My Top 10 Favorite Found Footage Horror Movies.
WARNING POSSIBLE SPOILERS!!!!
Found footage gets a lot of bad rap these days. With movies out like Unfriended, and the always awful Paranormal Activity franchise, found footage movies have been made into a joke of a sub-genre in which any old Joe Shmoe with a camera and fake blood can make a movie. Lately though, the found footage genre has made its way to the hands of people who can do it right and do it justice. These are just a few of the found footage horror movies I like, so please feel free to comment yours.
WARNING MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!
1.V/H/S (2012)
V/H/S is the BEST anthology horror film around in my opinion. The movie was released at the Sundance Film Festival back in 2012 when it first started making a buzz. The film is an anthology / found footage film that has a main frame narrative and several "tapes" (separate stories) within. Personally, my two favorite tapes are 10/31/98 directed by Radio Silence (Tyler Gillett, Justin Martinez, Chad Villella, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin) and the crowd pleaser Amateur Night Directed by David Bruckner. The sequels were not as good as the first but they have their charm and are surely cult classics.
2. Cloverfield (2008)
Let’s get one thing straight, I did not see this movie until I was 16 and it still haunts me to this day. This well known movie was the resurgence of a long lost genre. Long before director J.J.Abrams was wielding lightsabers in a galaxy far far away, he brought us this masterpiece of horror! Though Abrams is most commonly thought to have directed this movie, it was actually done by director Matt Reeves (Let Me In, Dawn of The Planet of The Apes). This movie is iconic for making millions of viewers get motion sickness during its theatrical release in 2008 and also for its poster depicting a headless Lady Liberty. The 2016 "prequel" (if you even want to call it that) 10 Cloverfield Lane decided to ditch the shaky, handheld camera for a much more glossy, yet still terrifying approach!
3. The Taking of Deberah Logan (2014)
Being a nurse, when I saw this movie I felt things that horror movies don't normally make me feel. This interesting take on Alzheimer's and possession is the perfect directorial debut of Adam Robitel. This movie is about a documentary crew making a movie about Alzheimer's patient Deberah Logan ( played by actress Jill Larson) and in the midst of filming, things get very strange. Jill puts on an amazing performance as Logan and the ending results are truly terrifying.
4. As Above, So Below (2014)
This movie has more twists and turns than the Paris Catacombs themselves. Written and directed by John Erick Dowdle (Quarantine, Devil) this movie follows a documentary crew searching for the fabled Philosopher's Stone in the depths of the Paris Catacombs. While not highly praised by critics, As Above, So Below is a nice mixture of mythology, fantasy and good old fashioned horror!
5.Afflicted (2013)
Afflicted is just one of those movies that I was dying to see! I remember back when it had its theatrical release (very limited theatrical release) I was searching for theaters showing it. This movie is sad, beautiful and bat shit insane in its twisted portrayal of vampyrism. Directed by two best friends Derek Lee and Chris Prowse, this film tells the story of two friends (played by Lee and Prowse themselves) who travel the world, but, their travels get interrupted early on in Italy after Derek starts displaying hellish symptoms. This movie is everything I love about found footage horror with an unflinching and uncensored view on the genre.
6. The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007)
HOLY SHIT IS THIS MOVIE HARD TO WATCH! This movie is the very essence of fear and horror. This movie hails from the same twisted brain that brought us As Above, So Below but this time John Erick Dowdle shows a more psychotic side in this film told in a documentary format. While initially scheduled for release in 2007, it was not publicly released until the same year as As Above, So Below almost 7 years after the film was complete. Let me tell you this film is utterly terrifying, uncensored and COMPLETELY unnerving to watch! Just watch it with a friend because The Poughkeepsie Tapes is fuel for a lifetime of nightmares.
7. What We Do In The Shadows (2014)
Yes this movie may be considered a comedy, but, it is still horror. Written and Directed by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi this movie is as hilarious as it can be unsettling. Shot in a mockumentary format, this movie tells the story of a houseful of vampires living together and their daily lives adapting to the ever changing world. Funny, witty and all together a gem, What We Do In The Shadows will forever be my favorite horror comedy.
8. Quarantine (2008)
Yet another film directed by John Erick Dowdle, this one is the first and ONLY zombie movie on my list. Quarantine is a remake of the Spanish film Rec directed by Jaume Balagueró, and while it is similar to the bone chilling original, Quarantine delivers its own scares. The ending scene is actually one of the most terrifying scenes out of all the movies on my list. Beware!
9. Creep (2014)
I want to start off by saying this: It is very hard to get all the way to the end of this movie. It is bone chilling, terrifying and very uncomfortable and disturbing to watch. With that being said, let's get started. Creep is a little known horror movie directed by Patrick Brice about a documentary film maker named Aaron (played by Brice himself) making a documentary about a man named Josef (eerily portrayed by Mike Duplass). Things get very very uncomfortable around the beginning of the first act and it all goes downhill from there. The most terrifying scene in this movie is when Josef puts on a wolf mask (the scene in the thumbnail) and attacks Aaron for the first time. I'm telling you, I knew this film would be good because I couldn't even sit through the trailer!
10. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Ode to the one that started it all! Well, technically, it started the modern revival of modern found footage. This movie scares me as a 20 year old as much as it did when my parents let me watch it on Halloween when I was 15. Blair Witch is so damn unsettling because you never see the evil force haunting (more like hunting) these three teens. When it was released in 1999 everyone thought that this was real! With scenes like finding eerie stick figures hung up in the trees, to the iconic ending scene of Mike (Michael C. Williams) creepily standing in the corner, Blair Witch is the found footage film all others feed off of like a devilish mother nursing her hellish children. The Blair Witch Project is my all time favorite found footage horror film.
Honorable mentions include: Inner Demons (IFC Midnight 2014), The Possession Of Michael King (Anchor Bay Films 2014), The Gallows (Warner Bros. Pictures 2015) and The Visit (Universal Pictures 2015)
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