19 found footage films that define the genre

While horror movies can sometimes be gimmicky, found footage is a realistic style of filmmaking that can elevate a simple premise with its ability to create immersive experiences and make audiences feel like they’re watching real, unearthed footage. There are many films that have helped shape the genre, proving that raw, shaky camerawork can deliver some of the most terrifying cinematic experiences. Here are 19 found footage films that have defined the genre:

1) The Blair Witch Project

Directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez, this horror movie was not the first found footage movie, but it is definitely the one that made the genre famous. The plot revolves around three students who hike into the woods in Maryland to investigate a local legend and find themselves lost and trapped with an ominous entity. The film launched a wave of found footage horror with its viral marketing and raw aesthetic.

2) The Last Broadcast

Directed by and starring Stefan Avalos and Lance Weiler, this horror movie blends the found footage style with mockumentary, which is a precursor to The Blair Witch Project. It revolves around a man who was convicted of killing his team members during an expedition to find the mythic Jersey Devil. The movie has all the elements of a found footage movie and is a cult classic.

3) Cloverfield

This found footage monster horror movie is one of the few big-budget movies in the genre and is directed by Matt Reeves. The film is set amidst New York City, where a group of six people must protect themselves from a giant monster and other smaller creatures that have taken over the city. The movie is shot from a first-person perspective and blends disaster horror with found footage.

4) What we do in the shadows

Directed by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, this New Zealand mockumentary-style horror comedy is one of the few found footage movies that is not entirely horror, but has comedy as well. The quirky plot revolves around four vampires who are flatmates in Wellington. The film has absurdist humor, is bloody and gory, and the mockumentary style goes well with the movie.

5) Cannibal Holocaust

One of the first major found footage horror movies, this Italian film is infamous for its brutality and graphic violence, even though it has social commentary. Directed by Ruggero Deodato, the movie is about a team of anthropologists who travel to the Amazon to rescue a crew of filmmakers who went missing. Shot in the found footage style, the movie is tense, terrifying, and a cult classic.

6) Paranormal Activity

While The Blair Witch Project started a trend of found footage, it was the Oren Peli directorial, that really revived the genre in the 2000s and explored its capabilities. The movie has a basic plot about a couple being haunted in their home by a presence and setting up cameras to record it. But it is enlivened by the found footage style that makes the setting tense and real. The popular movies spawned a successful franchise.

7) Rec

This 2007 movie combines found footage with the zombie genre to create a terrifying horror movie. Directed by Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza, this Spanish movie revolves around a reporter and her cameraman who follow a firefighter crew to a building, only to find that it is contaminated by an infection and an unnatural presence. The movie innovatively uses the found footage genre to evoke claustrophobia.

8) Chronicle

Directed by Josh Tank, this found footage superhero movie revolves around three high schoolers in Seattle who gain telekinetic powers and use them for fun, until one of them decides to venture down a dark path. It is another movie from the found footage genre that does not have horror but is used to add grit and realness to a movie with a far-fetched plot.

9) Lake Mungo

Directed by Joel Anderson, this Australian horror movie is shot in the mockumentary and found footage style. The film revolves around a family that has recently lost their daughter due to a drowning and the subsequent supernatural events they experience. Even though it has the classic horror tropes, it has inventive twists and depth. The movie builds the horror slowly rather than relying on jump scares.

10) The Taking of Deborah Logan

This found-footage supernatural movie directed by Adam Robitel, is about a crew of documentary makers, who are making a film about Alzheimer’s patients but catch something sinister when they document a woman with the disease. The film effectively uses the genre's style and tropes to convey realism and terror. It blends supernatural horror with psychological elements.

11) Grave Encounters

Directed by The Vicious Brothers, this Canadian found footage supernatural horror movie revolves around a paranormal TV show crew, who investigate a haunted psychiatric hospital, which ends up becoming their last episode. The cult classic has many of the tropes employed in the found footage genre and delivers eerie visuals and psychological horror.

12) Megan is Missing

This found footage psychological horror movie directed by Michael Goi, is about a high school student who goes missing after she decides to meet a boy whom she met online and her best friend’s subsequent search for her. The film is inspired by real-life cases of child abduction and has graphic violence. The found footage style elevates the agony and the film is a harrowing but realistic look at the dangers of internet abductions.

13) Host

One of the most inventive uses of filmmaking during the COVID-19 pandemic, this independent supernatural horror movie directed by Rob Savage, is shot entirely on a Zoom video call and follows a group of friends who summon a demon during an online séance and must escape from it. The film is modern and uses isolation and disadvantages of digital life to create fear.

14) The Poughkeepsie Tapes

Directed by John Erick Dowdle, this pseudo-documentary horror movie revolves around a serial killer’s murders in New York, which are revealed through the killer’s collection of snuff movies and his interviews. The movie effectively uses the mockumentary and found footage style to deliver a disturbing documentary about a deranged serial killer’s crimes.

15) Noroi: The Curse

Directed by Koji Shiraishi, this Japanese horror movie uses pseudo-documentary and found footage tropes to follow a paranormal researcher who is investigating a string of mysterious occurrences for a documentary. Japanese movies are known for their superlative horror and this movie is no less. It adopts a slow-burn approach and is a terrifying found-footage movie.

16) Butterfly Kisses

A unique found footage horror movie directed by Erik Kristopher Myers, the movie offers a meta take on the genre, exploring the obsession with found footage and urban legends. The film revolves around a filmmaker who finds a box of videotapes about a disturbing project done by a group of film students. As a deconstruction of the found footage genre, the film is a comprehensive study of the genre and still delivers a terrifying story.

17) Hell House LLC

Directed by Stephen Cognetti, this found footage supernatural horror movie is shot as a documentary about a group of Halloween haunted house creators who get enveloped by an unknown tragedy on the opening night, which causes their deaths. The film unravels what happened to the crew and the lead-up to the events. The movie is executed well, even if it has all the classic tropes. It is filled with unsettling imagery and effective scares.

18) Willow Creek

Directed by Bobcat Goldthwait, this found footage horror movie is about a couple who travel to the woods of California, to investigate the lore behind Bigfoot. Like other movies from the genre, it elevates a lean cast and premise into a harrowing watch. The film also has plenty of backstory and mythology with a dash of humor. This one is a roller-coaster.

19) V/H/S

This found-footage horror anthology movie was created by Brad Miska and features six found-footage shorts that are directed by emerging filmmaking talent like Adam Wingard, Ti West, and others. All the short horror movies have a frame narrative, which acts like a sixth short horror movie. The film is highly experimental as it allows upcoming directors to play around with the genre. Nonetheless, it has terrifying found footage segments, each with a unique horror twist.