Sure, a lot of found-footage horror films might leave you snoozing, but there are still
a few gems worth watching. From obscure flicks to landmark films, these are the found-footage
horror movies that are actually good.
In 2007, Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza set out to make a horror film that would bring
audiences further into the action than ever before. Balagueró told IGN that their goal
was to make their audience feel as though they were a part of the film itself, explaining:
"We wanted to use the film screen in a way that is similar to the experience of playing
video games."
REC does exactly that. Using a single camera, the film follows a reporter along on a story
that begins as a "day in the life" exposé on some firemen and ends with them trapped
in an apartment building that gets quarantined by the government. As the night progresses,
the reason for the quarantine becomes terrifyingly obvious.
REC doesn't hold back when it comes to scaring its audience. The film throws itself into
horror almost immediately and stays there for the remainder of its 80 minute runtime.
It's short, not so sweet, and to the point. It doesn't try to be anything other than a
shocker, and in that regard, it completely succeeds.
Barry Levinson isn't the first name that comes to mind when it comes to found-footage horror
filmss. But in 2012, Levinson co-wrote and directed The Bay, a found-footage film that's
about as far off from his usual repertoire as a film can get. The Bay documents a 4th
of July incident in Claridge, Maryland, that took the lives of 700 of its residents. Through
webcams, phone videos, and recorded calls to emergency services, details emerge regarding
a parasitic outbreak that affected everything in the bay.
"This is Dr. Williams in communicable disease, you believe you may have a bacterial case?"
"Not one, 30." "What?"
As far as found-footage goes, The Bay has more production value than most. It looks
and feels like the real deal, which is only amplified by a solid story with a legitimate
social message and a cast that knows what they're doing. Essentially, the film is nowhere
near amateur, and getting through the entire thing will actually make your skin crawl.
In 2007, Oren Peli made Paranormal Activity, a film about a couple who experience strange
things in their new home. Naturally, they decide to try and solve the supernatural mystery
by setting up cameras throughout the house. What they find is beyond creepy, and things
only get worse the more they try and document the source of their misery.
"I feel it. I feel it breathing on me."
Paranormal Activity is one of those horror films that leaves most of its terror to the
unknown. Lights go on and off in the background, doors move, and the sheets are pulled by an
invisible force. All of this goes on mostly unbeknownst to the film's main characters,
so watching it happen while waiting to see if it wakes them up turns into an exercise
in how long you can really hold your breath. The ending is also one of the better final
scares any horror film has had in decades.
Whether it be through gore, shock value, or the regular creep factor, the point that most
found footage horror movies try to make is that somewhere, there is something that is
absolutely terrifying, and you should be very, very afraid. Trollhunter isn't really like
that. The 2010 Norwegian film is scary, yes. But it's also incredibly funny. And it's chock
full of giant, killer trolls.
André Øvredal created a film that stays true to its roots in folklore, set in a very
modern world steeped in cynicism. When a group of film students discover the government has
been hiding the existence of trolls along the Norwegian countryside, they take it upon
themselves to document the creatures. Visually, Trollhunter looks modern and well-produced.
But the film is 90 percent improvisation, so what you see on the screen is done mostly
on the fly. It all works, though, and the movie winds up being one of the most entertaining
found-footage films in recent years.
V/H/S is an okay movie. The 2012 found-footage horror anthology had some originality in it
and a few scares, but it fell into the category of mostly forgettable 2000s horror. A year
later, V/H/S/2 came out, and while most sequels tend to be far worse than the original, this
sequel happens to be one of those rare finds that surpasses its predecessor in nearly every
way.
That doesn't mean V/H/S/2 is without its flaws. Not every one of its five horror stories is
a winner, but the ratio of those that are makes the film well worth your time. The biggest
standout is "Safe Haven," by Timo Tjahjanto and Gareth Evans; the former wrote and directed
The Night Comes for Us while the latter wrote and directed both The Raid 2 and The Raid:
Redemption. "Safe Haven" delves into death cults, demonic worship, and zombies, making
it not only one of the most well-rounded horror stories of the bunch, but one of the creepiest
as well.
Deborah Logan suffers from an aggressive form of Alzheimer's. In order to save their home
from being repossessed, her daughter Sarah convinces Deborah to allow a documentary crew
to film her as part of an Alzheimer's study.
"We're gonna have fun. Right?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, good."
The further along they get into their study, however, the more obvious it becomes that
Deborah may be suffering from something that isn't at all based in science.
While the premise may not be anything new or especially progressive, The Taking of Deborah
Logan's draw isn't its plot. This particular possession story is less about rituals and
sacrifice, and more about watching Deborah slowly devolve into something not quite human,
in the most nightmarish ways. Lead actress Jill Larson definitely carries the film, but
it also benefits from some truly creepy visuals throughout that make The Taking of Deborah
Logan a worthwhile horror experience.
In 2013, real-life best friends Derek Lee and Cliff Prowse set out to reinvigorate the
found-footage horror genre with their feature film debut Afflicted. The film follows semi-fictional
versions of the pair as they embark on a one-year journey around the world, but are stopped
short when a one-night stand transforms Lee into something unimaginable. The duo told
Collider that their goal with Afflicted was to focus on the story itself, and to allow
the found-footage aspect of the movie to work only in their budgetary favor. Lee explained:
"[T]his was a character driven, heartfelt, but still fun and technically possible film
that we could shoot for less than a million dollars."
