Evidence (2013)

            “To a serial killer, murder is an art.”  Good morning fiends, and welcome to Maniac Monday!  The first review in store for you today is on the film Evidence, directed by Scott Walker in 2013.  The premise of the story is that there are a pile of dead bodies discovered in the desert in Nevada, and the only clues found at the crime scene include a welder’s mask, a couple of cell phones, and some video tapes.  Basically, once we gather that the police force are on the job trying to piece together what might have happened, we are watching a movie inside a movie (documentary style)…sort of Cannibal Holocaust meets Blair Witch meets a serial killer. 

            The beginning of the film inside the film is mostly spent on character development.  The characters are somewhat believable, and I was stoked to see Harry Lennix (Dollhouse) as Ben, the bus driver.  Though I have to say that not all the actors are super seasoned in this flick, so don’t expect grammy-winners to appear on screen during its course.  The characters, who are inevitably part of the abandoned gas-station massacre, are all on a trip to Las Vegas.  As more people join them on the bus to Vegas, the camera continues to roll, and the police continue trying to piece together what exactly happened to them.

            When the bus rolls, it completely catches the viewer off-guard, and is done fairly well concerning the way this is filmed.  Admittedly I am not a fan of docu-style movies, particularly ones such as this where the cinematography is all over the place (really shaky and choppy), but I do believe that it makes sense with the context of this film and it works in several areas to build suspense.  But I digress.  The group, miraculously unharmed after the bus is completely demolished, clambers out of the wreck and heads toward a gas station the bus driver had noticed a bit behind them.  The gas station looks as though it is where trucks came to die – everything looks completely abandoned as though no one had been around in some years. 

            When the first person bites the dust, viewers really don’t know what the hell happened to him – he just comes falling out of a room covered in blood and dying.  Suddenly they see someone else out in the truck graveyard, out in the dark, who isn’t part of the Vegas group.  Naturally they freak out and attempt to hide inside an abandoned building…as though that ever has helped anyone in any horror movie…ever.  The next death, however, is brutal as all hell!  After her head is repeatedly bashed into something large and perhaps metal, her limbs are severed from her body by perhaps one of the most fun weapons I’ve seen in horror yet – a blow torch.  Maybe not super innovative, but brutal and straight to the point which I absolutely adore in my maniacs.  She then is burned alive.    

            One of the survivors, a rather insane lady Katrina (portrayed well by Dale Dickey) with a bag full of about a hundred grand that she clutches to her chest while she hangs in the background and occasionally pulls random shenanigans like yelling in people’s faces and such.  Her death is done pretty well, with the killer first slitting her throat and then pulling out her organs while she writhes and screams just a hair off-camera.  Suddenly Ben, whom viewers are led to believe has been left for dead, shows back up and helps the survivors to get away.  The police are also considering the possibility that the driver isn’t who he says he is.  After a brief interview with one of the survivors, the police believe perhaps one of the girl’s boyfriend (who was on the trip as well) is the killer.  I felt that the climax of the film was stretched out a bit long, and there was no real wrap up after the climax, so the film ends on a somewhat weak note.  All in all though, I have to say I appreciated the gore and for the most part the story line as well.

            Definitely a movie worth watching if you enjoy a low-budget slasher flick with a bit of good gore and loads of fire, which you could probably watch with some metal music on and the volume on the TV turned all the way down (and not miss much).  Body Count? Four. Number of killers? It’s a surprise.  Boob count? Zero…this one actually has literally no sexy scenes at all, so you can let your teen watch with you (providing you allow them to watch violent content, that is, as this movie is full of that).  Cheap thrills?  One.  Actual thrills? One.  Raven’s Scream Meter says: 2 out of 5 Screams.  Not terrible for a low-budget film, but also not one of the best horror films I’ve been intrigued to watch.  I hope you enjoyed the review, and thanks for reading! Feel free to comment or begin a dialogue below.  Xx ~ Raven