Evidence - A mixed bag - you'll either love it or hate it

The `found footage' sub-section of the horror genre is getting more and more overused with every new straight-to-DVD release, so my hopes weren't high when I sat down to watch `Evidence' (a film with a particularly uninspired title).

For the most part, I got what I expected. If you look at comments about the film online, you'll see that pretty much everyone agrees that the first half of the movie is pretty slow and run-of-the-mill. You have four (particularly unlikeable) youngsters who - for whatever reason - decide to film an entire camping trip. So, once you've suspended your disbelief at the constant need for filming every single moment of the trip, you sit back and watch things start to go slowly wrong. Cue mandatory sinister rustling of bushes, running screaming through woods, shaky camerawork, cries of "What was that?" then arguing with the cameraman for his constant shoving of a lens in peoples faces.

So far, so ordinary. However, the second half changes pace. This is the part you'll either love or hate. Some people have even said that it seems like two different films spliced together. The second half is pretty much non-stop action and chasing. Granted there's still a lot of shaky camerawork, covering up for lack of budget, but it's still a decent attempt to add something new to the `found footage' genre.

I would say `Spoilers' here, but there's not much I can tell you as to what (definitely) happens in the second half. There are no `explanations' as to what's going on. You get a good idea of what they've stumbled upon, but no one ever sits down and lets you know the exact whys and hows of what's happening all around them. This too, you'll either love for its vagueness or hate because you're left in the dark.

If you like `found footage' movies, then this has a chance of being up there with the best of them, but that will largely depend on your feelings towards the second half (and ability to ignore the film's ripping off of 28 Days Later and Attack the Block).

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that