- EIFF 2019: ANIARA is a Deeply Haunting Sci-Fi Experience [Review]
- Darkstar Pictures Announces Free Online Film Festival!
- Stunning First Look at Indie Fantasy THE WANTING MARE [Trailer]
- Stunning First Look at Indie Fantasy THE WANTING MARE [Trailer]
- Stunning First Look at Indie Fantasy THE WANTING MARE [Trailer]
- SKYLINES Is Coming! [Poster Premiere]
- Who Hunts Who in HUNTER HUNTER? [Trailer]
- MONSTER HUNTER Coming for Christmas [Trailer]
- Saskatoon Fantastic Film Festival Returns with In-Person Event [Line Up]
- LUNATIQUE Director Returns with WASTELAND 3 Promo [Short Film]
- Re: Occupation, Australian Sci Fi movie
- Slice of Life, Blade Runner inspired short
- Is Snowpeircer a sequel to Willy Wonka?
- Re: Yesterday
- Re: Yesterday
- Yesterday
- Re: White Night (or where do I get my 30 + from now?)
- Re: White Night (or where do I get my 30 + from now?)
- Re: White Night (or where do I get my 30 + from now?)
- Re: White Night (or where do I get my 30 + from now?)
- BERLINALE 2021: TIDES Comes After Hell [Trailer]
- LUNATIQUE Director Returns with WASTELAND 3 Promo [Short Film]
- A Comet Destoys Earth in GREENLAND Trailer
- Interactive WAR OF THE WORLDS Adaptation Out Now!
- 8K Trailer for Train to Busan Sequel PENINSULA Drops Hard!
- Making a Bomb Shelter in a Funhouse is a Bad Idea in IMPACT EVENT [Trailer]
- Retro Slave: FOX's Post-Apocalyptic Sitcom WOOPS!
- TRAIN TO BUSAN Sequel PENINSULA Gets a Teaser Trailer
- New on Blu-ray and DVD for March 11, 2020
- The Apocalypse Kills Women in ONLY [Trailer]
- Trailer for TheWalking Dead: World Beyond Spin-Off Series
- SATOR is a Welcome Addition to the Folk Horror Canon [Review]
- Women in Horror Month: NEAR DARK
- SOUTHLAND TALES: The Cannes Cut [Review]
- A Woman's Mind Unravels in BIGHT HILL ROAD [Review]
- TIFF 2020: Vanlife Gets a Reality Check in NOMADLAND [Review]
- TIFF 2020: APPLES, THE WAY I SEE IT, PIECES OF A WOMAN & ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI [Capsule Reviews]
- TIFF 2020: The Truth Tellers Return with THE NEW CORPORATION: THE UNFORTUNATELY NECESSARY SEQUEL [Review]
- TIFF 2020: NEW ORDER is Brutal, Violent & a Must-See [Review]
- TIFF 2020: ENEMIES OF THE STATE, Or Are They? [Review]
- TIFF 2020: HOLLER Explores Life in a Dying Town [Review]
- 2067 Director Talks Inspiration, Environment & Time Travel [Interview]
- THE STRANGERS Director Returns with THE DARK AND THE WICKED [Trailer]
- Michael Shannon is Crime Boss in ECHO BOOMERS [Trailer]
- Hair Extensions Get Horrific in BAD HAIR [Trailer]
- TIFF 2020: Vanlife Gets a Reality Check in NOMADLAND [Review]
- VIFF 2020: Sobriety, Reintegration & Telekinesis Come Together in THE CURSE OF WILLOW SONG [Interview]
- VIFF 2020: Revenge Thriller Re-Examined in VIOLATION [Interview]
- VIFF2020: Director Loretta Todd on the Making of Her Debut Feature MONKEY BEACH [Interview]
- TIFF 2020: APPLES, THE WAY I SEE IT, PIECES OF A WOMAN & ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI [Capsule Reviews]
- TIFF 2020: The Truth Tellers Return with THE NEW CORPORATION: THE UNFORTUNATELY NECESSARY SEQUEL [Review]
- TIFF 2020: NEW ORDER is Brutal, Violent & a Must-See [Review]
- TIFF 2020: ENEMIES OF THE STATE, Or Are They? [Review]
- NO ESCAPE Director Talks Influencers, Escape Rooms & Writing [Interview]
- TIFF 2020: HOLLER Explores Life in a Dying Town [Review]
- The Funny Side of Alien Invasions: You have to SAVE YOURSELVES! [Trailer]
- Kodi Smit-McPhee Goes to the Future to Save the Present in 2067 [Trailer]
- First Look at Denis Villeneuve's DUNE [Trailer]
- Fantasia 2020: LAPSIS, THE COLUMNIST, MINOR PREMISE, FEELS GOOD MAN & HAIL TO THE DEADITES [Capsule Reviews]
- BUNRAKU Writer/Director Returns with LX 2048 [Trailer]
- BLOOD QUANTUM Writer/Director Talks Inspiration, Zombies & Representation [Interview]
Jack In
Latest Comments
Latest Forum Posts
PA News
Latest Reviews
Older News
Crew
Marina Antunes
Editor in Chief
Vancouver, British Columbia
Christopher Webster
Managing Editor
Edmonton, Alberta
DN aka quietearth
Founder / Asst. Managing Editor
Denver, Colorado
Simon Read
UK Correspondent
Edinburgh, Scotland
Rick McGrath
Toronto Correspondent
Toronto, Ontario
Manuel de Layet
France Correspondent
Paris, France
rochefort
Austin Correspondent
Austin, Texas
Daniel Olmos
Corrispondente in Italia
Italy
Griffith Maloney aka Griffith Maloney
New York Correspondent
New York, NY
Stephanie O
Floating Correspondent
Quiet Earth Bunker
Jason Widgington
Montreal Correspondent
Montreal, Quebec
Carlos Prime
Austin Correspondent
Austin, TX







