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MOVIE REVIEW: FTN reviews Evidence (2011)

January 12th, 2013 by Irwin Fletcher Comments


Evidence (18)
Directed by: Howie Askins
Starring: Ryan McCoy, Brett Rosenberg and Abigail Richie
Running time: 78min

Ryan is making a documentary on his friend, Brett, about camping for the first time. However, once they begin camping, they discover that there is a mysterious figure that is hunting them.

Having spent a bit of time in hospital recently, I think a camping trip to the woods would do me the world of good and recharge my batteries. After watching Evidence, you can forget that.

Yet another entry into the hand held camera genre, I initially saw this trailer and thought it was a take on the Bigfoot legend. Some of the shots intrigued me but the trailer does not prepare you for what is to come.

Ryan, (Ryan McCoy who wrote this in real life) decides to do a documentary about his friend Brett (Brett Rosenberg) and his first camping trip. Taking along Abi (Abigail Richie) and Ashley (Ashley Bracken), they hear strange noises in the woods and meet a strange man who wanders into their camp then out again in the middle of the night. However, on a hike they catch something on camera, something that couldn’t possibly exist. And now it is hunting them. When Brett then Ryan disappear, the two girls are left to fend for themselves as something in the dark wants them dead.

All I can say is I had to watch this twice, it was so good. I love a story which starts off one way then suddenly goes off in another direction. And for once the hand held camera viewpoint is completely justified.

My biggest gripe with the Blair Witch was the tent scene when on hearing the children playing outside it and laughing, the heroes run for it through the forest. All that scene needed was the camera to pan and show at least a glimpse of what they were seeing and it would have been an instant classic.

SPOILER: Here in Evidence you get exactly that. Something huge and shaggy rushing screaming from the dark to smash their camper van makes you think Bigfoot but, left alone, the girls find something even more terrifying. There is barely a word spoken for a while as Abi and Ashley run for their lives and end up in a complex of some sort where the residents are like escapees from the Crazies, impregnated people lie on beds, creatures scuttle out of the dark and four legged shaggy monsters track their every move. There is no explanation for what they are in, only one scene where someone says ‘I can’t believe they went through with it.’ But exactly what it is is left for you to decide through a brilliant end credit sequence. SPOILER ENDS

Evidence is smart, scary (given nothing scares me, my scare-o-meter is really hard to get on to), I nearly fell off my chair twice, I had to rewind things to confirm I hadn’t imagined what I’d just seen and just sat there mouth opened at the end screaming words I’m not allowed to type. This is such a good movie which has alerted me to a very horrible fact. Alongside Grave Encounters, Evidence is the second low budget, cheap DVD that has somehow fallen by the wayside of mainstream audiences. That scares me. This is now in my collection as a must see. And if The Woman in Black is what people prefer then cast Radcliffe in a remake of this just to get it out there. And how dare you Cabin in the Woods sit smugly as the movie that redefined the horror genre when all you were was the retread of the Initiative storyline from the climax of Buffy season four. The crown for redefining horror has to go to Evidence. Get a copy people now and tell your friends. And a message to Ryan McCoy, kick in a few more doors and get this noticed man; you are a bloody genius.

4 out of 5 Nerds

I'm an LA journalist who really lives for his profession. I have also published work as Jane Doe in various mags and newspapers across the globe. I normally write articles that can cause trouble but now I write for FTN because Nerds are never angry, so I feel safe.