Exists (2014)
Friends, Found Footage, and a Big Furry Monster
“The legend is real. So is the terror.” Exists is an entertaining yet ultimately disappointing found footage attempt of capturing the raw power of the ultimate cryptid. Fans of Bigfoot may enjoy seeing the Sasquatch unleash his power and demonstrate his superiority over humans in the woods, but they must endure the tired trope of found footage and character arcs that go nowhere.
All that being said, Exists still manages to create sequences bubbling with tension and launches the audience right into a dark reality of the main characters. Like many horror films, the situations themselves are terrifying, but the execution of the filmmakers prevents the audiences from fully committing and engaging with the story. Some sections of the film work better than others. For instance, the moments of grief the characters are allowed to experience adds to the tension, however the way it’s all captured on the camera lacks creativity.
Besides a few cool shots, the kills aren’t that gory or horrific. Bigfoot doesn’t have a weapon, but that doesn’t mean he can’t administer some creative kills.
The story follows a group of friends as they head out into the woods for some secluded fun. This tale as old as time and as common as a blurry Sasquatch photo manages to stumble upon almost every trope, but that doesn’t mean it’s not enjoyable to watch for the most part. Abandoned cabin, zero cell service, some white lies, and horny couples are inevitable in this type of movie. Luckily for us, the monster comes in fairly quick and we don’t waste too much time on senseless drama or unnecessary romantic scenes. The movie is centered around Brian, a goofy filmmaker hopeful to create a viral video from their trip footage. When he accidentally catches a monster on camera he tries to convince the group that Bigfoot might be real. The group of course doesn’t believe him until the Sasquatch confronts them in their cabin and scares the living daylights out of him. The friends must develop a plan to get away from the beast who seemingly has a personal vendetta against the group.
When it comes to found footage, people either love it or hate it. Sometimes, it can be genius, other times trite. In this film, despite being shot relatively well and relying on the convention of a guy wanting to film everything for YouTube, the found footage aspect doesn’t fully work. For one, the cameras constantly switch angles, because multiple camera are used. The characters wear go-pros and hold hand held cameras. One character, Matt, ventures off on his own to get help, we see his journey through the go-pro on his helmet. The movie cuts back and forth between him and the group. If you are going to use multiple cameras why make it found footage at all? There is a sequence in the movie where Brian needs to use one of the cameras to see in a cave. He uses the camera’s night vision to replace his flashlight. That idea makes sense and the effort to explain why he would possibly turn on a camera in that moment is more justified. But at the end of the day, you just want them to turn the cameras off and save themselves and their friends. But maybe that was one of the points the film was trying to make. We are too addicted to filming every second of our lives. Or maybe, they just wanted to make an old school found footage film with Bigfoot. I don’t know if it matters.
Despite having the difficult task of being both a Bigfoot movie and a found footage film, Exists fails more than it succeeds. With a cast of somewhat generic characters who never get fully realized and a concept devoted around making a viral YouTube video the movie forces the audiences to suspend their belief that someone would actually keep the camera rolling, even when their friends are dying around them. Of course, every found footage film must rely on the audience accepting that the camera will be rolling no matter how far-fetched the circumstance. In the case of Exsits, it is at least upfront about its methods. A strength of the film is that it does not take too long for the monster to show up and starting putting our characters in danger. These sort of movies, ones with groups of young friends who venture out into the woods for a little fun and seclusion, can often spend far too much time on frivolous banter between the characters in a poor attempt to establish personalities and let us know that we don’t need to care about these characters anyway.
The movie was written by Jamie Nash and Eduardo Sánchez and directed by Eduardo Sánchez. It was released on October 3, 2014 in the United States. It was filmed in Spiderwood studios in Austin Texas and grossed $413,767 at the box office. It stars Samuel Davis as Matt, Dora Madison as Dora, Roger Edwards as Todd, Chris Osborn as Brian and Denise Williamson as Elizabeth. Brian Steele dawned the big furry suit as Bigfoot. (He also played Bigfoot in the TV show version of Harry and The Hendersons.)
Sánchez previously directed the iconic and classic Blair Witch Project, arguably one of the greatest horror films of all time. He also directed its sequel, The Curse of Blair Witch and V/H/S/2 before taking a swing at tackling Bigfoot. Given his track record with found footage films, Sánchez seems like a great fit for the Wild Man of the woods. And for the most part, he does a good job.
This movie is riddled with flaws but it does deliver decent acting performances, a pretty great creature design and costume, and a brutal ending.
My Rating: 6 out of 10.
