Found
footage horror is a much-maligned sub-genre but with more and more of these
films appearing in cinemas every year, there seems to be no sign of the
technique running out of tape anytime soon.
Recent efforts have taken the horror out of found footage with the
superhero themed Chronicle and
partying teens of Project X but
horror is still very much at the heart of the genre (just ask anyone who sat
through Project X). There may be more
straight-to-DVD offerings than you could point a shaky camera at but the films
that use the found footage aesthetic well, and in interesting and often new and
exciting ways can be hugely profitable and offer audiences a unique and
immersive thrill like few other horror films. Time to dust off those lost tapes and take a look at the best found footage
horror films of all time.
10. TrollHunter
(2010)
You’ll believe it when you see it ran the
tagline for this Norwegian found footage oddity. Not quite, but the sight of giant trolls
tearing through the countryside is made slightly more believable by the clever
mythology and handheld camerawork of the documentary crew that decides to
follow the titular troll hunter. On a
low budget, director André Øvredal
has his characters capture the fantastical sight of these awe-inspiring but ugly
creatures as they attempt to make a documentary about Otto Jespersen’s grouchy Hans. Many argued the mock-doc format was getting old and stale by this point
but the blend of impressive visual effects to create the trolls and the
well-judged moments of comedy made up for the lack of genuine horror and left
many with the feeling that there was life in the found footage film yet.
9.
Diary of the Dead (2007)
George
A. Romero’s second return to the original ‘Dead’
trilogy after Land of the Dead follows
film students as they capture the beginnings of the zombie apocalypse. Using a range of found footage from news
reports to webcams and videos uploaded to MySpace (remember that?), Diary of the Dead is a typical
Romero film with plenty of blood, guts and subtext. With so many characters with cameras, it
gives all new meaning to the idea of shooting the dead. There are also some great little additions to
the found footage format with a scene where a character is filming while
charging his camera at a plug socket and is therefore limited in his movements
as zombies close in on him. Romero seems
to bemoan the rise of bloggers and vloggers taking over the airwaves as the
mainstream media crumbles during the apocalypse. The jumbled transmissions of thousands of
people with access to sharing their thoughts over the internet are more of a
concern than the traditional shuffling zombies.
8. REC
2 (2009)
The only sequel on this list is a deserved
entry into the found footage sub-genre with cops with helmet cameras attempting
to survive in an apartment block full of repossessed zombies. Following from its predecessor, the squad
enters the quarantined Barcelonan apartment block to find more rabid, rapid
zombies sprinting manically around the claustrophobic confines and we get front
row seats, positioned as we are on the helmets of our heroes. It’s a mad rollercoaster ride of a film and
just when the action seems like it might get a bit repetitive, we switch to
seeing from the point-of-view of the camera of a group of kids who have made
the fatal mistake of also entering the possessed residence. Taking the story further than the first film
and adding to the mythology can’t hide the fact that there is nothing that can
compare to the terrifying final scene of the first film. But if you want the cinematic equivalent of a
first-person shooter game like Doom,
look no further!
7.
Man Bites Dog (1992)
Ever wanted to get under the skin of a
sociopath killer; find out what makes him tick, what he does in his down time
between random slayings and the odd bit of rape? Well meet Ben, part time thief, full time
psycho. A film crew follows him around
as he robs, kills and rambles on and on about art, music and society. It soon becomes apparent that this film crew
is becoming more than just documentary makers as they become embroiled deeper
and more explicitly in Ben’s crimes. The
line between watching and participating becomes increasingly blurred,
implicating you in the audience as you keep watching this most realistic of
Belgian mock-docs. Don’t be fooled by
Ben’s apparently amiable nature, this is one sick puppy that bites as much as
he barks.
6.
Paranormal Activity (2007)
Arguably more influential than the number
one film on this list, a couple of suburbanites Katie and Micah fall foul of a poltergeist/demon
as creepy occurrences are caught on tape by Micah’s trusty camcorder. Bedroom antics are filmed for scares, not
pleasure, as the nights get tenser with an unwanted entity attacking the pair in
their bed. Filmed on a tiny budget and
distributed by DreamWorks, this
reminded young and poor filmmakers what could be achieved by the found footage
horror genre when it’s done right. It started
the biggest found footage franchise, out-grossing (but not grossing out) the Saw sequels and only just seems to have wrapped up with the (supposedly) final film in 2015.
