This found footage horror was shot in seven days

Evil Things was made in 2009 by writer and director Dominic Perez, and it is a found footage horror film shot in seven days. It was his debut feature, and it reached the 2009 Film4 FrightFest lineup in London.

Found footage presents its story as recovered video, as if the camera belonged to the people on screen. The film opens with an FBI message presenting the footage as real evidence.

The story is five college students who leave New York City for a weekend in the country. 48 hours later, all five vanish without a trace. Leo, an aspiring filmmaker in the group, records the trip on his new video camera.

How did Perez make it in a week?

Perez has laid out the schedule himself: 3 months to write, 7 days to shoot and 1 month to edit. Then he adds: "but it took me 41 years to finally believe that I could make it happen."

He says the first day of shooting brought a major snowstorm, and that one cast member fell violently ill the same day. In his words: "We survived a powerful snowstorm and the violent illness of one of our cast, all on the first day of the shoot."

Perez produced the film with Mario Valdez Steckler. FrightFest programmed it in 2009, the same lineup that included Pontypool.

What happens to the five friends?

After the FBI message, the film opens with newsclips and police statements about the missing group, according to one reviewer. Then a van follows the group on the drive upstate. The same reviewer compared that van to the truck in Duel.

They reach a remote house, meet an aunt, walk into the woods and get lost. Critics have noted that the first half takes its time before the second half pays it off. Reviewers have also called the dialogue semi-improvised, with friends talking over each other.

What is the videotape at the door?

Late in the story, a videotape turns up at the door. It shows that someone has been filming the group the whole time. The camera Leo carries was never the only one rolling.

That turn changes how the earlier scenes read. A road trip that looked like a friend's home video becomes footage of people being watched.

The film runs 77 minutes, and its pitch is simple: five people, a weekend away and a camera that kept recording. It is for viewers who like horror that is cheap, close and built on a single idea, and for anyone curious what a first feature looks like on a one-week schedule.

Horror