I loved the basic premise of using the police body cam as a witness to some supernatural horror story, and placing the police force at the centre of it.

The film carries its weight alright. You wouldn't be disappointed if all you are after is some passtime as a fan of the genre.

However, some greater opportunity might have been missed along the lines. Maybe the overall feel was too much soaked in racilaism. Some more diversity (like, a few decent white cops) could have helped build the story in a better, less politically correct but more "correct" direction.

What with all the recent events following the George Floyd murder, the treatment of Afro-Americans by law enforcement is a hot topic and it is understandable that they have merged the more simple premise with that particular kind of tension.

Still, the same creative team can come up with a better sequel in case they keep the "police body cam" at the center of supernatural horror, and invest less in contemporary topics.

I must admit that I was lured in to watching the 2020 movie "Body Cam" given its rather appealing synopsis, which most certainly made the movie sound really interesting.

So I sat down to watch the movie as written by writers Nicholas McCarthy and Richmond Riedel with some expectations for them to deliver something rather good and worth my time.

But that was not the thing that happened. Nay. "Body Cam" was a rather confusing movie to me, and I must admit that I didn't really know what was going on most of the time throughout the first two-thirds of the movie. Sure, that might have been the intention by writers Nicholas McCarthy and Richmond Riedel, but it was done to such as extend where I started to lose interest in the storyline, given everything was leaving me out in the dark constantly.

And it was shame, because there was so much potential to the storyline. And then when it was revealed what was really going on, I was left with a sensation of it being a rushed and generic approach to the movie by director Malik Vitthal. The last third of the movie was very anti-climatic and felt really rushed. And that is where the movie completely fell apart for me.

Visually then "Body Cam" was interesting. Lots of good suspense being built up in some scenes, and it felt like you were right there alongside the police officers most of the times. So that was definitely something that spoke well for the movie.

All the suspense that was built up with the spectral entity just never felt like it was brought to fruition on the screen. Director Malik Vitthal just never really fully utilized this otherworldly character to the full extend of what it could have contributed to the movie.

The acting in the movie was good, though I can't really claim to have been thrilled with the particular choice of cast. But I will say that the actors and actresses put on good enough performances, despite having such a strange storyline and script to work with.

Ultimately then "Body Cam" provided only a less than mediocre entertainment to me, though it had potential to have been so much more, had the writers opted to go in a different direction.

My rating of "Body Cam" lands on a four out of ten stars. While the movie is watchable, it is something of an acquired taste. And this is hardly a movie that will find its way back to my screen for a second viewing.

As we've already learned in the past, movies often come in pairs. This time we have "Black & Blue" and "Body Cam" sharing a very similar premise. Both movies revolve around a black female cop and a body cam being an important part of the plot. Whereas "Black and Blue" is a regular cop thriller, "Body Cam" adds a supernatural element to the mix.

The premise sounds interesting enough: after a series of police brutality a supernatural entity exacts revenge on cops, with a black female cop just returning from suspension getting caught up in the events. For the most parts this works rather well. The movie is well shot and the attacks by the entity are well executed.

Where the movie falls short, unfortunately, is the flat performance by Mary J. Blige who works her way through most of the movie with a blank emotionless expression on her face, giving Steven Seagal a run for his money. Also, a huge part of the movie is reserved of people walking through dark hallways and rooms veeeery slowly and for a veeeery long time with nothing happening. Actually thrilling suspense is few and far between during these scenes, which makes the movie feel longer than it actually is.

It's still a somewhat entertaining attempt at horror with a dash of social commentary, but I feel that "Body Cam" could have been a much better movie with better pacing and more lively acting. I definitely recommend "Black and Blue" over this one. A much better performance by Naomie Harris and much tighter plot progression with actual thrills.

6/10