"A Found Footage flick that actually feels like it's found footage."
SUBMITTED BY:
Noorel Yaquin, who really enjoyed its
Found Footage aesthetic.
Found Footage is kind of the bastard sub-genre of the
Horror world anymore. Most
FF flicks are made on the cheap; they use the same lame tricks and plot devices to tell their story; they make little to no logical sense; and they seldom follow their on rules.
Most of them tend to suck.
But every once in a while one comes along that does things right, and reaffirms our belief in the whole conceit.
Exhibit A is one such
FF flick, and while it's not a perfect effort, it sure does showcase exactly what
Cinema Verite movies are supposed to be.
The
King's are a typical family living a typical life in
Yorkshire, Northern England. Daughter
Judith has just received a present of a new video camera from her father, which she immediately uses to film their daily lives. She also likes to film the girl next door whom she has a crush on, which kind of makes
Judith a creeper.
 |
| YES, GIRLS CAN BE CREEPERS TOO! |
As typical as they may be, there is trouble brewing for the
King Family, though none but
Dad know it; they're all banking on his new promotion to move to ease their money troubles and allow them to move to a better home, only it doesn't exist. Neither does
Dad's job anymore. As
Judith films everything going on around her, she captures her father's stress-induced breakdown, which is sure to end well for none of them. Especially her.
 |
| WHAT IS HE ON ABOUT? |
Exhibit A is an incredibly grim Found Footage movie that feels like it could absolutely be real. Hell, we see stories like this on the news all of the time, so the movie plays like a slice-of-life piece that offers a look inside of a real-life headline.
Director
Dom Rotheroe does the
FF sub-genre proud by giving us a real story populated by real characters that are given plenty of room to develop. The pacing is slow, but the tension builds naturally and it never feels like we're watching any sort of gimmicky movie. The cast is also great, with a young
Brittany Ashworth and
Bradley Cole being the standouts; watching a man's breakdown from the perspective of both he and his daughter was compelling stuff, and the two of them gave weighty performances.
The finale is what makes this movie so memorable though, as the horrific events that the movie has been slowly building towards unfold in one static take that was tough to watch because it felt so real.
And that last shot...
 |
| DADDY'S LITTLE GIRL... SHOULD RUN! |
No gore, but there is some violence towards the end.
 |
| THERE IS A HELLACIOUS TICKLE FIGHT THAT LEAVES EVERYONE EXHAUSTED THOUGH. |
No, but the neighbor girl does some sunbathing.
 |
| WHAT WAS HER STORY? WE'D LIKE TO KNOW. |
Exhibit A is
Found Footage done right. It's a very slow burn, and it feels more like a dramatic character study than it does any kind of
Horror film through most of its runtime, but there air of impending doom that hangs above the family throughout makes the chilling climax feel all too real.
Definitely worth a watch if you don't need a ton of action or gore gags to entertain/scare you.
B-
Exhibit A is available now on
DVD and
VOD.
Brittany Ashworth is all grown up now, and we like how she turned out.
Ooohh.. Got me intrigued. Will definitely watch this.
ReplyDeleteWatched this one years ago, great little movie. The dad is kind of a pussy, to do what he did. Didn't even try to get a job. Even if it was at a petrol station(as they call it) would be better that what he was trying to do/ No one should have that much pride that you can't rely on your family for support.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I think the girl next door was really a witch and was responsible for all of it, lol. You know how easy it would have been to edit some scenes differently to make it seem that way lol.
But seriously, all in all it was a great little movie.