the film's uninteresting characters, 'under-realized metaphorical ambitions', and thin story. Geoff Berkshire from Variety criticized the film's thin characters, and script, writing, "Eschewing the painfully slow-burning suspense and pseudo-realism that helped make Blair Witch a sleeper smash and genre touchstone, Sanchez’s thoroughly conventional approach here does little to elevate a dismally generic script". Robert Abele of the Los Angeles Times was highly critical of the film, calling it "aggressively unimaginative". Frank Scheck from The Hollywood Reporter similarly criticized the film's clichéd script, and thin characters, calling it "a compendium of horror movie clichés whose visual style is roughly akin to trying to watch a movie while riding in a rollercoaster." The film was not without its supporters. Richard Wittaker of Fearnet praised Exists for its editing and score, as they felt that it would help make the movie appeal to people who would not normally like found footage films. The Austin Chronicle gave a predominantly positive review and commented that while the film held several similarities to Sánchez's The Blair Witch Project, "he evades all those bear traps, returning tension and pathos to the monster movie." References External links 2014 films 2014 horror films 2010s monster movies American natural horror films Found footage films Bigfoot films Lionsgate films Films directed by Eduardo Sánchez (director) Films set in forests Films set in Texas Films with screenplays by Eduardo Sánchez (director) Haxan Films films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films