Horror’s found-footage sub-genre ran its course with me some time ago. But occasionally a movie will come around that reminds us of why found-footage filmmaking was once all the rave. The new independent horror film “Infirmary” starts with that kind of promise. But over the course of its lean 85 minutes, the narrative flaws begin to mount up. And no matter how encouraging it appears to be, “Infirmary” can’t see its vision through to the end.

Director Nicholas Pineda does a good job introducing his creepy setting and teasing us with what could have been a dread-drenched experience. The problem is he runs out of story well before the halfway point. After setting up its characters and establishing its location, the movie dawdles along for the bulk of its running time. It ultimately wastes a promising premise by making us endure scenes that go nowhere until the final ten minutes.

Set in 2023, Paul Syre Lee plays Edward, a recently discharged Marine who takes a job as a security guard in an old hospital set to be demolished. On his first day he meets his obnoxiously harsh boss Lester (Mark Anthony Williams) who immediately establishes his authority before sending Edward to sign some paperwork for the administrative assistant Ms. Downey (Danielle Kennedy). These are the three lone characters of consequence for the rest of the movie.

Once Edward returns, the bristly Lester gives Edward a rundown of his duties and a true or not-so-true history of the 200,000 square-foot hospital. Lester’s twisted tale include macabre experiments, dark magic, and creepy medical mannequins. It all comes off as more outlandish than unsettling which leaves us skeptical of his reliability. But to get answers we’re forced to sit through a monotonous series of scenes before finally getting to an end that leaves us with more questions than answers.

Once again, the setting isn’t the issue. The vacant hospital has all the built-in atmosphere needed for a chiller like this. And Pineda makes use of its many features including the operating room, medical records, the chapel, the cafeteria, and of course the morgue. And they’re made even creepier by being viewed exclusively through CCTV security cameras and uniform body cams. Pineda shows some real filmmaking savvy in his visual approach.

But the mood is dampened by long stretches where very little happens. We just watch Edward as he wanders down empty halls and repeatedly revisits the same rooms. The few attempts at scares grow predictable and repetitive. And then there’s the ending – a frustratingly vague ‘finish’ that leaves us to speculate about what happens while piecing together a story that the movie should have told better itself. It turns out to be the death knell for what is another found-footage flop – one that shows signs of what it could have been yet can’t escape what it actually is.