Afflicted winds up being just that — a character-driven horror film about the morality of becoming
something other than human. It's well shot, and the effects stand up, even in spite of
its meager budget. More than anything, though, the film works not by using cheap jump scares,
but by focusing on the story itself, as well as the relationship between two best friends
who are trapped in a foreign land.
There's something especially creepy about the idea of a psycho lurking around on Craigslist.
That's the premise for 2014's Creep, which stars Mark Duplass as Josef, a man who claims
to be dying and wants to create a video series for his unborn son. He hires Aaron to film,
and things get really, really weird.
"Alright, buddy. Welcome to your first tubby."
Creep explores our need to be polite in social situations, and how that need can come at
the price of our own safety. Josef seems like a kind and genuine person, but anyone can
seem to be anything when they're someone you know from the internet. The film isn't gory,
and it doesn't overly rely on jump scares. Instead, Creep finds a way under your skin
because Duplass is so incredible at playing someone who comes off as both sincere and
mildly repugnant. And then there's that line that Aaron is afraid to cross. Should he hurt
Josef's feelings and leave this weirdo behind? Or should he put up with the guy's increasing
creepiness? Sure, politeness has a place, but a remote cabin in the woods isn't it.
Hell House LLC takes the idea of a haunted house and mashes it into a found-footage nightmare
in the best way possible. The 2015 film tells the story of Hell House, a New York City-based
Halloween attraction that sets up shop at an abandoned hotel in the small town of Abaddon,
New York. After 15 attendees and nearly the entire crew are found dead the morning after
opening night, a series of tapes lays out the truth of what actually happened inside.
Although the film suffers a bit from a story that we've seen a million times before, Hell
House LLC still finds a way to scare its audience, and it's through some pretty clever placement.
Throughout the house, monsters come in and out of frame, but not in an outright, jump
in front of the camera sort of way. Instead, they tend to hide in the shadows, barely visible
for a moment or two before they disappear completely. It's nerve-wracking trying to
keep track of them, and it's exactly that feeling that makes the movie a successful
horror flick.
The Conspiracy, a 2012 horror film that definitely isn't real, feels like it could totally be
real. That's the thing about conspiracy movies, though. You're left questioning everything
you've just seen, even if all of it is made up for the sake of terrifying an audience.
This conspiracy theory movie involves two documentary filmmakers, Aaron and Jim, who
set out to learn more about their favorite local conspiracy theorist, Terrance. When
Terrance suddenly goes missing, the pair are drawn into the mystery of the Tarsus Club,
an ancient cult comprised of world leaders that's been behind every major event throughout
history.
"This got the ball rolling. All of Terrance's dates refer to specific meetings of the Tarsus
Club, all of which take place before major world events."
The Conspiracy works in part because the theories it's built upon are actually floating around
out there. A shadow society that controls the world? It's a thing people really believe
in, so the film carries a sense of possibility. The movie isn't quite a documentary, but we
also wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to actually be one.
Half supernatural mystery, half ghost story, 2008's Lake Mungo is a gripping tale of death,
grief, and secret lives. Utilizing the tried and true "based on a true story" horror hook,
this found-footage film tells the story of Alice Palmer, a 16-year-old who drowns near
her family's home and then returns to haunt them. Things aren't at all the way they seem,
and the truth of Alice's life may have been a bigger mystery than her death.
In spite of its catchy marketing ploy, Lake Mungo is a much better movie than the average
haunter. It's most successful in its portrayal of Alice's family, who come across as legitimate
and authentic, a real family in the midst of the grieving process. There's always the
question in the back of the mind regarding the film's validity. Is it a true story? Of
course not, but that doesn't make its ending any easier to digest.
When Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez went into The Blair Witch Project, they had no
idea it would wind up having the sort of impact it did. The directors told Bloody Disgusting
in 2014 that their biggest hope for the film was that it would make it to video release.
In reality, it made it to Sundance, and then went on to usher in a slew of new found-footage
films, including a not-so-great sequel and a 2016 remake.
The movie, about three filmmakers who go in search of a legendary witch and find more
than they bargained for, turned out to be one of the most original and critically acclaimed
movies in its genre... but it came at a cost. Myrick and Sanchez gave their actors little
to no information going into the experience, and over the course of The Blair Witch Project's
filming schedule, they slowly deprived them of food and sleep.
"I understand we have to go, believe me."
"It's hard for all of us to hold it together, we need to get out of here in one piece, and
this is not helping."
Myrick told Bloody Disgusting:
"Heather [Donahue] thought she [...] may have signed up for a snuff film."
That fear comes through in the film, making this one of the few found footage films to
genuinely feel like it was edited together from real found footage. But perhaps the most
successful thing about the film is in its ambiguity. It's really just a trio of campers
in the woods, hearing noises and coming across weird, ritualistic totems. The witch is never
seen, and the ending is a little confusing. But sometimes, the best films are the ones
that keep us guessing.
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