From Cannibal Holocaust to The Blair Witch Project to Paranormal Activity, found footage has come in and out of popularity through the years as the horror genre ebbs and flows through different trends. When done well, found footage can create heart-pounding realism that leaves audiences googling whether or not what they’re seeing is actually real or “based on a true story,” but it can also leave audiences nauseous and underwhelmed with low production value and poor camera work.
For me, found footage is my favorite sub-genre of horror, and I will watch any movie no matter how bad just to get my fix. But, I understand that found footage isn’t for everyone – both my wife and one of our best friends really don’t care for the camera-shaking, cheap-production, ultra-realism. As such, it’s become my mission in life to find found footage horror movies that appeal even to people who hate found footage. So, whether you’re a found footage lover who wants to share your favorite sub-genre with the less-inclined in your life, or a horror fan looking to branch out, these are some of the best and most approachable in the genre.
10. Evidence (2013)
Set up like an episode of a procedural cop show like CSI or Criminal Minds, Evidence follows two detectives as they piece together footage from various recording devices to try and determine the events that led up to a group of bus passengers being massacred at an abandoned gas station in the middle of the desert. This movie is right on the edge of being found footage or not, because the shots of the detectives are all filmed like a traditional movie or TV show, but most of the movie is the footage they’re pulling from extent video cameras, thus making it more of a found footage movie than not.
For people who really can’t stand the found footage style, the shaky camera or grainy look that comes from handheld camera filming, Evidence is a really great choice because it has a lot more production value than your standard found footage movie. The set-up also makes it a lot more approachable for people who may be familiar with TV investigation shows, but not necessarily with horror or found footage – it’s a gateway movie for that reason.
9. Mr. Jones (2013)
A surreal trip through art and nature, Mr. Jones focuses on a couple who go out into the wilderness to film a nature documentary, but when their backpack is stolen, they trace the thief back to a neighboring cabin. There, they discover that their neighbor is actually the legendary artist, Mr. Jones. But, there’s a reason why Jones is so reclusive and isolated.
With surrealism becoming so popular in modern horror, Mr. Jones is the perfect blend between found footage and that trippy, dreamlike style of storytelling. It also brings a fun occult-y Blair Witch-style theming with the creepy stick figure sculptures and some sort of supernatural influence, while giving the audience a bit more substance to sink their teeth into. This one’s definitely more of an indie pick than Evidence, but it also doesn’t devolve into the migraine-inducing shaky cam that can make found footage hard to watch for a lot of people.
8. Hell House, LLC (2015)
Hell House, LLC sees a horrible tragedy that leaves fifteen confirmed dead on the first night of a haunted house. Five years later the public still doesn’t know what really happened that night, and no one’s been able to take a look in the old Abbadon Hotel. Taking matters into their own hands, a documentary team decides to track down the only surviving member of the haunt and interview her to try and get some answers. The movie is presented in pieces with original footage from the haunters intercut with modern-day footage of the documentary crew.
One of my personal favorites, Hell House, LLC is one of those movies that you want to watch just because it’s so mysterious and you want to know what happened to all those people in that basement. Featuring several different types of filming, this one can be more approachable for found footage haters simply because it’s not all filmed on a hand-held camera, and dips into more mockumentary-style footage at times.
7. Afflicted (2014)
A new and interesting take on a horror classic, Afflicted follows two friends, Clif and Derek, who are touring Europe when Derek contracts a mysterious illness after picking up a woman in a Barcelona club. As the illness progresses rapidly and Derek’s health declines, the pair have to race to find a cure for the disease before Derek becomes wholly consumed by it.
Without giving too much away, Afflicted does a really interesting and modern look at a certain horror subgenre, and it does so through the lens of a found footage film. Shown in the form of a travelogue, Afflicted offers a lot of creativity and uniqueness that viewers will appreciate even if the found footage style is not typically for them.
6. Creep (2015)
A seriously creepy capsule film, Creep plays on the horror of real life by following a struggling videographer who accepts a filming job on craigslist to film a video diary for a man’s unborn son. When he arrives at the man’s house, however, he finds himself in the middle of the woods with a stranger that he’s not quite sure if he can trust. The directorial debut of Patrick Brice, Creep is based on his real-life experiences and stars Mark Duplass as the eccentric client, one of only two characters who appear in the movie.
Super realistic and deeply unnerving, Creep is an indie pick with solid production value and easy-to-watch filmography that really drives home the horror. This one is definitely for people who are already a fan of horror or thrillers, but not so much of found footage, and can absolutely change some peoples’ minds about what found footage can do and how scary it can be.
