Eduardo Sánchez made an indelible mark in 1999 with his first film, “The Blair Witch Project.” Since then, his resume’s been spotted with sporadic contributions to the horror genre, none of which have made anything near as strong an impression as his debut work.
This October, Sánchez hopes to rekindle the fear, as well as the box office success, that ‘Blair Witch’ stirred up with a return to the style he was instrumental in popularizing. “Exists” follows five young people into the woods, where instead of a witch, they encounter Sasquatch. Here’s the official synopsis:
For five friends, it was a chance for a summer getaway —a weekend of camping in the Texas Big Thicket. But visions of a carefree vacation are shattered with an accident on a dark and desolate country road. In the wake of the accident, a bloodcurdling force of nature is unleashed—something not exactly human, but not completely animal— an urban legend come to terrifying life…and seeking murderous revenge.
“Exists” has massive shoes to fill. Not only did ‘Blair Witch” come out of nowhere on a $60K budget, but the film went on to gross a quarter billion dollars worldwide. And it bear remembering that 1999’s cinematic environment did not churn out found footage films every week: Sánchez’s aesthetic was new, exciting, and immensely successful. Can he recreate the magic? Or has the genre been too oversaturated since ‘Blair Witch’ launched the craze 15 years ago? Check out below and decide for yourself. "Exists" opens on October 24th.