EVIDENCE

“Evidence” (not to be confused with the other independent horror film of 2012 with the same title) is a new Horror/Thriller. The film stars Stephen Moyer (True Blood) Radha Mitchell (Silent Hill, Rogue) and Torrey DeVitto (One Tree Hill, True Blood). There are also small roles from Nolan Gerard Funk (Bereavement) and Caitlin Stasey who is from right here in Australia.

The film pits two detectives, Reese and Burquez (Moyer and Mitchell) against a very clever serial killer responsible for a massacre. The detectives are trying to solve a recent series of murders that occurred at an abandoned gas station. Most of the film is shot POV style (Point of View), they watch video footage found at the crime scene, chronicling the events leading up to the crime. So they see everything that was recorded by the survivors and sift through it to find clues to who the killer might be. There are some really clever still shots in the camera work at the very beginning. Sadly with the rest of the film being found footage there’s a lot of movement and camera glitches, due to the various plot progressions. It’s a realistic view-point, but not a very nice one to watch.

The acting from everyone is pretty good. Radha and Stephen don’t have as big a parts in the film, so sadly their talents are a little bit wasted. We get very few details on the backgrounds of either of them. Five minutes of conversation from Detective Reese (Moyer) to Leann (DeVitto) about why he has been on a leave of absence is about the extent of it. Caitlin Stasey looks stunning in the film, Her character had a lot of likeability about her for you to warm too. Once again though, the scenes with her and Leann feel forced and the dialogue really gives the viewer nothing to go on. Nothing interesting or realistic seems to be being said, it is painfully obvious that this is acting.

Moreover, the score is another thing that is non-existent. Other than a few sound effects, I can’t recall a single piece of music. That is a little strange even for a found footage film. The suspense throughout wasn’t to bad, I did get a few surprise jump scares, which were fun. The story has a few holes in it though. Tyler (Funk) disappears for a huge chunk of the film and it’s never explained where he has gone, the cops don’t even seem to pick up on it, which I thought was strange (seeing as he could be a suspect). The motive behind the killings is hidden for practically the whole film. Even after the final twist it’s never really evident why any of it occurred. I suppose in a way maybe it was, It was just a really weak development and motive. The ending does have a decent twist but unfortunately I do think it puts a damper on the whole thing. It’s not a direction I would have taken.

This is actually not a bad effort for a found footage film. I think I would have shot this in a more conventional style though. The surveillance technique will be the downfall of this, that and it’s visually pretty dull and the dialogue is irrelevant (for the most part) to the way things unfold. It has some competent aspects but it does fall short of the mark. I’d recommend a film called “Nine Dead” with Melissa Joan Hart. It’s of a similar nature but done a bit more professionally.

My rating for “Evidence” 4.5/10