Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Leaving D.C.’

Written by Scott Edwards

A change of venue can be something that everybody needs once in a while. Whether it is just to get away from the craziness of the big cities, or just a way to give yourself a jump start, it’s always a wonderful idea since becoming complacent can be a bad thing. Looking for the right place to live in your newly chosen destination can be easy in the long run, versus what it takes to get the new home and complete the tedious unpacking of all of your belongings. You never know what the future holds, but there is one thing that we do know for certain, we can’t hide from it forever. 
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After hearing his friends talk about doing it for so many years, Mark Klein has finally made the next step in his life and is leaving the big city. With Washington D.C. in his rearview mirror and arriving at his new home in remote West Virginia, he has no regrets. Sending daily video updates to his friends back in D.C., Mark believes that the isolation from the rest of the world will do him good, but he can tell that he will be lonely and offers up his empty rooms for whomever would like to come and visit. But he may not be as lonely in his new house as he thinks, as he starts to hear strange things just outside of his window.

Being woken up in the middle of the night to someone screaming in the woods, Mark has a great idea to tape these events and go over them on his video updates with his friends. Putting a recorder outside of his window, the first recording comes back with the knocking sound, but also a voice that he cannot make out. Not knowing what to make of this, he puts the recorder back outside the window again and continues to catch the strange knocking sounds. Trying to make light of the situation since he does not know who or what is causing this, a visit from Claire has brightened his weekend, but when the sounds become too great for her to take, she leaves as quickly as possible for the madness that only the city can provide.

Heading out into the woods to investigate the latest knocking sounds, Mark spots that a tree had been chopped down in the middle of the night, but that is not the only thing he finds when he discovers a golden locket. Not knowing what this means, Mark will get to the bottom of the strange sounds coming from outside of his window once and for all and hooks up a trail camera. Knowing that whoever is out there cannot outsmart technology, he is shocked to wake up the next morning to see that it has been stolen. With the police not being any help, Mark has to find a way to keep himself and his property safe from whatever is hiding in the woods, but little does he know what he is really up against.

Even though this movie starts off slow and you don’t get the jump scares like some other horror movies, it is actually pretty fun trying to figure out what is haunting Mark. The sounds going unexplained throughout and some creepy pictures from the trail camera make you wonder what it could be, especially when the time stamps are called into question. But watching as Mark slowly goes mad from lack of sleep is the key to the story and his anger towards his friends, along with his new friend outside the window, makes it difficult to tell what is really happening in his mind. With strange wilderness sounds, an unseen haunting, creepy pictures, a backstory of the house and plenty of questions that may never get answered, this is a slow burner, but it keeps you guessing throughout. Stay Scared.

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