Popularized initially by the iconic The Blair Witch Project and then brought back to life by Paranormal Activity, found footage continues to be a fan-favorite genre of horror. Often praised for bringing authenticity and true fear, these films tend to be largely effective- if they're done well.
As time has gone on, found footage has evolved and new trends emerged. It was originally mostly faux-documentary crews who had "gone missing" being highlighted, it turned into stories of everyday people just filming themselves when things go awry. Now, it's not uncommon to see found footage in the form of live stream or video call form. Because there have been so many throughout the years, some have garnered praise and some have garnered hate, both justified and unjustified. Here are some that might get more credit than they deserve.
Host (2020)
Horror fans went wild for Host when it was released in the summer of 2020, and only one year later it officially unseated Sinister as scientifically the scariest movie of all time. Filmed and set during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the film follows a group of friends during quarantine who are having a seance over Zoom. Of course, it does not go smoothly.
Host is the kind of video call found footage akin to Searching and Unfriended, which is very trendy right now. The movie is filled with jump scares and spooky moments, and a lot of them work. It also clocks in at a very concise runtime of 56 minutes. There's a lot to like about Host, but it's still ultimately overrated.
Firstly, it's nowhere near as scary as one might think when they hear about the title it holds. Even though the jump scares and scary moments are initially shocking, it doesn't provide a good lasting sense of fear. It also won't be relatable forever. One of its major appeals was being set in the world people were really living in. In years to come, people won't want to revisit such a difficult time, and it will likely have lost most of its appeal.
The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007)
The Poughkeepsie Tapes is not a household name, but it is big amongst horror fans. It's a found footage film directed by John Erick Dowdle about a serial killer in Poughkeepsie, New York. The movie is put together mockumentary style, with interviews and clips of the killer's snuff films throughout.
There's a lot of love for The Poughkeepsie Tapes out there, but mostly among fans of specific kinds of movies. This one definitely won't appeal to the masses. It's extremely brutal and gets into some pretty taboo topics that a lot of viewers won't be comfortable with. A lot of horror gets into the very brutal subjects, but this being filmed in snuff film style makes it especially hard to handle, and it just isn't fun to watch.
On top of that, it also isn't especially thought-provoking or meaningful. It gets repetitive and is hard to get through, as the torture scenes aren't engaging for very long. Those who love this film of course can continue to do so, but it's definitely been made for a niche taste.
The Houses October Built (2014)
This is a really classic style of found footage, and a lot of people really love it. The subjects are a group of friends road-tripping through America in October, hitting up Halloween haunts along the way, and looking for the most extreme ones. Unfortunately for them, some scare actors have taken their jobs to the extreme and started following them.
The Houses October Built gets off to a good start and has a few effective creepy moments throughout, but it falls into a trap that a lot of found footage movies find themselves in. The charm wears off about halfway through, and it gets boring. There are sequences of the group going through haunts that are just way too long and end up having nothing to do with the story. The few acts of creepiness are few and far between, and there's a lot of meandering. Then the big finale ending where everything is supposed to come together is extremely drawn out. It's a shame because the premise sounds so fun and appealing, but it just doesn't get where it needs to go.
Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
This is one of the most famous horror movies of all time, being known for its controversial nature and the realism on screen, as well as the legal woes faced by director Ruggero Deodato upon its release. For extreme lovers of the genre, it's often considered essential viewing. However, does its place in history outweigh the horrible, genuine, acts of violence shown on screen?
Cannibal Holocaust is an Italian film about an American film crew who go into the Amazon rainforest to make a documentary, and they end up meeting a brutal cannibalistic indigenous tribe. There's a lot that goes into the history of this film, and it's certainly one to be learned about when studying the history of horror. However, it, unfortunately, shows the real-life deaths of six animals throughout the film. Killing real animals for the film is universally thought of as a very immoral thing to do, and far trumps the outrage over the fake events of Cannibal Holocaust. For that reason, the constant praise of the movie feels highly inappropriate for many.
The Tunnel (2011)
Even though it may not be the most well known, The Tunnel has an interesting backstory and some pretty high scores from both critics and audiences. It was actually the first Australian film to ever be legally released via BitTorrent, completely for free, and that exposed the film to millions of viewers.
The story follows a journalist who is investigating the tunnels of an underground railway network in Sydney, in an attempt to unearth a government conspiracy. Unfortunately, the film is just boring. It's a generic found footage/mockumentary style and doesn't add any new elements to the genre at all, nor does it have any standout moments. What's worse is that the movie is incredibly dark and hard to see, and the ending is extremely grating with largely just screaming and running shown to viewers. It's hard to get through.