The Found Footage Movies That No One Talks About Anymore: A Deep Dive into the Subgenre's Hidden Gems
The found footage genre, often associated with horror and the tropes of the 'Blair Witch Project', has a rich history that extends far beyond the well-known paradigms. While the genre has its fair share of cliches, there are several standout entries that have been overlooked over the years. This article delves into some of the best found footage movies that have been neglected by the cultural zeitgeist, exploring how they adapt the format to other genres and deliver effective storytelling.
- The Tunnel
This Australian entry in the genre works so well because it indulges the tropes and delivers what you expect, while consistently keeping you on your toes by engaging with the tension of its setting through chaotic, subjective camerawork. The film follows a Sydney news crew that smells a potential conspiracy involving a water recycling program and missing individuals in underground train tunnels.
- Afflicted
Among the handful of found-footage films that emerged in the early-2010s slipstream of 'Chronicle', 'Afflicted' is one of the more inventive of the bunch. The film follows two lifelong friends who load up their cameras for a round-the-world trip after one of them receives unsettling medical news. The film builds emotional stakes and delivers a body-horror spectacle that focuses on the human cost rather than the mythology.
- The Bay
In 2012, Barry Levinson directed this yucky, fretful found-footage horror about a coastal town eaten alive by government malfeasance. The film channels anger at the propensity of official institutions to ignore environmental regulations and standards to boost business and profit, at the expense of the health of the environment and humans.
- Europa Report
This 2013 hard-science-fiction found-footage film presents recovered transmissions from a doomed private mission to Europa, one of Jupiter's moons. The film earns fear through science and has a non-linear structure that makes it a slow, mournful procession toward an inevitable reckoning.
- The Sacrament
Director Ti West's genre homages take a surprising turn with this follow-up to his slow-burn horror narratives. The film follows a group of investigative journalists from Vice getting caught up in what is essentially the Jonestown Massacre, the infamous mass killing of commune members.
- The Last Exorcism
This rare beast is a seemingly rote found-footage horror movie about a demonic possession that actually earned solid marks from critics and audiences. The film explores themes of lost faith, religious veracity, and the turmoil of being an adolescent girl.
- Noroi: The Curse
This slice of anxious found-footage J-horror from prolific director Koji Shiraishi received a polite, quiet reception upon release in 2005, but has continually grown in esteem from horror fanatics and found-footage aficionados. The film is presented as a piece of lost media, a real documentary following a paranormal researcher.
- The Dirties
Matt Johnson's 'The Dirties' uses the found-footage format for a horror more visceral than the demons and creatures that usually inhabit the subgenre. The film provides an intimate look at the psychology of a school shooter, with Johnson playing a fictionalized version of himself.
- The Last Broadcast
This 1998 film has been somewhat lost to time, as it was immediately succeeded by the viral sensation 'The Blair Witch Project'. The film follows documentarian David Leigh as he searches for answers regarding the killing of a crew of public-access television hosts.
- Project X
This bellicose found-footage high-school house-party movie was a huge cultural event, pulling in a worldwide total of $102 million on a $12 million budget. The film is now most successful as a precise and cringe-inducing cultural artifact, one that leads viewers into a vivid rendering of a time period now bygone.