Another day. Another alien movie. Aliens are crammed right up there between zombies and vampires as things that are overdone but like everything else, a few gems emerge from the saturation and Tyson Johnston’s Exist may be one of them.
Tyson’s newest project has a pretty straight forward premise: when the world encounters its first meeting with extraterrestrials, two men accidentally find themselves in the middle of the action.
Shot as handheld video, Johnston’s film doesn’t feel much like amateur video and though he’s not breaking any molds, I do like what I see, even if it’s not particularly flashy or have any obvious money shots. I nearly passed the trailer over all together until I took a peek at the poster that Avery shot over our way and it was that poster, seen on the right, that had me digging around a little further.
What I found is that Johnston’s been working on this project for a while and though it sounds like there’s been a few different trailers floating around, I’m thinking this one is particularly effective in that it doesn’t reveal much. I don’t dig the picture taking effect but everything else looks good and if the demo reel which is also after the break is any indication, he’s saving all the money shots for the movie. I like having something to look forward to.
More details on the production as they arise for now, check out the trailer and FX reel after the break.








agentorange (10 years ago) Reply
Defintiely like what I'm seeing here. Effective music and the acting is very naturalistic and believable.
I see what you mean about the snapshot effect, but other than that this one's got me mucho intrigued.

Finriz (10 years ago) Reply
Count me in!

Jonas (10 years ago) Reply
The trailer looked a bit interesting. The acting was good and it was a good use of Godspeed You Black Emperor's music which just made me miss the band that much more. :(
What really convinced though me was the effects demo reel. If they can manage to do some of those effects in the movie it could be another Monsters here.

bad dog (10 years ago) Reply
Please stop telling us what's "overdone." We'll decide. Thank you.

Raschae (10 years ago) Reply
Tyson you're amazing :) good work buddy xx

Kuze (10 years ago) Reply
Why are F-14s on the vid? They are retired since 2006. The movie looks amazing btw.

agentorange (10 years ago) Reply
Oh, bad dog. Here we go again. I think we'll continue expressing our opinons on whatever we want, thank you very much.

bad dog (10 years ago) Reply
Oh, Agent Orange, welcome to blogging. It's this place where people express their opinions and other people are free to agree or disagree with them. Even condescendingly, like you.
P.S. Uh, I actually love your site.

agentorange (10 years ago) Reply
Exactly! But you didn't disagree with Marina, you flat out told her to NOT express her own opinion. That, in my opinion, is not an exchange of opinions.
Also, I wasn't trying to be condescending. I just didn't use a winky.
We love having bad dog around!

bad dog (10 years ago) Reply
I take back the "condescending" comment, sorry. I also don't mean any disrespect to the reviewer. I'm just sick of being told that zombies are overdone when we're finally, just now, after years of all-vampires-all-the-time, starting to get some really good zombie stuff.

marina (10 years ago) Reply
Ah the zombie vs. vampire debate. I'm fully on the pro vampire side - even if there are a lot of bad films in the genre. Zombies were never my thing. They're still not. Will keep that in mind for the future though 'cause it is the internet and well, I'm not always right - even if I want to be.

blackholebird (10 years ago) Reply
i just saw godspeed you black emperor last thursday and i'm still in awe...
great use of the music though, can't wait to see it!
i think its gonna be interesting in the near future, when all those nihilistic post-rock kids grown and start doing awesome arts and craft.

agentorange (10 years ago) Reply
It's always tough when the mainstream catches up to stuff you've loved for years. On one hand, like bad dog says, we're getting some really well funded zombie stuff coming out. On the other hand, we're also getting too many spoofs and cheesy merchandise.
So when Marina says "overdone" I think of the bad stuff. Will I ever tire of zombie apocalypses and alien invasion movies? Never!

bad dog (10 years ago) Reply
I agree that when the cheesy spoofs show up in droves, it makes the entire genre seem annoying and overexposed. Producers want to make a quick buck with cheap product, not take their time to produce something high quality. But the more mainstream drivel you get, the more gems that stand out as well: We're also seeing some incredible stuff like The Walking Dead series. And for once, finally, the horror section at my bookstore has some decent zombie books in it.
As for the vampires/zombies debate, I like vampires, too, but more like The Passage and Stake Land kind. If it ain't apocalyptic, it ain't of interest. So naturally the Twilight kind of vampire is not my thing. If that's your thing, great, I hope you get tons more. I just don't want to see vampires on every shelf in the horror section at my bookstore ... I like choice, and I'm glad to see zombies become more popular so I can have that choice.
I wonder if a bookstore will ever have a book buyer savvy enough to create a special section with a few shelves devoted entirely to apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic books.

Jonas (10 years ago) Reply
blackholebird, Whaaaat?! GYBE are playing shows again??? No way! *goes investigating*

Speedy (10 years ago) Reply
When I read the bit about it being shot on handycam... I had BAD flashbacks to "Cloverf@ck". Luckily, this does not look bad. It seems that someone noticed the steadycam option on their camera.

Jonas (10 years ago) Reply
Oh dear god I just missed a crapload of various GYBE shows in europe these past two months. Last one I could go to was yesterday.
I am not happy. ;(