October 18th, 2015 - Evidence of a Haunting (2010)

While it kind of looks like it's going to be your standard ghost hunting found footager, Evidence of a Haunting has a couple of interesting things going for it. (At first, at least.) At the very outset, there's this text:

There has to be a word missing here, right?
Or is that just me?

It's set up like an anthology almost, so you get three different hauntings instead of just one. And while the first story is found footage, over the course of the film that style slowly gives way to a mediocre-looking, standardly shot film. One with periodic use of found footage, for what it's worth. So it feels like it's got a couple of different things going on to set it apart from your standard ghost hunting tale. Unfortunately, it doesn't do anything interesting with them.

The set-up? Read the screen-cap. There are some ghost hunters, they do what ghost hunters do, and what happens to most ghost hunters happens to them. This particular group (the SPRS) consists of leader, tech guy, Wiccan priestess, Catholic priest, and psychic. So, points for originality I guess. They've also got a camera guy named Tor Johnson. (His character's name is literally my favorite thing about the film.)

So while the anthology approach is different, the cracks start showing right away. I mean, boring or no, the setup of these types of films is pretty important. You need time to introduce the group, tell the story of the haunted place, and set the mood. (I think you could even argue that you need about 20 minutes of nothing happening for this very reason. It makes the chaos all the more effective when it finally goes down.) But here? They're tying a possessed little girl to her bed about five minutes in. And they are pretty blase about the whole thing too - you'd think they'd be all "HOLY SHIT! We have Evidence of a Haunting! Sweet!" But they don't seem to care all that much, and give the demon the boot pretty quick. It's not a particularly well done exorcism scene, but it still has the feel of something that should be more climactic. Certainly not the first action you come across.

And those problems typify what's wrong with the rest of the stories. No time to breathe, and no time to really care about what's going on. First is the demon, second is a poltergeist, and the main event is a murderous spirit that resides in the tunnels under an old college. Things happen too fast, and the scares just aren't there. It's weird, about half-way through Evidence of a Haunting just sort of gives up on being found footage. But it never really does anything cinematic with the third-person camera, and often times things are shot like there is an unseen/unnamed member of their crew. Eventually, the film devolves into the demon chasing them all through the tunnels - all shot from the first-person (first-demon?) perspective. It's a little hard to tell just what exactly the filmmakers are going for. A normal movie with some found footage style? Or is it just really bad found footage?

I'll give writer/director Joey Evans credit - the script tries to add in some character work and some continuity from one story to the next. And even a little romance! But it isn't given the chance to work. When the sole reasons for the film existing (tension and scares) fall flat, the character stuff doesn't really matter. But the acting is passable and they aren't terribly annoying (although the bar scene pushes it), which is about the most you could hope for.

No blood or gore to speak of. You get the occasional bump in the night/demon roar, some little possessed girl, and the usual doors slamming/things moving/whatever. I guess the most effective thing was when the SPRS uses the 'ghost-box' - a little talkbox thingie that ghosts can supposedly use to give one word answers to the team's questions. It's creepy here, but I think that's more just me liking the technology.

And of course, where would the ghost hunting subgenre be without characters being dragged away by an unseen force? To their credit, the people in Evidence of a Haunting are dragged out of the side of the frame, rather than away from the camera. So there's that.

That's about it though. Evidence is still far from an easy watch. The three story setup keeps things from dragging too much, but it also neuters any mood-building or potential tension. It's never capital-s Stupid... it's just kind of boring.

I would   not recommend   this film.