Cymothoa exigua.

As someone who has always struggled to get much from “found footage” movies, I entered Barry Levinson’s The Bay with some trepidation. Levinson’s standing as a director prompted me to take a look. And I’m glad I did.

Chesapeake Bay was home to a toxic led catastrophe that created horrors unbound – but the government covered it up…

Levinson brings considerable class to the camcorder horror phase by having his film unfold in multi stranded documentary style. Using many of the electrical appliances that people use in everyday life, Levinson and co-writer Michael Wallach piece together a horrifying tale of parasite infestation and society meltdown, all in one day! The editing (Aaron Yanes) ensures the number of stories that are running concurrent never disrupt momentum of pic, the parasite scares and illness scenes are superbly constructed, while dashes of humour sit alongside the very plausible and reality warnings of such an occurrence. 8/10

Don't people ever get tired of being spoon fed the same dreck over and over again!?! "The Bay" is yet another attempt to preach environmentalism. Its got all you'd expect from a propaganda film. Crooked politicians, inept public servants, uncaring, greedy corporations...my god, does it get anymore run-of the-mill?!? If you want to make a point or call your audience to take action, could you come up with something just slightly unique? Anything...anything that hasn't been done thousands of times before?

The heavy-handed message here is clumsily couched in what is the latest and most tiring trend in Horror movies. Yes, it's another found footage film. And from a relatively respected director in Barry Levinson, no less.

There was nothing scary here at all. The best you'll get is a few jump scares (which are not scary at all, just cheap) and a few gross-out moments. I would have appreciated the slightest bit of characterization, but it's not found here. All I really did was scoff at the predictability of it. It should come as no surprise that the 'Top Critics' have awarded this turd a 76% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In reading many of their critiques, phrases like "though-provoking" and "should appeal to genre fans and eco-activists" are used. Really?!? For this rehashed piece of junk?

Thankfully, it appears that the 'Audience' has not fallen for it. They rate "The Bay" at only 44%.