Five-Legged Iguana

¡QUÉ HORROR! 2012
Candidate # 16

EVIDENCE
(March 2012)


These days, the found footage film is like the zombie film: ubiquitous.
Seemingly, all I have to do is turn around, and there’s at least one making the rounds, there’s at least one waiting to be released, at least one that’s deep in post-production, at least one that’s filming, at least one that’s being cast, at least one that’s in development, ad nauseam.
Given the sheer amount of terribly mediocre titles that quickly begin to blur into each other, it’s sometimes quite the task to find the ones that deserve to be noted, to be set apart from the rest of the hordes.
Well, allow me to honour Howie Askins’ Evidence with that distinction.

What begins as an amateur documentary about camping gradually becomes what initially seems to be a rather good “strange goings-on in the woods” shakycam horror deal, then, ultimately, becomes something more.
I’ve always greatly admired found footage films that are not only well-made and well-executed examples of the form, but are also ambitious pieces in their own right, and Evidence is certainly that.
Like [REC] before it, there’s a certain point in Evidence’s running time where the constricting walls of the found footage genre are blown wide open as the audience is given a glimpse of the bigger picture within which the film’s POV narrative exists.

As always, I don’t wish to spoil anything for the potential viewer, so let me just leave it at that: the ¡Qué Horror! seal of approval on Evidence.
May that be enough for you to check it out.

Parting shot: I don’t think “ubiquitous” is hyperbole any longer when shows like The Walking Dead and The River are on television (and in Dead’s case, getting boffo ratings).
Think about it: The River is brought to us by Steven Spielberg and ABC, which is, ultimately, Disney.
Weekly shakycam horror hijinx courtesy of Spielberg and Disney. Never in my wildest dreams…

(Evidence DVD cover art courtesy of amazon.co.uk.)