez

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Florence Hartigan	...	Sophie
Luke Spencer Roberts	...	Josh
Chelsea Lopez	...	Ashley
Justin Matthews	...	Mark
Clint Jordan	...	Steve
Cyd Strittmatter	...	Caroline
Roberto Medina	...	Walt
Jeanine Jackson	...	Melissa Foster
David Carrera	...	Jack Foster
Matt Biedel	...	Daniel Abrams
Serendipity Lilliana	...	Young Sophie
Ana Dela Cruz	...	Luisa Moreno
Jonathan Schmock	...	Mr. Garland
Jay Pirouznia	...	Private Investigator
Kevin Boontjer	...	Pilot

Storyline

Phoenix Forgotten tells the story of three teens who went into the desert shortly after the incident, hoping to document the strange events occurring in their town. They disappeared that night, and were never seen again. Now, on the twentieth anniversary of their disappearance, unseen footage has finally been discovered, chronicling the final hours of their fateful expedition. For the first time ever, the truth will be revealed.

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Plot Keywords:

found footage | talking to the camera | looking at the camera | mockumentary | video camera | 

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Taglines:

Based on Shocking Untold True Events

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for terror, peril and some language

Details

Official Sites:

Cinelou Films Main Website Official Site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 April 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

Esquecidos de Phoenix

Filming Locations:

Sherman Oaks Galleria - 15301 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,800,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,816,499, 21 April 2017, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$3,599,570, 9 June 2017

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinelou Films, Oddball Entertainment, Scott Free Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The desert footage at 32:09 is not in Arizona, but actually on San Diego County Road S22, heading down into the town of Borrego Springs, CA. It then cuts to a view of Fonts Point in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (California's largest state park).

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Goofs

When Josh is first filming his reflection and asks a pedestrian to get an interview, but is declined; latter-day vehicles can be seen driving around in the background - despite the film taking place in 1997.

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Connections

Referenced in Midnight Screenings: Phoenix Forgotten (2017)

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Soundtracks

Happy Birthday
(uncredited)
Written by Mildred J. Hill and Patty S. Hill

User Reviews

Not bad, but a mediocre copycat of the movie that started this genre.

The movie is about a woman who does a documentary on the disappearance of her brother and his two friends that happen back in 97.

The Hi-8 footage used to compose those scenes from 20 years ago makes the movie seem like a throwback of the Blair Witch Project (Which I think was shot on 35mm, actually). It's almost a found footage movie within a found footage movie as this documentary filmmaker goes back over the case of her missing brother interviewing family and friends of all three as well as the police department, trying to find something that was possibly missed 2 decades ago. Then she would go through her brother's old Hi- 8 footage that tells the story of what happen up to the part where three teens (Oh! just like in the Blair Witch Project) went missing, while investigate a series of lights that appeared in the sky at the time that had no origin.

Honestly, the movie really takes a while for the story to get jumping. The documentary made on the missing kids is not that interesting yet effective in setting up the Hi-8 footage of the three missing kids. Getting to know these kids is actually not as interesting as watching that last 20-30minutes when the film indeed becomes like the Blair Witch Project.

I did really like what they did for the Hi-8 footage, not only a real throwback to the 90s in look and feel but the camera work in itself was actually really good (And it has to be because you can see the obvious change in quality from Hi-8 analog to the digital format we are doing today.)

So overall, the movie takes a long and sometimes dull time to get to the fun stuff, but I would say it leaves me (just) satisfied once they get there.

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