The "found footage" genre has been divisive from the start. Here are a few that stand out as some of the best.
The
Bay (2012—directed by Barry Levinson): Like it or not, no one can deny that Barry Levinson did
something different with The Bay. Not only is a major director of
Academy Award-winning films like Rain Man dipping his toes into horror,
but he does so in a way that’s unlike any found footage film we’ve ever seen.
Instead of the approach landmarked by Cannibal Holocaust and The
Blair Witch Project, which use one camera to follow a small group into
oblivion, Levinson gives us a “zeitgeist” approach, utilizing all types of
media to present a growing catastrophe with extreme urgency.
A
small town off the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland awakens to celebration, a parade,
news crews interviewing the winners of the hot dog-eating contest, and
quickly—irrevocably—descends into utter chaos. People begin breaking out in
boils and sores that cover their bodies, parade patrons upchuck blood on their
neighbors’ lawns, screams echo off the buildings and into the bay, shots are
fired, and it’s only the beginning. Levinson and his editors show us all the
action as they deftly switch between news broadcasts, dash cams, voiceover
narration, Skype calls, and recorded phone conversations to keep the tension
and realism ratcheted to fever pitch. This doesn’t feel like a horror film—it
feels like this is really happening.
Despite
some weak performances (the teenage girl in the hospital behaves as if she just
took a bath in horse tranquilizers), it’s the overall pacing and real world
feel of The Bay that make it stand head and shoulders over most all
other films in this genre. Just try and drink water out of the tap after
watching it. ***
The
Blair Witch Project
(1999—directed by Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick): The Blair Witch Project
certainly wasn’t the first found footage film to come out, but it definitely
was one of the first to appeal to mainstream audiences. It made use of the
burgeoning social networking scene to advertise the film on the internet and
television. “Viral Marketing” wasn’t really a thing back then, so people didn’t
really know what to make of it. The filmmakers pioneered its use beautifully,
with everything from a published “Blair Witch Dossier” to a faux documentary
shown on the Sci-Fi Channel. Every move was calculated perfectly to lend
credence to the initial claims that the footage was authentic, lending mystique
and atmosphere to the film before it was even released. Everyone wanted to see
it just to see what the fuss was about.
The
film itself is quite terrifying at times, especially since it starts off
somewhat lighthearted and unassuming. They did a good job conveying that it was
really all filmed with a handheld camera, and it certainly feels authentic.
Some found footage films make the mistake of throwing in fancy editing which
breaks your suspension of belief; that is what really sells this genre of films
and makes them work.
Heather
Donahue, Joshua Leonard, and Michael Williams were very natural in their acting
and it manages to not come off as contrived or fake. The last five minutes of
the film are absolutely harrowing and scary; many movies since then have tried
to capture that feeling unsuccessfully. The Blair Witch Project ended up
being one of the highest grossing independent films of all time and spawned the
many imitators we see today, which strangely enough doesn’t include its own
sequel: the 2000 stinker directed by none other than Paradise Lost documentarian
Joe Berlinger. Blair Witch 2 is a film so worthless and disconnected
from everything that made the original memorable; it’s only purpose is to
confound, confuse, and remind us how good we had it the first time. **
Cannibal
Holocaust (1980—directed by Ruggero Deodado): The granddaddy of all modern found footage films has to be
the infamous Cannibal Holocaust. It’s an Italian film, directed by
Ruggero Deodato and scored by giallio/mondo film alumni Riz Ortolani. Because
this film came out before the advent of the internet, people seriously thought
some of the actors were actually killed for the film! Deodato was arrested for
making a snuff film after the premier and was only cleared after gathering up
the actors from the film to prove they were still alive. That just shows how
effective this genre of movies can be if done correctly.
Cannibal
Holocaust follows the exploits of a group of
documentary filmmakers as they traverse through the Amazonian jungle to film
the local tribes. As always happens, they end up meeting some trouble, and the
camera footage gets recovered by some broadcast executives who want to make a
film from the raw footage. What they end up seeing while reviewing the tapes
absolutely horrifies and disgusts them.
This
film is infamous for a reason; it shows graphic rape, real-live animal
killings, and stomach-churning blood and gore. It has been banned in several
countries and exists in many edited and censored versions. There is an
authenticity and realness to this film that is missing from most of the found
footage movies released nowadays. It’s not polished and sexy; it’s sleazy and
repulsive. However, there is a deeper theme running through it that rings true:
man at his core is uncivilized and he has to take great pains to keep himself in
check. **
Chronicle (2012—directed by Josh Trank): An original idea wrapped in a trend with a clever, enticing
trailer that didn't completely fail—Chronicle is a unique creature.
