Hello. My name is Tracy and I am addicted to horror.
Found footage films get so much hate and I truly don't understand why. Please allow me to refute some of the more common arguments I've heard against these movies.
- » They make some viewers nauseous. I suppose that's a pretty valid excuse not to watch them. If I became nauseous from shaky cam footage, I think I'd take some dramamine and keep on going, but I'm pretty dedicated.
- » It's hard to get to know the characters. Let's be real here. I'm watching a horror movie to be scared. Personally, I enjoy being in the driver's seat, so to speak. If I wanted amazing character building I'd probably be watching a different genre of film.
- » No one would be filming something so horrifying. If I'm watching a movie about ghosts or aliens or demons or monsters, I can certainly suspend my disbelief a little further to allow for a character toting around a camera.
- » Main characters die sometimes and that's sad. If you wanted a happy ending, you should probably go watch a romantic comedy or a fairytale. This is horror. It's supposed to be horrifying.
I have a love/hate relationship with found footage. On the one hand, I absolutely adore the rush of not knowing what's around the next corner or what I'll see with the next swing of the camera. On the other hand, it's really embarrassing to jump out of my seat in front of other people every time there's a jump scare.
MY TOP 7 FOUND FOOTAGE FILMS
"Presented as a straightforward documentary, the film opens with a title card explaining that in 1994, three students went into the Maryland back woods to do a film project on the Blair Witch incidents. These kids were never seen again, and the film you are about to see is from their recovered equipment, found in the woods a year later. The entire movie documents their adventures leading up to their final minutes."
"Lance Preston and the crew of "Grave Encounters", a ghost-hunting reality television show, are shooting an episode inside the abandoned Collingwood Psychiatric Hospital, where unexplained phenomena has been reported for years. All in the name of good television, they voluntarily lock themselves inside the building for the night and begin a paranormal investigation, capturing everything on camera. They quickly realize that the building is more than just haunted - it is alive - and it has no intention of ever letting them leave. They find themselves lost in a labyrinth maze of endless hallways and corridors, terrorized by the ghosts of the former patients."
I saw Cloverfield in a dollar theater on a first date and was totally riveted from start to finish. The date didn't go very well, but the movie totally blew my mind! It combines sci-fi with horror and is mysterious enough to keep you on the edge of your seat. Did I mention this is a J.J. Abrams film? A lot of people try to act like they're too cool to like Cloverfield, for some reason. I never understood that, but I own this one and still watch it from time to time.
"Producer J.J. Abrams teams with writer Drew Goddard and director Matt Reeves for this frenetic tale of a powerful destructive force that descends upon New York City, and the four desperate people who put their lives on the line to embark on a perilous rescue mission."
"A haunted house makes no secret of the fact it's not pleased with its new tenants in this independent tale of supernatural horror. Katie (Katie Featherson) and Micah (Micah Sloat) are a twentysomething couple who've just moved into a new home in San Diego, CA. Katie has an interest in the paranormal and believes that malevolent spirits have been following her since childhood, though Micah is not so easily convinced..."
"Television reporter Angela Vidal and her cameraman are assigned to spend the night shift with a Los Angeles Fire Station. After a routine 911 call takes them to a small apartment building, they find police officers already on the scene in response to blood curdling screams coming from one of the apartment units. They soon learn that a woman living in the building has been infected by something unknown. After a few of the residents are viciously attacked, they try to escape with the news crew in tow, only to find that the CDC has quarantined the building."
"Miles of twisting catacombs lie beneath the streets of Paris, the eternal home to countless souls. When a team of explorers ventures into the uncharted maze of bones, they uncover the secret of what this city of the dead was meant to contain. A journey into madness and terror, As Above, So Below reaches deep into the human psyche to reveal the personal demons that come back to haunt us all."
"The film follows a group of six young vacationers who, looking to go off the beaten path, hire an "extreme" tour guide. Ignoring warnings, he takes them into the city of Pripyat, the former home to the workers of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, but a deserted town since the disaster more than 25 years ago. After a brief exploration of the abandoned city, however, the group soon finds themselves stranded, only to discover that they are not alone..."
There you have it, my favorite found footage horror films.
Are any of these on your top list? Which ones would you add?
Let me know in the comments!
Let me know in the comments!
