Man Finds Tape (2025) Review
Vertigo Releasing is excited to announce the digital release of MAN FINDS TAPE, the mysterious and supernatural horror film from award-nominated Austin-based filmmakers Peter Hall and Paul Gandersman, following its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.
After the success of their debut novel, THE DEAD FRIENDS SOCIETY, Hall and Gandersman challenged themselves as directors with their first directorial feature, MAN FINDS TAPE, a fictional documentary that pulls in a series of strange and unexplainable video clips. Bringing their producing background to the forefront, the duo collaborated with Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead, and David Lawson Jr. of Rustic Films – producers of THE ENDLESS and SYNCHRONIC, shaping the true horror into a modern monster movie.
MAN FINDS TAPE follows documentarian Lynn Page (Kelsey Pribilski), who returns to her small Texas hometown after receiving a cryptic call to investigate haunting footage of events no one can remember taking place. But her brother Lucas’ (William Magnuson) controversial past with a viral web series called ‘Man Finds Tape’ forces Lynn to question if he, or anyone in their town, can be trusted. And the arrival of a stranger with chaotic intentions forces Lynn to confront her family’s involvement with the deadly monster preying on Larkin, TX.
Regular followers of our website will know that aside from most things THE WALKING DEAD-related, found footage flicks are another major no-no for me. On the whole found-footage films are lazy, ill-conceived and follow a predictable narrative. MAN FINDS TAPE bucks that trend. This is no shaky-cam monstrosity.
For starters this has a set-up that pulls you in from the start and never lets up. MAN FINDS TAPE opens with a voiceover from Lynn Page (Kelsey Pribilski)detailing how people can all look at the same image and not necessarily see the same thing, using both the infamous Big Foot footage and a classic Nessie photo to get the point across.
We then get to see grainy footage taken from a security camera overlooking a street in the small town of Larkin where someone is run over in the road by a van. It is not until the footage is shown again that I realised what the opening dialogue was referring to. I looked again and saw the bigger picture, and everything clicked into place. From that point on I was totally and utterly enthralled!
There is a mixture of influences at play here, this is no tired BLAIR WITCH knock-off but a film that incorporates elements of Lovecraft and Cronenberg instead. Both practical and digital effects are effectively employed to heighten the horror of the great reveal that comes later in the movie, and boy! What a reveal! I have not been this excited or thrilled by a new release in a long while.
MAN FINDS TAPE will be released on Amazon, Apple TV, Sky Store and YouTube Movies January 19th, 2026.
TRAILER
