By Robert Scucci
| Published 1 hour ago

One of my favorite found footage horror flicks that you’ve never heard of is 2025’s Looky-Loo (my review here), written and directed by Jason Zink (the guy behind Straight Edge Kegger). I was fortunate enough to be contacted by Jason ahead of its release back in 2024 to review the film, and it blew me away. It’s very well shot because the “found footage” comes from an aspiring filmmaker, meaning he knows how to edit his footage, and whatever camera he’s using doesn’t fall into the “scared kids running around the woods with their parents’ camcorder” trap that so many found footage films succumb to.

The footage presented to the viewer in Looky-Loo, as far as I can tell, is carefully curated by the titular serial killer because he’s trying to build out his own mythology and wants the attention. Think BTK killer, but if he knew how to use CapCut. Looky-Loo: Part II builds on this lore and keeps things interesting by showing us just how far off the deep end the killer has gotten since we last saw him. That’s saying a lot because the first film succeeds in traumatizing its audience, but only before hinting that there’s plenty more where that came from.

When Zink reached out to me again to hear my thoughts on his upcoming sequel, I was obviously primed for more of the same, just slightly escalated. He’s working the whole thing into a trilogy, so I figured we’d get a slow burn, leading to another cliffhanger. I was surprised when Looky-Loo: Part II got right into it with zero buildup to prepare you for the continuation of our killer’s rampage.

Looky Loo Wants To Be Famous

Looky-Loo: Part II wastes no time building out the mythology of its titular character and includes a letter to the viewer that spells everything out. The letter accomplishes two things. It tells the viewer that he will continue to kill, and it passive-aggressively taunts the authorities, stating that “so many more ladies ended up on the cutting room floor than the FBI knows about.” He goes on to explain that one such victim was strangled with a guitar string while she sat in her recliner, something he refers to as “Compelling footage, but cut for time.”

Right off the rip, Looky Loo is talking like an accomplished filmmaker who just so happens to be a serial killer, not a serial killer moonlighting as an amateur filmmaker. That should tell you everything you need to know about the murderous menace’s mental state. He thinks very highly of himself, and he believes what he’s doing is high art. In reality, he’s stalking women, entering and snooping around their homes when they’re not around, and returning when he’s comfortable enough with their routines to go in for the kill.

But here’s what Looky Loo doesn’t want to admit. He’s getting sloppy.

In the first film, one thing that really stuck with me was how he used his camera for reconnaissance. At first, it seems like he’s just filming his voyeuristic activities for the thrill of it. But if you really think about what he’s doing, he’s playing things smart. He films very specific things when he goes into a house. You catch glimpses of calendars, he goes through junk drawers and medicine cabinets, looks for potential murder weapons, and comes up with potential escape routes.

He’s also scoping out places to hide once it’s time to strike. He takes the footage home and reviews it so there are no surprises. In other words, he’s sizing up the joint from a safe distance once he has what he needs, giving him intimate knowledge of his victims’ daily habits and floor plans. He’s planning everything out in advance, giving him a horrifying advantage over his victims. 

Our Killer’s Sophomore Slump

In the lore that Looky-Loo: Part II establishes, there’s now a popular snuff film playing at drive-in theaters that features footage from the first film. The sequel itself opens in the home of his next victims, an older married couple who don’t match his usual victim profile. Up to this point, Looky Loo has always gone after young, attractive women, but there’s a personal stake in this opening sequence. He’s playing a news broadcast featuring a man saying that if he ever got his hands on the killer, it’d be game over. When the camera zooms out, it’s clear that this is the same man Looky Loo currently has bound and gagged.

After finishing off the man and his wife, Looky Loo reaches into a puddle of blood and writes “Part II” on the refrigerator, because in his mind this is just another film project, and this is the most badass way to come up with a title card.

I’m not going to go into the granular details and do a full breakdown of Looky-Loo: Part II, but there are a couple of things to consider about our killer’s mental state that I clocked while watching the upcoming sequel. He’s getting careless. He doesn’t appear to be constantly editing footage anymore, which suggests he’s less cautious when entering his victims’ homes. He gets spotted and nearly overpowered on more than one occasion. He starts interacting with objects in his victims’ houses that could easily blow his cover before he’s able to satisfy his sadistic urges.

Looky Loo’s check engine light is illuminated, which tells you he’s not even taking care of his getaway vehicle despite planning to escalate. He shows up in public places with his camera, presumably in plain clothes, though we only ever see his shadow. Again, careless. There are also several sequences involving a woman who is either his next victim or someone he hires so he can work out his fantasies in a controlled environment before doing it for real. In these scenes, she sits awkwardly on a bed, reads his poetry, and tries on various outfits and wigs that match his preferred victim type. Strangely, she doesn’t seem scared, but almost sympathetic toward him.

Like its predecessor, Looky-Loo: Part II has sparse dialogue and features long tracking shots, heavy breathing, and the sound of footsteps scraping along the sidewalk. Occasionally, while hiding in somebody’s closet, he turns off the camera to conserve battery life. When he starts recording again, it’s clear that time has passed, and he’s about to do something terrible now that everybody is asleep and completely unaware of his presence in the one place they’re supposed to feel safe.

Most disturbing, though, is the same sick rush I had while watching this film that I had with the first one. Zink makes the deliberate choice to have viewers follow the worst protagonist imaginable. He’s a horrible person. He’s mentally unstable. He’s done nothing but stalk and kill throughout the entire runtime. But the important thing that you need to consider is that Looky Loo is the protagonist, so you feel compelled to see his story through, and, to a degree, see him succeed, because that’s how storytelling works. The protagonist is usually the hero. Here, he’s the exact opposite. Everything he does is reprehensible, but you stay invested because it’s the story you’re following. In a way, his sick and twisted fantasy of being famous comes to life because you’re watching him build out the lore in real time, and you can’t help but hope it’s a great story.

That’s what makes the Looky-Loo films so messed up and fun to watch. By design, you’re forced to root for the bad guy, and that’s exactly what he wants.

As of this writing, Looky-Loo: Part II is wrapping post-production, and a release date has yet to be announced. To prime yourself for what’s to come, you can stream the first Looky-Loo for free on Tubi.