Exists (film)

Exists is a 2014 American found footage monster horror film, directed by Eduardo Sánchez.[3] The film had its world premiere on March 7, 2014 at South by Southwest and stars Chris Osborn and Samuel Davis. The story revolves around a group of friends hunted by something in the woods of East Texas.[4][5] Following the darker psychological tone of Sánchez's previous film, Lovely Molly, the film returns to the creature-feature horror of Altered, also written by Jamie Nash.[6]

Exists
Theatrical release poster
Directed byEduardo Sánchez
Produced by
Written byJamie Nash
Story byEduardo Sanchez
Starring
Music byNima Fakhrara
CinematographyJohn Rutland
Edited by
  • Andrew Eckblad
  • Andy Jenkins
Distributed byLionsgate[1]
Release date
  • March 7, 2014 (2014-03-07) (SXSW)

  • October 24, 2014 (2014-10-24) (theatrical)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$41,930[2]

Plot

Brothers Brian and Matt, Matt's girlfriend Dora, and their friends Todd and Elizabeth are on their way to the brothers' uncle Bob's cabin in east Texas for a camping trip. After stopping to buy some fireworks, they continue on their way as day turns to night. Matt hits something with the car and stops to investigate. The group later hears loud cries of an animal in pain off in the distance, but decide to move onward. After coming across a tree that has been knocked across the road, the group continues on foot and reaches the cabin, only to discover that it is worn down and dilapidated. After finding a wild pig in one of the bedrooms, the group decides to spend the night in the car, where Brian and Matt again hear the loud screaming noises.

The next morning, Brian finds the front bumper on the passenger side of the car damaged; there is also some blood on the fender and a tuft of hair in the grille. Regardless, the group enjoys their day at the cabin, swimming in a nearby lake. During the excitement, Brian catches sight of a large, dark bipedal figure running along a nearby ridge, but the others brush it off as if it were nothing. Determined to get the creature on film, he sets up several GoPro cameras at various points around the cabin. That night, aggressive screams are heard coming from the woods, frightening the group. One of the exterior cameras reveals a large figure approaching the cabin and ascending the stairs onto the porch. The group is further frightened when whatever is outside begins banging on the walls and doors. When silence falls, Brian goes to a window to take a look outside. He turns on the night vision on his camera, and sees a large hairy creature looking back at him before it roars and disappears from view.

The following morning, the group decides to leave. Upon reaching the car, they find it completely destroyed and quickly return to the cabin. Matt and Brian reveal that they did not tell Bob that they were using his cabin and that they stole the keys from him: nobody knows where the group is, and nobody will be coming to rescue them. Matt bikes out alone to an area of the woods that has cell reception so that he can call for help. Just as he gets through to Bob, he is attacked by the creature and the camera cuts to black. Back at the cabin, the others move the furniture to block the windows and doors. They uncover a trap door to the cabin's cellar, where Todd finds a hunting rifle and some ammo. At nightfall, the creature attacks the cabin and injures Elizabeth before Todd wounds it with the hunting rifle, causing it to flee.

In the morning, it is revealed that Elizabeth has succumbed to her injuries and died. The doors and windows of the cabin have been smashed wide open, meaning that the cabin can no longer offer any shelter. The remaining three members of the group decide to walk back to civilization on foot. That night, they hear Matt screaming somewhere nearby. The screams are coming from a tunnel that the group assumes to be the creature's den. Brian goes in and rescues Matt, shooting the creature in the process. As dawn breaks, the group takes shelter in an abandoned trailer and Brian receives a call from Bob, who is now at the cabin. Todd heads out with the fireworks and sets them off in an attempt to alert Bob to their location, only to have the creature attack and kill him. The creature then pushes the trailer over the edge of a hill where it tumbles down with Brian, Matt, and Dora still inside.

When Brian regains consciousness, he realizes that Matt has died in the fall and Dora has been fatally injured, dying seconds later. The creature jumps from the top of the hill down to where the trailer is. Brian flees out of a broken window and the creature gives chase. Brian comes to the edge of another hill and quickly jumps as the creature approaches. Upon his landing, he fakes dead as the creature quickly descends upon him, roaring in his face, pushing him back and forth and hitting the ground near his head. The creature then grabs his leg and drags him off.

Sometime later, Brian jumps up gasping for air as it is revealed he is lying next to the bodies of Todd, Matt, Dora and Elizabeth. In his panic, he turns and sees a small dark figure lying in a shallow hole. Upon investigating, it is shown to be the corpse of a small bigfoot. The large bigfoot appears and knocks him into the hole, pushing his head closer and closer. Brian realizes that the child must have been what they hit the night they arrived at the cabin, and begins apologizing hysterically.

