Hunting Matthew Nichols (2026) Moon7/Horror RT: 89 minutes Rated R (language, some violent content/bloody images, brief nudity) Director: Markian Tarasiuk Screenplay: Sean Harris Oliver and Markian Tarasiuk Music: Jeff Griffiths and Christopher King Cinematography: Justin Sebastian Release date: April 10, 2026 (US) Cast: Miranda MacDougall, Markian Tarasiuk, Ryan Alexander McDonald, Christine Willes, Trevor Carroll, Jay Hindle, Susinn McFarlen.
Rating: NO STARS!!!
Hunting Matthew Nichols is obviously made by people who consider The Blair Witch Project a high-water mark in modern cinema. It basically rips it off almost scene for scene. Hell, the 1999 movie is even a crucial plot point. By the way, I deliberately used the word hell because it comes the closest to describing the experience of sitting through this dismal horror movie.
I was disappointed when I heard Hunting Matthew Nichols would be this week’s AMC Screen Unseen feature. It immediately had two strikes against it. First, it’s found footage (well, partially). I loathe found footage. It does nothing but annoy me. Second, it’s been sitting on the shelf for two years. That is NEVER a good sign. I’m actually shocked it’s being released to theaters. It’s the kind of horror movie that would normally go directly to streaming. When it finally does (very soon I should think), I strongly suggest one of the free platforms like Tubi. Nobody should have to waste their hard-earned money on this crap.
Directed by first-timer Markian Tarasiuk (who also plays himself in the movie), Hunting Matthew Nichols starts off like an episode of 20/20. People are interviewed about the disappearance of two teens from Vancouver Island on October 31, 2001. The younger sister of one of the teens, Tara Nichols (MacDougall), wants to know what happened to her brother Matthew. The local police never figured it out and let the case go cold. She decides to handle the investigation herself with a little help from friends, documentary filmmaker Markian and cameraman Ryan McDonald (as himself). They film her as she tries to unravel the mystery.
This is when Hunting Matthew Nichols sheds its mockumentary trappings and leans fully into found footage territory. We watch as Tara sorts through the evidence she obtained from the police. We watch as she goes from place to place looking for clues that might point to her brother’s whereabouts. As she delves deeper into the mystery, Tara starts to lose it. What, did you expect otherwise?
Tara’s investigation leads to some dark places- i.e. an abandoned cabin in the woods (the fictitious Black Bear Forest to be exact). There’s some business about a videotape that was never released with the rest of the evidence. This is the part that gets me the most. When Tara finally gets her hands on it, she watches it and then the guys watch it. They’re horrified by what they see. What I want to know is what did they see? We don’t get to see a single frame of it. WHAT THE F***?! It’s like the makers are determined to make a movie that frustrates rather than terrifies. Well, they succeed.
It’s not enough that Hunting Matthew Nichols is frustrating; it’s also a complete bore. Nothing, and I mean absolutely NOTHING, happens until the last minute. By then, I just didn’t care anymore. I just wanted this thing to be over so I could go home and not think about how I just wasted 89 minutes of my life. If it was possible, I’d sue the makers to get it back. Since I can’t do that, I’ll do the next best thing and warn the public not to make the same mistake I did. AVOID THIS ONE LIKE THE PLAGUE!
Hunting Matthew Nichols is not the least bit scary. I wasn’t even mildly startled by the “BOO!” moments at the very end. To the film’s only credit, it has a slightly better ending than Blair Witch and only because it involves more than a guy standing in the corner and a dropped camera cutting to black. It doesn’t save the movie at all; it just makes the rest of it seem all the worse. The similarities to Blair Witch don’t end here. The characters in Hunting Matthew Nichols are just as annoying. No, I take that back. They’re more annoying. They’re also just as stupid. Given the Blair Witch connection, why would they possibly think traipsing through a spooky forest at night is a good idea? They had to know on some level that it would not end well for them.
The key word when it comes to Hunting Matthew Nichols is “bad”. Everything about this movie is all caps B-A-D. The acting, writing, directing, cinematography, score and the rest of it; it’s all terrible. None of it is even remotely interesting. It makes Undertone look good. The only thing it accomplishes is proving yet again that found footage is more oft than not ineffective. If anything, it should be a deterrent. Do you really want to pay $15 to see what amounts to a home movie with shaky camera effects that either make you nauseous or give you a headache? The answer should be a great big NO.
