Exists

The movie left me more confused than entertained. Sanchez has proved himself not once, but three times as a master of the horror genre. When he announced he would tackle Bigfoot, I thought for sure he would bring his usual flair to a "been there done that" premise. What makes his films great are the emotional weight and deep characters that give purpose to the surrounding action. That is exactly what is missing in Exists. It isn't necessarily a bad film, but its generic, an almost worse crime. The characters are not only "by the numbers," they are badly written "by the numbers" characters. For the first half hour, the characters act so stereotypical that I wanted them all to die, and fast. Girls whimpering "OMG what is that?" as they huddle underneath their man's fully toned arm. "GET AT ME BRO" the man cries with defiance. Seriously? Luckily, once Bigfoot does show up and the film sees some casualties, it does pick up some speed. The characters react alright to what is happening around them, and you could tell it was Sanchez by the haunting music and emotionality brought to the film when a character does die. We don't care about who dies, but these people sure do, and that makes me feel for them a little more. It's not enough, though. The film still lacks that raw ingredient that every film needs. The found footage only works in spots, and is glaringly misguided in others. I have a feeling it wasn't originally written to be found footage and was only morphed into that during the development process. Some cameras magically appear out of nowhere in the woods. Where did it come from? Whose camera was it? It's not logical, and it brings the film down. I actually found the style to be degrading to the quality of the movie. Sanchez has style and I wish he upped his game. Now, let me talk about Bigfoot. Well, he's awesome. I haven't seen a film where he is so terrifying. He moves and looks just like he does in all those photographs you see. When he howls and rampages, you just want to curl up in a ball. He's that scary. I expect more from Sanchez, and this was a disappointment overall.

This film comes from the director of the Blair With Project, who pioneered the found footage format, and uses it here once again to make a horror movie involving none other than Bigfoot. I think the Blair Witch was genuinely scary and absolutely innovative so I was expecting this one to be good, and I must say I enjoyed it.

The director was wise to make a shorter running time for this movie as it makes it gloriously fast paced so it never becomes dull for a moment. The tension builds rather quickly and carries on doing so.

The faults in this movie are in the decisions the characters make, some of which are absolutely idiotic and unforgivable. (Slight spoiler ahead) Lets say you have a shotgun for protection and you have 5 cartridges but you waste most of them giving your (hidden) location away shooting into the air... Unforgivable.

If it wasn't for some of the idiocy of the characters I may have actually given this a 7/10 or an 8/10. It was actually pretty good, and extra kudos for the makeup and stunts which were surprisingly very good.

Overall opinion: Fast paced and enjoyable (mostly)

Recommendation: Willow Creek (2013) by Bobcat Goldthwait is another found footage Bigfoot horror which I also enjoyed..

This tells you what it is going on. Get chased by Bigfoot. Directed by the godfather of found footage.

There's seriously zero wrong with this. I'm giving it a seven because I wanted some twists.

But if you want what it says on box then it's perfect.

After loads of recently bad Bigfoot movies I was kind of dreading another disappointment but actually this was pretty good. There were no surprises plot wise but the action kept to a good pace and you actually get to see the monster which lets face it is the money shot of any horror. The filming was good and the acting fine.

I'm a bit of a fan when it comes to monster movies and have felt bad recently posting rubbish reviews so I'm really glad this movie did what it promised and was an way watch.

Probably not going to make it to the Oscar list but definitely worth a watch if you're into Bigfoot killing college kids, which lets face it is a winning formula.

-From the director of The Blair Witch Project comes a film about, and I kid you not, five teenagers who are on a cabin getaway and are hunted by Bigfoot. The teens must survive and find a way to escape in this interesting found-footage film.

-Exists is one of the most cliché movies I've ever seen, but I didn't really expect different. Especially because it's a film version of the Messing With Sasquatch commercials.

-The story is pretty cliché. There are five teens, the white leader, the black tough guy, the blonde, the smart girl, and the unlikable cameraman, who are at this cabin for some reason and nobody knows they are there. And then Bigfoot.

-The tone is pretty creepy, as much as I don't like found-footage films. It's still effective and it has a theme of 'you reap what you sow' which I found compelling. The pace is also pretty good. They get straight to the point, but they also miss some opportunity for character development.

-The acting's not worth anything in this. Everyone fills their horror stereotypes well, which means they are all not good.

-All you see of Bigfoot himself is pretty much what people would claim is Bigfoot in, well, real footage. So effective. He does also show up at the end, which is rewarding. Good job makeup team! -The music is eerie, but at one point I was wondering if it was even necessary.

-The scares are meh. The jumpscares are not scary, but the suspenseful elements are suspenseful.

-The film is rated-R for language really. It has some moderate language throughout.

-So Exists takes a super-cliché premise and makes an actually interesting found-footage film about Bigfoot. I found myself enjoying it. I will say that if you like the style, Exists is worth watching on Netflix/Redbox. I am only going to give it a 6.5 for its unoriginality and acting though.