There are a lot of films presented and built up just like Chronicle that
end up tipping over with top-heavy cheese and no subtlety to be found. The film
is far-fetched, no doubt, yet allows for easy suspension of disbelief as our
three leads accidentally become imbued with super powers. The story is classic
comic faire in every sense, but it's tasteful, not too overt, and features
characters worth caring for.
Max
Landis' script wears its influences on a superhero t-shirt. It's so obvious,
but it works. Dane DeHaan's Andrew made for a stereotypical, but solid villain
origin a la Tetsuo in the legendary anime Akira. DeHaan is still young
and a bit rough around the edges, but it's clear his path is taking him toward
that one role that will propel him to the A-list. He's made for villains.
Unfortunately, he was shoehorned into Amazing Spider-man 2 as the new
Green Goblin when they should have picked any other villain for him to play
besides one we've seen a few times already and far too recently. DeHaan's time
will come.
It's
too bad both Landis and director Josh Trank went through the typical industry
loops that brought a potential sequel to Chronicle to a standstill.
While Trank has moved on to direct the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot
(just as unasked for as it is lambasted by fans) a Chronicle sequel now
will most likely turn out to be too little too late. *
Cloverfield (2008—directed by Matt Reeves): Viewers of Michael Bay’s Transformers were treated to
an elusive viral marketing idea by J.J. Abrams in the form of a nameless
trailer showing handheld footage of an unknown disaster befalling a group of
New Yorkers at a going away party. Buzz of “What could it be?” no doubt helped
generate interest in what would eventually become Cloverfield.
Directed
by Matt Reeves, the film is a kaiju disaster thriller seen through the found
footage of an average joe who tags along with his peers in a fight for
survival. It begins slowly as it establishes the usual brand of stock
characters, but once all Hell breaks loose, it doesn’t let up the adrenaline
and tension levels. This was one of the first times the cinema verite style had
been supplanted by a Hollywood budget and elaborate visual effects.
Despite
the enormous commercial success of the surprise secret movie, it was also not
without its detractors who would dub Abrams (Lost, Super 8) as
“the guy with a monster running around” in his material. Still, this is a
really fun old fashioned science fiction thriller that far exceeds the recent
Gareth Edwards Godzilla, which incidentally, is largely dominated by
adversaries that look very like the one which crawled from the ocean in Cloverfield.
^
The
Last Exorcism (2010—directed by Daniel Stamm): Any horror fan will tell you that if you see Eli Roth’s
name on something, it’s really a crap shoot. It’s either going to be a great
experience (hello, The Sacrament) or a nice waste of time (I’m
looking at you Cabin Fever). Roth lends his hand producing The Last
Exorcism and the result is a real treat.
Filmed
as a professional documentary, we don’t get the typical shaky camera and speedy
editing evident throughout the found footage genre. With this level of
professionalism, the experience becomes much more real, almost as if you’re
watching a major news network. This style of shooting leaves a lot less to the
imagination due to the fact that the camera is always steady and focused—you
actually see a lot, which isn’t so typical in found footage pieces.
Normally
I wouldn’t be a fan of removing room for the imagination, but here it just
really works. The slower camera work often creates an atmosphere in and of
itself, and when the action is happening, it becomes rather creepy. Patrick
Fabian gives an awesome performance as a believable skeptic minister and Ashley
Bell’s performance as Nell rivals Jennifer Carpenter’s work in The Exorcism
of Emily Rose—she definitely makes you rethink ever wanting to befriend a
farm girl. Take all of this to an unexpected yet very well done final act and
this film easily stands out among the countless other Exorcist copycats
around today. ^^
Paranormal
Activity 1 and 2 (2010,
2011—created by Oren Peli): Now wait a
minute. Why are the first two entries in the world’s most successful found
footage franchise both on this list? Isn’t it enough to pick one? No, it’s not.
They are just too good. Paranormal Activity re-sparked the found footage
craze for a new decade singlehandedly by doing something so simple, yet so
revolutionary, that it seems stupid to say it out loud: They put a camera on a
tripod. Crazy, right? In this age of shaky-queazy cam and lightning fast
editing, here’s a film that actually forces us into the perspective of a
captive audience with no other choice but to stop, look, and listen. Never has
absolute silence with nothing happening been so terrifying.
