The Paranormal Activity movies have made a ton of cash by pretending that they're just found footage cobbled together from the scene of a heinous crime, but they didn't invent that little trick. No, movies have been faking recovered footage for years. In honor of Paranormal Activity 3, here's a guide to some of the flicks that did it best—or worst. Most of them are horror movies, because they usually have high body count, but there are some other surprises in the found footage film history.
Found Footage Film History
The found footage gambit is a popular one in movies—by pretending that what you are about to see is real, filmmakers get a little extra bang for their buck. Read on for our found footage film history.
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By K. Thor Jensen October 21, 2011 |
Credit: Grindhouse Releasing
| 11 | Cannibal Holocaust |
The earliest movie on this list that uses the found footage gambit is notorious Italian gore movie Cannibal Holocaust. This 1980 flick is one of the grossest movies ever made, with blood and guts all over the screen. The narrative tells the tale of a documentary film crew that is dispatched to the distant Amazon to investigate indigenous cannibal tribes. Naturally, they are never seen again, but another group brings their film back. Most of the flick is just an excuse to show the crew's "footage," which is full of some of the sickest violence and abuse ever screened. The movie was so controversial that people thought director Ruggero Deodato had actually murdered actors during filming.
Credit: Criterion Collection
| 10 | Man Bites Dog |
One of the coolest serial killer movies ever made, Man Bites Dog is a must-see. Filmed entirely through one camera, the flick tells the story of a three-man documentary team that discovers Ben, a murderer who breaks into apartment buildings to kill residents for his own sick pleasure. As the movie plays out, the camera crew becomes more and more involved in Ben's crimes, eventually becoming full participants. Needless to say, it doesn't end well.
Credit: The Blair Witch Project
| 9 | The Blair Witch Project |
Still one of the most profitable independent films ever made, The Blair Witch Project was the game-changer for found footage films. Made on a budget of under $75,000 in the woods near Maryland's Clopper Lake, the story is familiar to any horror fan: a group of three film students venture into the woods to make a documentary about a local legend, the Blair Witch. But things go very wrong, obviously. Many people thought this film was actually capturing real events. The sequel abandoned the found footage gimmick—and sucked.
Credit: Fangoria
| 8 | The Last Horror Movie |
In the post-Blair Witch landscape, found footage flicks start coming hot and heavy. Most of them were cheapo ripoffs, but some good ones also made it through. One such good one is 2003's The Last Horror Movie, the first flick ever released to theaters by legendary horror magazine Fangoria. The film has a cunning metafictional conceit—it appears to be a videotape of a normal, everyday horror movie, but soon it cuts off, and you discover that somebody has "taped over" the movie. That somebody is a demented wedding cameraman and his assistant, and you then become a helpless witness to their murder spree.
Credit: Paramount Pictures
| 7 | Paranormal Activity |
And then we get to 2007's Paranormal Activity, the movie that made found footage cool again. Opinions are divided on this flick—I thought it was corny and unbelievable, but most of America seems to disagree with me—but it sure made a lot of money. First-time director Oren Peli used his own house for the movie, shot in seven days, and paid his actors $500 each. That amateur feeling comes through in the footage, which tells the tale of a young couple being harassed by forces from beyond the grave. Two sequels followed.
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