5. Noroi: The Curse (2005)
The best of Japanese found footage horror, Noroi: The Curse is an absolute classic found footage movie that delivers that same kind of creeping dread and intense, twisting plot that you expect from other J-horror movies, but through the lens of found footage styling. The movie follows a prominent paranormal journalist Kobayashi who goes missing shortly after completing a documentary; the footage shows the investigation and lead-up to his disappearance.
For horror fans who can’t stand the pacing and lack of depth in traditional found footage movies, Noroi is definitely the movie that will be the exception. It offers a rich, compelling story that’s genuinely chilling and is the perfect way to bring fans of other J-horror titles into the found footage subgenre with something they’ll love. While the movie is from 2005 and definitely leans more into the low-quality film grain than others on this list, the story offers such richness that it shouldn’t be a tedious watch.
4. As Above, So Below (2014)
As Above, So Below is a found footage movie that’s on pretty much everyone’s list in recent years, and there’s a good reason for that. The story follows archaeologist Scarlett Marlowe who has spent her whole life looking for the Philosopher’s Stone, so when she finally tracks down a lead that it could be beneath the Paris catacombs, she assembles a team for the descent, only to discover they’re all entering their own personal hell.
Blending actual history and mythology with the horror movie setting of a bunch of people stuck deep in an underground cave system, As Above, So Below really has something for everyone. The movie basically feels like a modern horror version of an Indiana Jones film, and it’s a really great time. There’s codebreaking, puzzle-solving, creepy cave choirs, and plenty of gruesome death and injury. It does have a bit of the found footage trope of a bunch of people running around in the dark with a camera, but it’s done in a really effective way and doesn’t have all the camera-shaking nausea that some movies do.
3. Digging Up the Marrow (2015)
Indie filmmaking legend Adam Green’s foray into the found footage genre, Digging Up the Marrow is a mockumentary-style movie that follows Adam himself as he receives a strange serious of letters from a fan who claims to know that monsters are real and to have found a gateway into their world. Adam decides to rework a documentary about horror artwork to specifically focus on this man’s story and what he says he can prove.
Featuring the artwork Alex Pardee, best known for designing The Used’s album covers, Digging Up the Marrow is the perfect love letter to people who grew up loving horror. The exploration of monsters and their secret underground world is just so compelling, audiences will find themselves wanting more. This is a really great one for people who hate found footage, especially, because it doesn’t have any of those overdone tropes of the genre; Green is an exceptionally smart filmmaker and is able to deliver a really solid, crowd-pleasing picture.
2. The Taking of Deborah Logan (2014)
Another movie that’s on pretty much every list of best found footage horror movies, The Taking of Deborah Logan is thoroughly creepy and compelling. What starts as a student documentary about the effects of Alzheimer’s disease on the caretakers of people living with Alzheimer’s takes a dark turn when the subject of the film, Deborah Logan, begins exhibiting behaviors that are strange even beyond the realm of dementia. Soon, the filmmakers and Deborah’s adult daughter Sarah have to uncover the mystery of what’s really happening to Deborah in order to save a young girl’s life.
The Taking of Deborah Logan is a movie that absolutely deserves all the praise that it gets, and that’s why it’s on so many lists of found footage bests. The mockumentary style works really well for this movie, and the acting is excellent, especially the performances of Jill Larson as Deborah Logan and Anne Ramsay as her daughter, Sarah. While there’s plenty of horror, and this film does delve into the supernatural, the characters and story feel so thoroughly rooted in reality that the scares are even more visceral when they do happen.
1. Trollhunter (2010)
Trollhunter is a Norwegian found footage film that follows a documentary crew investigating reports of illegal bear poaching who track down a man who actually turns out to be a troll hunter for the Norwegian government. Out of exhaustion and frustration with his job, he agrees to take them along on his work and allow them to interview him about anything they want to know about him and the trolls.
Trollhunter is a truly exceptional movie that’s just absolutely impossible to not like. It has comedy, it has horror, and it has some truly beautiful sweeping shots of the Norwegian countryside eclipsed by giant troll monsters of all shapes and sizes. Even for the person who can’t stand found footage or watching movies with subtitles, this movie will capture their attention with its characters, its visuals, and its gorgeous cinematography.
Love found footage or hate it, these movies are sure to help you warm up to the sub-genre just a bit more. So, if you watch any of these and they help you grow closer to my favorite sub-genre, let me know, and let me know what other found footage movies you love; I want to love them too.
Jackalope House of Horrors 