The
second film in the series continued with the plot crux of a small group
terrorized by an increasingly malevolent entity, but upped the ante in major
ways that avoided the pitfalls which kill 99% of sequels on arrival. Instead of
merely throwing more money at the screen, the filmmakers used their brains,
more cameras, and the more expensive tricks to create not just a sequel, but an
equal—if not better—film than the original. Not only does this not skimp on the
scares, but we dare say it: This one of the most brilliantly written horror
sequels of all time. Why? Because it’s not just a sequel. It actually begins as
a prequel (usually the first way to screw up right out of the gate) and winds
up continuing the story that ended with part one. There were so many places
where this could have gone wrong, where the continuity could have taken a back
seat to a filmmaker determined to be “clever,” and the writers managed to avoid
every single one of them while respecting our intelligence at the same time.
After
Paranormal Activity 4 completely derailed the series into nonsensical
“gotcha” moments and a plot twist so shoe-horned in that it made this writer
want to throw his television out the window, it would be easy to dismiss the
rest of the series as a joke. It was upon revisiting these first two films that
it becomes apparent just how indispensable they are to one another, and why
they both deserve a spot on this list. They are well-written, well-acted,
superbly executed companion pieces that represent the true appeal of the found
footage genre, and why it remains the stuff of nightmares when done just right.
***
The
Poughkeepsie Tapes
(2007—written and directed by John Erick Dowdle): Long before John Erick Dowdle remade [*REC] into Quarantine
and gave us this summer’s As Above, So Below, his career more or less
began with the found footage serial killer mockumentary/horror film, The
Poughkeepsie Tapes. The film is a series of interviews with townsfolk,
senators and officers of the law on the crimes and the discovery of what would
become known as The Poughkeepsie Tapes: over 800 tapes the serial killer
made of his stalking, kidnapping and torture/murder of his victims. Jumping
back and forth between clean cut film interviews and heavily worn, poorly
photographed VHS footage from the killer’s tapes, The Poughkeepsie Tapes manages
to elicit a fair amount of discomfort from the viewer as helpless victims
scream for help only to the Halloween masked face and ears of the killer.
To
this day, the film continues to be swept under the rug for reasons unknown.
Despite a hefty advertising campaign in 2007 including theatrical trailers and
posters, the film was withdrawn and never released officially on home video. In
July 2014, The Poughkeepsie Tapes briefly had its first official release
through DirectTV’s on-demand service, before it too pulled the film from its
site without explanation. Most viewers familiar with the film came across
bootlegs and uploads on YouTube. Not unlike 2007’s Trick ‘r Treat, which
was also pulled from release despite heavy promotion including a hardbound
making-of coffee table book, The Poughkeepsie Tapes is something of a
lost-and-found footage entry for being without a distributor or proper release
but still circulating enough on the internet for people to still manage to see
it.
Since
the film was yanked from DirectTV, MGM dropped rumors of a forthcoming official
theatrical release. With the recent
success of the genre, here’s hoping this lost film will finally see the light
of day and walk tall and proud down the red carpet others like it continue to
tread time and time again. ^
[*REC] (2007 – written and directed by Jaume Balaguero and Paco
Plaza): The birth of a Spanish horror film
franchise (as well as the American remake Quarantine), [*REC] is
among the more adrenaline-filled found footage horror offerings, achieving a
fever pitch intensity, and maintaining a fight-or-flight pace to the
proceedings. The film follows a spunky female reporter doing a story on firemen
when she and her videographer decide to tag along to the scene of a crime
within an apartment complex. Little do they know they’re about to become
embroiled in a terrifying situation as a bizarre zombie outbreak erupts within
the apartments, and the firefighters and news crew find themselves fighting for
their lives.
An
exercise in pure terror, [*REC] is best remembered for Javier Botet, a
Spanish actor stricken with Marfan syndrome, a disorder causing unusual growth
with pronounced tallness and especially long, skinny arms, legs and fingers.
The disorder can also cause a litany of breathing problems and often requires
multiple surgeries to survive. But for Botet, a self-proclaimed horror fan,
it’s a platform for him to use his body to terrify moviegoers as he becomes one
of the most completely horrifying movie monsters ever created. I remember
watching [*REC] with my peers, and the moment Botet’s character showed
up, they averted their eyes. Trust me, he’s THAT scary in this.
When
the remake by John Erick Dowdle appeared and the scene was redone with a
generic looking Exorcist demon lookalike, I couldn’t help but be
disappointed the American remake couldn’t even port over the original’s best
asset. Like anything else, the series would diminish with time, including a
standard horror sequel that jettisoned the cinema verite technique. While the
zombie genre has been beaten to death (including in the found footage genre), [*REC]
still manages to produce one hell of a jolt which reminds that, like Tod
Browning’s Freaks and Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes, sometimes
the best monsters aren’t created with makeup or CGI but our own implacable,
irrational fears of physical deformity. ^
Redacted (2007—written and directed by Brian De Palma): Brian De Palma’s Redacted is a fictitious anti-war
film effort denouncing the US army with its loose re-staging of the 2006
killings in Mahmudiyah, Iraq, when soldiers raped and murdered a young Iraqi
girl along with her family. Told through footage and photographs of the platoon
largely shot on night vision as well as security cameras, Redacted won
the Best Director Silver Lion award at the 2007 Venice Film Festival, where it
received a standing ovation.
