The Best Found Footage Movies
"Found footage" movies are films shot in POV, presented as being created accidentally, by people using video cameras in "real life" situations. These first-person films are fictional, but attempt to simulate reality, either in a "mockumentary" style or directly implying that the movie has been "discovered" somewhere and then distributed to viewers. The first-person gimmick is most often used in horror movies, as the heightened realism of watching "amateur"-shot footage can enhance the tension and suspense in a found footage movie.
The best found footage movies manage to offer thrills, some chills and certainly suspense as their storylines unfold. Typically, found footage films are horror films, but not always. This list includes some excellent films from the found footage movie genre, so be sure to vote for the ones you like the most (and vote down any that you didn't think worked too well). You can also re-rank this list in any order you choose.
Some movies that are generally considered to be found footage films combine elements of the POV footage and a larger narrative, so essentially they are a combination film. This list includes a few of those movies, and if you don't agree they should be on here, vote them down. Many of these spooky movies could be considered among the greatest horror films ever made, too.
What's the scariest found footage movie ever? Certainly, some of the major contenders include the original 'Paranormal Activity' movie (released in 2007), 'REC' (also 2007) and 1999's 'The Blair Witch Project' (perhaps the first found footage movie to gain mainstream appeal at the theaters). Do these movies scare you out of your wits? If so, you're probably a big found footage fan - one who spends endless hours perusing the best horror movies on Netflix instant to get some new thrills.
Some excellent found footage movies that aren't necessarily in the horror movie genre include 2012's science fiction/thriller 'Chronicle' and the cop drama 'End of Watch.' The comedy 'Project X,' also released in 2012, could certainly be considered among the best found footage movies, even though it is most definitely *not* a horror film. It's actually an excellent teen movie.
- Stephen Cognetti
- Actors: Kristin Michelle Taylor, Theodore Bouloukos, Natalie Gee, Jeb Kreager
- Released: 2015
Hell House LLC is a 2015 American found footage horror film written and directed by Stephen Cognetti. - 2Renny Harlin
- Actors: Gemma Atkinson, Richard Ried, Matt Stokoe, Aleksey Nesterov, Aleksey Kink
- Released: 2013
Devil's Pass is a 2013 UK-Russian science fiction horror film directed by Renny Harlin, written by Vikram Weet, and starring Holly Goss, Matt Stokoe, Luke Albright, Ryan Hawley, and Gemma Atkinson as ...more - 3Adam Robitel
- Actors: Jill Larson, Anne Ramsay, Michelle Ang, Brett Gentile
- Released: 2014
- 4M. Night Shyamalan
- Actors: Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan, Peter McRobbie, Kathryn Hahn
- Released: 2015
Becca (Olivia DeJonge) and younger brother Tyler (Ed Oxenbould) say goodbye to their mother as they board a train and head deep into Pennsylvania farm country to meet their maternal grandparents for ...more - Justin Barber
- Actors: Chelsea Lopez, Florence Hartigan, Justin Matthews, Luke Spencer Roberts
- Released: 2017
Phoenix Forgotten is a 2017 American found footage science-fiction supernatural psychological horror film directed by Justin Barber. 20 years after three teenagers disappeared in the wake of ...more - 6Derek Lee, Clif Prowse
- Actors: Clif Prowse, Derek Lee, Baya Rehaz, Benjamin Zeitoun, Zach Gray
- Released: 2013
Two friends' tour of Europe takes a dark turn when one of them contracts a mysterious illness. They race to find out what it is and how to cure it before the sickness consumes him completely.