5.
Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
Banned until recently, this is easily one
of the sickest, most despicable films you will ever see. So realistic the director was nearly tried for murder, Ruggero Deodato eventually had to bring
his cast out of hiding to face the media so that the authorities would really
believe he hadn’t killed them. How could
a film be this realistic? Well, this is
where found footage really began. After a team of morally challenged documentary
makers disappear in the Amazon, their footage is later recovered. What the rolls of film reveal is that the
local tribes didn’t take too kindly to having their homes destroyed by the
documentary makers who were craving a bit of sensationalism. The inclusion of real scenes of animal
cruelty makes this extremely hard to watch and deeply disturbing but if that
doesn’t upset you enough, try the grueling and realistic depictions of
abortion, rape and castration. That
should do it.
4.
Cloverfield (2008)
When a giant rampaging beast (think
Godzilla but scarier) hits the streets of New York, ruining the leaving party
of young professional Rob, his best friend Hud decides to document the night on
camcorder. Taking the imagery of 9/11 -
crumbling buildings, severed landmarks, dusty streets and a city in panic – and
keeping the amateur aesthetic of so many 9/11 YouTube videos is exploitative but incredibly exciting. Director Matt
Reeves (Let Me In) and writer Drew Goddard (The Cabin in the Woods) care little for the flimsy characters but
Hud’s cinematography mixed with the destructive power of a truly awesome
monster keeps you on the edge of your seat until the explosive climax.
3. REC
(2007)
A TV presenter and her camera operator get
more thrills than they bargained for when they follow a crew of firefighters
into a zombie infested Barcelonan apartment block. Quickly
quarantined by the authorities, the fire crew and the presenter must work with
the residents in order to stay alive while the camera operator keeps
filming. These aren’t the shuffling
zombies of Romero’s films; these are the speedy, terrifying zombies of modern
horror. Think 28 Days Later but all shot by one of the characters in the story
and all trapped in one claustrophobic location. The final scene filmed in total darkness with only the night vision
camera allowing the characters to see is one of the tensest and scariest things
you will ever witness.
2.
Zero Day (2003)
Based on actual tapes created by the
Columbine high school killers, two teenage boys create video diaries capturing
their preparation for a school shooting massacre. The footage they produce is a scary,
fascinating portrait of the banality of evil. These two kids are close friends, a little introverted and insular but
pretty normal. But they are planning an
unspeakable crime and are documenting their thoughts and actions as they
prepare for their big day. It’s a
worrying insight into how two seemingly normal teenagers can deceive the world
and consider committing a terrifying act without a care for the consequences. Switching from their own camcorder captured
footage to the CCTV in their school for the final scene, it’s a bleak, chilling
reenactment of a frighteningly real phenomena.
1. The
Blair Witch Project (1999)
In October of 1994 three
student filmmakers went down to the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland,
while shooting a documentary… the rest is cinematic history. Heather, Mike and Josh get lost, hungry and
scared in their quest to get to the bottom of the Blair Witch mythology. Roaming in circles with no way out of the
woods, they are surrounded by strange noises in the night as they try to
sleep. Then objects appear outside their
tents, the sound of distant children crying wakes them and then one of the
students disappears. Though the witch
might never be seen, less is definitely more in this most influential of found
footage films. The actors really shot
the film themselves and with the directors only giving minor instructions and
the actors’ genuine hunger, frustration and fear burn through the screen. One of the scariest films ever made. Please consider buying a copy of my book on The Blair Witch Project here.
5
others to find if you’re not feeling sick of shaky-cam action:
Paranormal Entity 2 a.k.a Gacy House (2010) See this if you loved
Paranormal Activity.
The Magician (2005) See
this if you loved Man Bites Dog.
Exhibit A (2007) See this
is you loved Zero Day.
The Last
Exorcism
(2010) See this if you loved REC 2.
The Last
Broadcast (1998) See this if you loved The Blair
Witch Project.
