The Bay

Harking back to 1970s eco-horrors like Doomwatch, Piranha and Prophecy, in which mutated beasties wreak havoc against humanity because of its cavalier treatment of nature, Rain Man director Barry Levinson takes an unprecedented plunge into the "found-footage" genre with this cautionary "Jaws meets Paranormal Activity" tale. Using news broadcasts, phone cameras, Skype, CCTV, webcam and narration from a local reporter (Kether Donohue), the film exposes the implosion of Fourth of July celebrations in the small coastal town of Claridge, Maryland, after parasitic crustacean isopods terrorise the population. Panic gradually takes a grip as the carnivorous creatures launch attacks in the water and then, more insidiously, from within their victims. For Levinson, this is not just fantastical genre tosh. Born in Maryland, he has seen the effects of pollution first-hand (location Chesapeake Bay actually has a marine "dead zone") and this superbly observed terror tale is an impassioned expression of his own concerns (in the movie, intense farming and local government are implicated in the catastrophe). The combination of fact (isopods do exist) and fiction creates a breathlessly scary experience, especially when Levinson hurls in some unexpected grisly jolts.