Finding the Love for Found-Footage
I am a massive fan of the found-footage subgenre. It’s one of the most fascinating out there due to its malleability. The framing device can vary from a fictional documentary to a news report to a zoom call gone wrong. Overall, I find the epistolary nature to be its greatest strength. However, there is a negative perception towards found-footage due to the oversaturation of films within the past two decades and its low budget status and aesthetic. Despite this, I still love watching found-footage and view it as a vital subgenre.
To start, I want to give a quick overview of the genre’s history. 1980’s Cannibal Holocaust is often considered the first found-footage horror film. Despite the term not existing back then, the many trademarks of the subgenre fit it perfectly. The subgenre would not fully take off until the arrival of The Blair Witch Project in 1997. Despite having a $60000 budget, it grossed over $248 million worldwide, and the subgenre exploded. Found-footage would receive another boom following 2007’s Paranormal Activity. As a result, you couldn’t go to a movie theater and not see a trailer for a new found-footage film. Even up to now, found-footage is still a popular subgenre that continues to thrive.
While I agree with the criticisms of the subgenre, I also believe there is value in found-footage. There is a problem with oversaturation due to there being a large number of found-footage films. Yet, this is not a problem exclusive to found-footage. Slashers faced a similar situation in the 1980s through 1990s due to over-excess. Studios would not stop pushing out slasher films. Instead, this problem is more derived from studios recognizing the popularity of a specific trend and capitalizing off of it. It’s not a new problem, but the increased greenlighting of found-footage of horror films can cause some understandable backlash. As horror fans, we’re passionate about the genre, and specific subgenres hold a special place in our hearts, especially if we have not gotten any love for it in a while.
Then comes the aspect of its low-budget nature. I do not view low-budget as an inherently negative thing. Coming from someone who does low-budget shorts, we want more money for the films we make. Found-footage is very much an extension of grappling with that issue. It’s not surprising that first-time filmmakers may make a found-footage film. You need locations, a camera, sound, lights, a small cast, and a crew on a fundamental level. I am not diminishing the complexity of filmmaking, but the low budget and DIY aesthetic compliments found-footage. But there is a difference between a poorly made film and one that feels like the characters filmed it. It’s a tightrope that not many can walk. Lake Mungo does it perfectly as it captures the home video feeling and documents a family grieving over the mysterious death of their daughter.
Within found-footage, there is a niche for each film. The success mainly depends on the context. V/H/S consists of the frame story about a group of criminals who break into a house to steal a tape where the segments are the tapes one of the characters watches on a TV inside of a home. Found-footage has allowed the anthology film to thrive by letting different filmmakers create their shorts for a project. Similarly, the found-footage film XX consists of horror shorts directed exclusively by women. Or even take Host, a found-footage film filmed through zoom during COVID. As a result, it can allow the movies to have their specific niches and focus.
Finally, let’s talk about the horror of found-footage. The true horror of found-footage is the blending of fact and fiction. It’s where the horror crossing over into everyday life seems natural. Also, the creativity aspect plays a large part in it as well. There’s a reason why The Blair Witch Project continues to loom large — utilizing the early internet and framing it as a true story entered the public consciousness and has not left. Outside of its small budget, Paranormal Activity had a good run as a franchise due to it taking place in mundane settings with familiar characters as unseen forces terrorize them. After all, what’s scarier than the horror that occurs at home.
Found-footage is a fascinating and essential subgenre for horror. While you have to wade through a ton of misses, there are a lot of great films within it. To close out, I wanted to share a list of my favorites.
Thanks again for reading. You can keep with the blog and get updates by following it on Instagram @brantlewiswrites or by following/subscribing to it via Medium. Continuing “Found Footage February,” I will be discussing the film V/H/S. And for Valentine’s Day, I will be dropping a post discussing the film Valentine.
Outside of that, I decided to rewatch Annabelle Creation and Ouija: Origin of Evil, two of the few times where the sequels are better than the original. For my weekly video store haul, I rented The Devil’s Candy and Valentine. Also, I reread The Shining and will be finding a time to talk about that in the near future. Finally, I am in the process of rewatching all of The Texas Chainsaw movies in preparation for the new one.