Despite
the critical accolades, De Palma and his film came under fire for leaving out
information that all the soldiers involved in the real incident were prosecuted
for their crimes and the leader of the pack faced the death penalty. The
much-discussed crime scene photos concluding the film were in fact recreated by
De Palma, as lawyers prevented actual photos from being included. De Palma
publicly feuded with the film’s distributor over said photos and why real ones
couldn’t be included, a controversy which contributed to the film’s financial
failure.
Upon
theatrical release, the film was widely attacked by conservatives as being
slanderous towards veterans and soldiers in combat, and that it could incite
retaliatory violence. Around March 2, 2011, those prophecies of retaliation
came true when a German man of Albanian descent shot and killed two U.S. airmen
at the Frankfurt Airport in Germany after seeing a video of U.S. Army soldiers
raping a Muslim girl. Upon incarceration, the said video turned out to be
footage from Redacted. It just serves as a reminder of the dangerous
power of film and how easily the distinct line between art and reality can be
blurred. ^
The
Upper Footage (2013—directed by Justin Cole): Billed as real footage, The Upper Footage takes
terror and dread to an entirely new level. This film is a true piece of art
that completely blurs the line between reality and fiction. Following internet
popularity and a full out media shit-storm, the film was surrounded by
controversy—Mr. Quentin Tarantino even got himself involved in the mess.
Director
Justin Cole displays some of the most disturbing images and sounds that I’ve
ever experienced in any movie of any genre. The piece is stunningly filmed and
it’s near impossible to tell if you’re watching a movie or clips from someone’s
personal video camera. This also goes for the sound design, which works
perfectly with the way the film is shot. Our actors are in control here and
play a major part in the production as well. We have one of our characters
holding the camera and some of the shot choices are just pure genius.
As
far as the acting goes, just like many other aspects of the film, it’s near
perfect and makes it extremely hard to judge the validity of the footage. A
film like this is an experience that just doesn’t come around too often. It
reminds us that terror doesn’t always stem from the stuff of nightmares and
that fear often comes from the choices we make as humans. ^^
V/H/S/2 (2013—horror anthology):
After the first V/H/S anthology arrived on the cult scene in 2012 with
all its slashes in the title—oh, now I get it—it didn’t seem prudent to
continue with the concept. The overall impression left by the film was a mixed
bag of segments that were clearly not shot on VHS, but also the wraparound
story was full of disinteresting and unlikeable characters we didn’t give a
crap about. So when the sequel was released the following year, we didn’t
really give a crap about that either… but as you know, one of the great
pleasures of being a film critic is getting to be completely surprised.
With
a wraparound story of terrific intrigue and top-notch segments throughout, V/H/S/2
takes things to the next level in a big way, with some wholly imaginative
storytelling and direction from its collaborators. Beginning with a terrific
spin on the “guy who sees dead people” bit directed by and starring Adam
Wingard (whose phenomenal film The Guest is now in theaters), the film
gets off on the right foot from frame one. The “A Ride in the Park” segment
features the return of Blair Witch director Eduardo Sanchez to the genre
he helped bring to the mainstream, and once again he shows a flair for
originality that manages to breathe life into the long-exhausted zombie
schtick.
But,
man oh man… nothing—I repeat—nothing will prepare you for “Safe Haven.”
Co-writer-directors Timo Tjahjanto (Killers) and Gareth Evans (The
Raid) should have demanded that their film be saved for last, because it
blows the entire film wide open like an atom bomb. This is probably the single
most intense and frightening anthology segment in the history of the entire
horror genre. After a build up that puts you in mind of the David Lynch
thrillers where the eerily “too good to be true” gnaws at your nerve endings until
they’re raw, suddenly Tjahjanto and Evans go completely unhinged, and the
experience becomes a rocket roller coaster of relentless terror and
pants-fudging images of such unique energy that they will be burned into your
retina for the rest of your life. Alas, it is so damn good that even a final
segment as good as “Slumber Party Alien Abduction” suffers merely by
association. A word of advice: Take a break after “Save Haven.” You’ll need it
just to pick your jaw up off the floor and get a drink of water. ***
*Jesse
Barnes
**Michelle
Kisner
***Blake
O. Kleiner
^Andrew
Kotwicki
^^Shayne
McGuire