A woman makes a documentary about the search for her missing brother in Hunting Matthew Nichols. On October 31, 2001, 17-year-old Matthew Nichols and his friend Jordon Reimer disappeared after venturing into the Black Bear Forest, near the small town of Port Rupert on Vancouver Island. Over two decades later, Matthew’s younger sister Tara (Miranda MacDougall) hopes to get some closure by teaming up with filmmakers Markian Tarasiuk and Ryan Alexander McDonald to produce a documentary about her search for Matthew. Receiving the case files from the original investigator, Pam Hamilton (Christine Willes), Tara learns that the police haven’t exactly been forthcoming about what they discovered in the forest.
Hunting Matthew Nichols Synopsis
Hunting Matthew Nichols is a found-footage horror film co-written and directed by Markian Tarasiuk, who also appears on-screen as a fictionalized version of himself, along with cameraman Ryan Alexander McDonald. Miranda MacDougall (The Flash TV series) stars as the protagonist Tara Nichols, who hasn’t been able to find closure about her brother’s disappearance. While working on her documentary, Tara learns that Matthew Nichols was obsessed with the local legend of cannibalistic cult leader Roy McKenzie, which is told in the film via an animated sequence. After recovering the final tape Matthew recorded on his camcorder, Tara learns the horrifying truth about what happened in the Black Bear Forest.
My Thoughts on Hunting Matthew Nichols
By pure coincidence, Hunting Matthew Nichols has a basic narrative that is remarkably similar to that of Chris Stuckmann’s Shelby Oaks from earlier this year, though ultimately they are two completely different found footage films. Markian Tarasiuk and his co-writer and producer Sean Oliver seem more directly inspired by The Blair Witch Project, which is mentioned many times throughout the plot of Hunting Matthew Nichols and the film even has a similar lore-building website. Hunting Matthew Nichols doesn’t truly become horror until the final act, set within the Black Bear Forest, though the film does build up to a pretty freaky conclusion.