Eduardo SánchezandDaniel Myricktook the world by storm in 1999 with their sleeper hitThe Blair Witch Project,the influence of which is still felt in horror today. Despite that success, however, it took another seven years for co-director Sánchezto make another film; he only directed four other feature-length films, and only one of those was a found footage film similar to his debut hit.Exists, released in 2014, isanother story about a supernatural being lurking in the dark woods, but this time it’s not a creature of Sánchez’s own making. Instead, he taps intoa “true” North American legendthat’s fascinated people for hundreds of years: Bigfoot. It may not be the greatest found footage movie out there, but who doesn’t want to seea sasquatch wreaking havoc on a bunch of campers?
What Is ‘Exists’ About?
Existsstarts out with that age-old trope ofa group of friends heading out to the woodsfor a weekend of camping (AKA partying): brothers Matt and Brian (Samuel and DavisandChris Osborn); Matt’s girlfriend Dora (Dora Madison Burge); and their friends Todd and Elizabeth (Roger EdwardsandDenise Williamson). Brian has an affinity for film and decides torecord the entire trip on various video cameras,setting up the found-footage nature of the movie. On the way to the cabin, Matt hits something with their car in the dark, but when the group gets out to investigate, their car is damaged, andthey can hear strange animalistic crying in the distance, but they can’t see anything. Like any good horror protagonists, the group ignores the strange incident and continues on their way to the cabin.
They also ignore the blurry figure Brian captures on his cameraand the ominous tree blocking the path to the cabin. But the friends do make it safely to the cabin, and, at first,the usual shenanigans ensue– skinny-dipping, pranks, sex in the woods, etc. But Brian and the others continue to catch glimpses of strange things among the trees, and eventually,whatever is in the woods with them begins to outright attack the group. Things escalate rapidly, and by the time they realize that not only is Bigfoot real but is actually hostile and hunting them down, the situation becomes outright deadly.
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‘Exists’ Doesn’t Just Copy the ‘Blair Witch’ Formula
Even though bothThe Blair Witch ProjectandExistsare found footage movies and deal with a supernatural entity,they aren’t carbon copies of each other. This is a kind of double-edged sword, however; while it’s nice thatExiststried to forge its own pathseparate fromBlair Witch Project(something other entries in that franchise didn’t quite manage), for many critics,this made the movie too generic and forgettable. But for those frustrated by the ambiguity ofThe Blair Witch Project, the monster inExistsat least provides some exciting moments. Not only does the audience get to see more and more of the creature as the movie goes on, but there isn’tany real doubt about what’s happening.Each character’s fate is well-established instead of being left to the audience’s imagination, unlike the disappearances and famous (or infamous, depending on who you ask) “facing the corner” moment ofThe Blair Witch Project.
The movie also removes the slow burn, “nothing is scarier” aspect ofBlair Witchin favor of visible monster attacks, objects being thrown, and characters being shown in active danger rather thanbeing toyed with by an invisible force. And speaking of actually seeing the antagonist,the creature effects inExistsare actually pretty great. While reception was lukewarm at best, some viewers do thinkthe Bigfoot suit is a highlight of the film. A lot of low-budget horror and sci-fi movies tend to overuse bad CGI —Sharknadoand its myriad of sequels and knockoffs might be fun for riffing, but they’re certainlynot getting any points for realism when it comes to their effects(or the plots, for that matter).Existsmanages to avoid this pitfall by using a person in a physical costume, and a pretty good one at that. And considering thatthe sasquatch is actually seen in full daylightand not just hidden in shadow, the practical costume is even more impressive.
The Blair Witch Projectset an extraordinarily high bar for any movie to follow, so it’s no surprise thatExistsisn’t really in the same league. But when you watch a creature feature, you want that creature to at least look good - and on that front,Existsis totally worth checking out this spooky season.
Existsis available to stream in the U.S. on Prime Video:
Watch on Prime Video
