Butterfly Kisses (2018 film)

Lore & Background

The plot centers on Gavin York, a struggling wedding videographer who finds tapes labeled 'Don't Watch' in his in-laws' basement. The tapes contain a 2004 documentary by film students Sophia and Feldman, who attempted to prove or disprove the urban legend Peeping Tom, a figure summoned by staring down the Ilchester Tunnel for an hour without blinking. Peeping Tom gets closer each time the victim blinks, ultimately killing them after giving 'butterfly kisses.' The students discover that Peeping Tom has infested their camera, and Feldman is murdered, leaving Sophia to continue alone.

Reader's Guide

Butterfly Kisses is significant for its meta-commentary on the found-footage genre, directly referencing The Blair Witch Project and other films. The film's production involved Eduardo Sánchez, co-director of The Blair Witch Project, who appeared as himself and helped edit the film from three hours to 91 minutes. The film was so effective at spreading its urban legend that author Shelly Davies Wygant included Peeping Tom as a real legend in her book Haunted Ellicott City, unaware that Myers had created and seeded the legend online under a pseudonym. Myers later contacted her, and she praised the hoax as brilliant.

Did You Know?

• Eduardo Sánchez, co-director of The Blair Witch Project, appears as himself in the film, but the editing was done by Erik Kristopher Myers and other credited editors, not Sánchez.
• The film won Best Local Film at the 2018 GenreBlast Film Festival and the Jury Award at the 2018 Silver Scream Famous Monsters.
• Author Shelly Davies Wygant included the Peeping Tom legend in her book Haunted Ellicott City, believing it was a real local legend, after which director Myers revealed he had created it.
• The film's mid-credits scene shows Sophia, now in an insane asylum, seemingly caressing Peeping Tom's face.