Evidence

I first saw this in 2012 on a dvd which I own.

Saw this few days back on a fast forward mode to put up a review before i throw the dvd in the trash bin.

With a run time of around 78 mins, almost nothing happens till one hour n later when the action takes place, everything is shot with shaky cam, lots of flickering lights n more than 5 times the screen goes blank. One cannot make out wots going on.

A girl keeps running n screaming n the ending is supposed to be some big revelation.

I don't kno why such movies are made.

Kind've your average found footage fare. Starts off your standard hey lets go camping in the woods type film and then of course morphs into the scream and run fest with a couple twists maybe. Prepare for a lot of shaky camera action. Really could compare to a low budget Cloverfield.

I've read a lot of negative comments & seen this movie rated quite poorly, I have to totally disagree. Most importantly, you MUST be a fan of found footage movies to enjoy this film, if you're not - forget it & go watch something else! Yes, at first it comes across as a little derivative of Blair witch, but there is far more to this movie than that. It starts quite slowly, building up that unsettling & creepy feeling that something isn't quite right with the camping trip. The character behind the camera comes across as manipulative and uncaring, a borderline sociopath. As his world starts to unravel, so does his mind and he becomes a real danger to his companions. Part way through, all hell breaks loose, the action ramps up and the campers are plunged into a living hell. The Actors all play their parts well & are believable. The plot is well thought out with unexpected twists and some great shocks & scares. Most importantly for me, this movie does NOT treat you like an idiot, you are left to work out a lot of what is going on yourself. Plenty of times you'll be asking yourself "WTF just happened?" and that's a GOOD thing! I hate it when directors feel they have to explain every little thing to you, like you're stupid! In short, it's Blair Witch meets Chernobyl Diaries, with plenty of genre originality in there too. If you liked either of those movies, you'll like this - I have no hesitation giving it 7 stars.

This was a pleasant surprise....no actually I knew this was going to be a good one when I purchased it off ebay from a die hard found footage film buff. This is right up there will Evil Things for me. For all the haters out there have you seen Episode 50 or the Bucks County Massacre? Now those were God awful found footage films. This film hit all the right notes....decent acting, some gore, creepy tension and some great looking villains. Most people who liked this film liked the last 20 minutes the most but I felt different. I enjoyed the first hour much more and thought the less we knew about what the hell was stalking these kids in the middle of the night the better. I felt the last act of the film explained too much but it still worked for me. Evidence reminded me a bit of Chernobyl Diaries meets Zombie Diaries with a twist. Overall was coasting to an 8 or a 9 but I was let down a bit by the ending.

There's no arguing that this film is well made with a tight script and good direction, however, as is the way with most found footage genre films, is that they really have to have a "believable" concept and storyline, leastways, the storyline has to be one that doesn't come across as instantly ridiculous.

Evidence nearly gets there, but again, the action packed last 60 minutes are just too cluttered with too much going on and too many questions left unanswered.

The worst part of the found footage genre, are the opening character development scenes - they are either hopelessly painful, or, as is the case in Evidence, seamless and pain free with some good dialogue. Far too many of this genre, fall into the trap of not scripting properly, or, leaving the cast to their own devices and letting them ad lib their way through the scenes. Evidence presents a believable introduction and leaves the viewer at ease quite quickly with the characters and their reasons for the documentary.

As mentioned the last 60 minutes have to understandably pack a lot in, trying to provide explanations whilst still delivering the "money shot" - Evidence gets there, just, with some questions still left hanging.

It's advisable to watch through the credits, as the story continues throughout, why this couldn't be built into the main story, you're left to wonder yourself.

A decent Found Footage film - and it should appeal to most who enjoy the sub genre, just don't go into it with too many high hopes.

6/10