Rent Evidence (2013)

Evidence review by George Hooper - Cinema Paradiso

Paranormal Activity has brought about a found footage craze that has no signs of stopping any time soon. The films it has encouraged have been varied in both their stories and their quality with films like The Devil Inside being a disappointing mess of a picture and The Banshee Chapter being an interesting and oddly exciting head trip that keeps you constantly guessing. Evidence tries to be as inventive as the latter film but its plot doesn’t justify the found footage elements of the films story.

Evidence follows a group of investigators who attempt to solve a sick and disturbed case of murder using the camera footage that the surviving members of the ordeal have brought to them. As they watch the footage they realize that the survivors of a bus crash are being maliciously hunted by a sadistic killer and they have to turn the hunter into the hunted.

While Evidence is a clever concept it is poorly executed as most of the films run is devoted to the video evidence with paper thin characters patroling the screen as if they have purpose despite the dubious and questionable reason for them filming in the first place. Most of the story avoids the more interesting element of the film, the reasoning behind Stephen Moyer’s detective, a man searching for justice despite the effect the case has upon him.

Supported by an equally under utilized Radha Mitchell the film flits back and forth between the two styles and in the end the switching proves irritating more than intriguing as watching the victims get caught up in a variety of poorly conceived traps and situations grows old quickly thanks to some weak direction. While Mitchell and Moyer try to keep things on track they unfortunately have no input on one side of the film and watching a murderer dispatch his victims with no real rhyme or reason makes for an utterly boring experience