Suddenly a shot is heard, and the creature flees as Bob calls out. He grabs Brian and they quickly flee, Brian apologizing for not listening to him. As they near Bob's truck, the bigfoot appears and tackles Bob to the ground, seemingly killing him. Brian picks up his uncle's gun and runs as the creature gives chase. He turns and points at the creature, begging it to stop. The creature stops a few feet away from him, breathing heavily as Brian continues to apologize for killing its young. Brian lays down the gun, turning around and sitting down with his back to the creature, saying to the camera that this is his final video while he waits for the creature to finish him off. The creature, after a while, just turns and disappears into the woods, leaving Brian alone as it begins to rain and he lays the camera down facing his uncle's truck, being perhaps the only survivor.

Cast
  • Dora Madison Burge as Dora
  • Chris Osborn as Brian
  • Roger Edwards as Todd
  • Denise Williamson as Elizabeth
  • Samuel Davis as Matt
  • Brian Steele as Sasquatch
  • Jeff Schwan as Uncle Bob (as J.P. Schwan)
  • George P. Gakoumis Jr. as Firework Salesman (as George Gakoumis)
  • Stefanie Sanchez as 911 Operator

Release

Exists premiered on 7 March 2014 as part of the South by Southwest Film Festival[7] and was released on February 3, 2015.[8] Entertainment One set the United Kingdom release, on DVD and Blu-ray for the April 6, 2015.[9]

Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Exists holds an approval rating of 30%, based on 23 reviews, and an average rating of 3.77/10.[10] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 22 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[11]

In a particularly scathing review, Keith Uhlich from The A.V. Club wrote, "It feels strange to be so dismissive about someone who once commanded wide attention (however much as a fluke) with an indie blockbuster that effectively birthed a lucrative mainstream genre. But Sánchez, sadly, is now a pretender to his own throne."[12] Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine rated the film 1.5 out of 4 stars, panning the film's uninteresting characters, 'under-realized metaphorical ambitions', and thin story.[13] Geoff Berkshire from Variety criticized the film's thin characters, and script, writing, "Eschewing the painfully slow-burning suspense and pseudo-realism that helped make Blair Witch a sleeper smash and genre touchstone, Sanchez’s thoroughly conventional approach here does little to elevate a dismally generic script".[14] Robert Abele of the Los Angeles Times was highly critical of the film, calling it "aggressively unimaginative".[15] Frank Scheck from The Hollywood Reporter similarly criticized the film's clichéd script, and thin characters, calling it "a compendium of horror movie clichés whose visual style is roughly akin to trying to watch a movie while riding in a rollercoaster."[16]

The film was not without its supporters. Richard Wittaker of Fearnet praised Exists for its editing and score, as they felt that it would help make the movie appeal to people who would not normally like found footage films.[17] The Austin Chronicle gave a predominantly positive review and commented that while the film held several similarities to Sánchez's The Blair Witch Project, "he evades all those bear traps, returning tension and pathos to the monster movie."[18]

References
  1. "Director Eduardo Sanchez Of 'Blair Witch Project' Fame Gets New Film Picked Up At SXSW". Fox News. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  2. "Exists (2014)". The Numbers. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  3. "First Official Stills From Eduardo Sanchez's Exists". Dread Central. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  4. "Exists". SXSW. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  5. Turek, Ryan. "Eduardo Sanchez On Bigfoot and His Found Footage Bigfoot Film Exists". STYD. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  6. Moviepilot.com
  7. SXSW 2014: Ten-Film Midnighters Lineup Includes Oculus, Exists, Late Phases, Home, The Guest, and More
  8. Bigfoot Exists on DVD
  9. Exists will be hitting UK DVD on April 6 courtesy of Entertainment One,
  10. "Exists - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  11. "Exists reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  12. Uhlich, Keith. "Exists finds a Blair Witch alum failing at the genre he helped pioneer". AVClub.com. Keith Uhlich. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  13. Gonzalez, Ed. "Review: Exists - Slant Magazine". Slant Magazine.com. Ed Gonzalez. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  14. Berkshire, Geoff. "'Exists' Review: 'Blair Witch' Director Takes on Bigfoot – Variety". Variety.com. Geoff Berkshire. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  15. Abele, Robert. "Review: 'Exists' seeks to resurrect Bigfoot legend - Los Angeles Times". LATimes.com. Robert Abele. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  16. Scheck, Frank. "'Exists': Film Review". HollywoodReporter.com. Frank Scheck. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  17. Weinberg, Scott. "FEARNET Movie Review: 'Exists'". Fearnet. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  18. Whittaker, Richard. "SXSW Film Review: 'Exists'". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
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