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.

This movie started out ok even though it was just like 100 other movies. The guy with the video was a huge A-hole which they often are in these movies but this one I just wanted to smack him in the face. Couldn't wait until he died. The movie got really stupid fast! There were no gates or signs of any kind that the area was restricted. All of those civilians, even in a motor home weren't noticed? Still, not the worst movie I've ever seen. If you are running out of stuff to watch like me, it is still watchable.

This movie is about a young adult, his girlfriend, his best friend and his girlfriend or friend and their camping trip and his expedition to film an experimental documentary on his best friend. He appears to be an aspiring film maker.

Needless to say we all know that this camping trip goes horribly wrong and its a "found footage" type scenario like Blairwitch, rec, Noroi, grave encounters etc. These are my favourite horrors because they put you in the eye of the beholder and feel more realistic. Other's don't like them for this reason for shaking/motion sickness etc.

Bottom line though, this movie isn't one of those creepy ghost like horror atmospheres of a horror movie. It's a lot like how rec was where it makes you feel very tense and the film itself is intense. It's that kind of horror movie if that makes sense.

THE GOOD:

The story itself seemed pretty standard, then had a twist to something else that was even more standard. However the delivery of it was very solid I thought. I have seen a lot of very bad attempts at doing found footage. I won't bother doing a list of bad ones but I personally thought this did a very good job on its delivery of the story. Some people might be confused by it but I won't say anything else other then I understood it perfectly for the most part.

Next off I'll address the acting. I have also seen horrible acting in movies like these but to my surprise all the actors/actresses were very believable and played well. The main character the one filming was only slightly annoying at parts and whiny but that is how someone COULD act in that situation so its all good. Even the brief actors that came through were great.

The scenes and locations they go to are very well done too which create a nice blanket of suspense the whole time.

Great sounds, effects, and general noises too. All awesome.

THE BAD:

Some elements of the story while I understood most of it as mentioned prior, were still rather confusing and it felt partially like an incomplete "What the..." kind of moment near the end. A summary of what happened would have added another point onto this in my opinion.

Too much flashy camera break ups throughout the movie and near the end spoil a lot of what could have added more scary factors onto it. I know this adds more realism but if you were to see what actually happens during those times it would be much scarier in my opinion.

Overall:

Strongly worth watching if you're into the genre of "found footage". Not groundbreaking like Noroi, rec, or others.

Don't go in with high expectations if you hate the genre. Trust me there's MUCH worse out there. It is still a good watch.

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

Another day, another found footage film. While I was wondering, why this "genre" (shouldn't actually call it that) took so long to take off (Blair Witch Project is like ... really old), a friend of mine stated two points that helped: Paranormal Activity and the fact that digital filmmaking has taken over.

Especially the latter rings true. And because it has become even cheaper to make those movies, some of the money that would have been used for the equipment, can be used for effects or costumes now. Some of which you may be able to see in this movie. While I have stated before that I am not a big fan of found footage movies, I have to admit, that after a somewhat normal/slow start, this movie does kind of take off. Still it takes a couple of breaks in between and isn't really sure what it actually wants. But the delirious pace makes you forget almost any mistake you might have caught, watching this. So this roller-coaster is worth taking (some might feel sick at the end as with the real thing of course)