Top 10 All-Time Found Footage Horror

July 26, 2023

Good afternoon, House of Madness found footage junkies:

When it comes to horror films, there's absolutely nothing I love and appreciate more than found footage. Something about the sensation of events on screen actually happening combined with the amateur feel of the filming always makes for a good time, and to me there's no other way I'd prefer to have a film attempt to frighten me. Please forgive me if there's some repetitive jargon from previous posts these films may be in, but it's hard not to talk about some of these films frequently when I'm compiling different lists, as they're compatible in several categories. These are in no particular order, so let's get started!

1. "The Blair Witch Project" (1999) - This list is in no particular order except for this film at #1; the second it came out in theatres, the bar was set, and every FF flick to come out since uses it as a quality barometer.

2. "Paranormal Activity" (2007) - After seemingly coming out of nowhere, this film caught attention fast, and I still remember shoulder checking all the way to bed from the basement after my first viewing. My wife still refuses to watch it for fear of wetting the bed, and I support her decision as we sleep in the same bed, and watersports aren't really my thing, ya know?

3. "Rec" (2007) - Well lookie loo, 2007 was a great year for found footage! While I also enjoyed the American remake "Quarantine", this film is a gory classic that is relentless with the action and constantly keeps the audience on their toes.

4. "Rec 2" (2009) - Very rarely do you see a good sequel, let alone a good found footage sequel. I can honestly say that "Rec 2" is to "Rec" as "Terminator 2" is to "Terminator". Both films are practically flawless, and I might pick one over the other on any given day.

5. "Host" (2020) - I had little to no expectations for this film the first time I sat down to watch it, and boy was I in for a terrifying surprise! What first had me thinking I was about to witness a bunch of annoying teenagers and nothing more, turned out to be maybe the most horrifying 56 minutes of my life.

6. "Marble Hornets" (2009-2014) - OK, so this one isn't a movie per se, but it's a long chain of episodes originally aired on YouTube. Some episodes are as short as 45 seconds, while others may go on for 15 or so minutes. The end result is a long collaboration of terrifying clips that will keep your brain invested and your heart pumping for days.

7. "Grave Encounters" (2011) - Oh, great, another FF movie about a haunted asylum.....uhh, no. This film is anything but generic and is what every mental asylum FF flick strived to become but failed. This one is legit.

8. "Troll Hunter" (2010) - It's a shame to me that whenever I bring up this film, I'm usually met with looks of confusion, because many people have never even heard of it, let alone seen it. This film is an absolute treat for the soul, and if you haven't seen it, watch it, if you have seen it, watch it again.

9. "Apollo 18" (2011) - I don't get all the disdain for this film, as I think it's fuckin rad. When I heard about a FF flick about shit going wrong on the moon, I was mentally all-in, and this flick definitely didn't disappoint.

10. "Hell House LLC" (2015) - I'm not going to discuss its mediocre sequels, but the original "Hell House" is a beast. There's just enough backstory, darkness, and weird looking clowns to keep you glued to your seat, while leaving you wishing you had used velcro instead, in order to make a faster getaway running to the safety of your bedroom.

And there we have it folks, the HoM's top 10 found footage projects. I know we left a lot on the cutting room floor, so feel free to type your favourites in the comments below!