‘Infirmary’ Review – Found Footage Horror Finds Nothing But Boredom In The Dark

Found footage horror is tricky. The audience needs a reason to follow along through what amounts to a first-person perspective for at least ninety minutes. We all remember the ending to The Blair Witch Project. A creepy, ominous build-up leads to an expected reveal, then leaves a feeling of dread and intentional uncertainty. Today, that kind of effect likely wouldn’t be as effective. The audience demands a bit more reveal and less shock and awe, which I’m sure is in the thinking behind the new Shudder original Infirmary. And yet, for all the pomp and circumstance, it is atmospherically creepy but dull to the point that watching paint dry is a more engaging alternative.

The premise is compelling; that is all. Told through recovered bodycam footage from a security guard, the beginning—an ominous warning—tries to set the tone…

“On Thursday, March 23, 2023, at approximately 12:15 A.M., authorities responded to an unknown disturbance call at The Wilshire Infirmary.

Upon arrival, the officers located two deceased Individuals and are searching for a person of interest.

The following is assembled from recovered footage recorded during the incident. The material is presented in its original and uncensored form.”

Creepy? Check. Ominous. Double-check. From there, the story introduces Edward (Paul Syre Lee), a wet-behind-the-ears security guard hiree. His workplace is an old mental hospital full of dark secrets and haunting mysteries. The other players include Lester (Mark Anthony Williams), the head security guard and Paul’s superior, and the HR official, Mrs. Downey (Danielle Kennedy).

The inciting incident is the appearance of a tweaker (Corinna Wagner-Smith) on one of the security feeds, prompting a grizzled Lester and green Edward to investigate. From there, the story unfolds—or rather, doesn’t. It plods. For ninety minutes, much of the film is us following Edward via his body camera, reacting to nothing.

Ideas don’t even scratch the surface, though they’re there nonetheless. The story hints at Edward suffering from some PTSD, and there are whispers that the asylum was once a testing ground for an assortment of dark, unethical, and perhaps supernatural experiments. Aesthetically, the film hits the mark, and the long corridors and endless basements are frightening. However, the overall effect is about the same as watching a creepy screensaver image. After a while, boredom sets in.

And therein lies the problem with Infirmary: boredom. Rather than following a central mystery or hinting at a story, the film zips from location to location. In a sense, the story almost manifests its own existence, from the title to the setting. The approach feels almost cavalier, as if the film can be accomplished by relying on shaky footage and shots of characters looking over their shoulders, expecting something but seeing nothing.

The schtick wears thin, in part because the film never decides what it wants to be. The clash between trying to tie together Edward’s questionable past and the hospital’s dark history never connects. Much of the story reads like a first draft rather than a finished story. Again, the ideas are abundant, but it almost becomes a kitchen-sink approach. Through everything spooky and weird, I hope something sticks.

Those who decide to plug in and invest with Infirmary do not expect a big reveal or a payoff. Again, because the story is thin and the effect stretches the runtime by shooting darkness and introducing more darkness, the effect is lost.

More intriguing hospital-set horror films are out there than Infirmary. Even as background noise and spooky images, this one won’t register a little fright, much less conjure up the unimaginable images of things that go bump in the night. A trip to the infirmary for severe shock will not be required after a viewing, unless there happens to be a cure for boredom.

Infirmary is currently available to stream on Shudder.

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