Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Countdown to Halloween Day 3 - Top 5 Found Footage Films

Since yesterday's post might have come off a little negative towards the Found Footage sub-genre, I figured I should use today's post to list some examples where the format actually worked for me

5.  The Blair Witch Project -- The one that helped kick off Found Footage as a go-to format.  Not having watched this since it first came out over a decade ago, I don't know if its story of a group of would-be filmmakers lost in the woods would hold up for me in my current Found Footage weary state. That being said, I have to admit that the final shot is still one of the creepiest things I've ever seen in a film.

4.Paranormal Activity -- This haunted house story was almost a victim of its own hype with me, but by not relying solely on hand-held footage like the majority of the Found Footage films I'd seen before, they were able to open up the story and provide some nice creepy moments.

3. Quarantine/REC -- Having seen the American remake Quarantine long before the original Spanish REC, it's hard for me to distinguish much between the two, as the latter didn't deviate much from the former's plot.  Both effectively used the claustrophobic nature of the setting to good effect.

2. Trollhunter -- This Norwegian flick about a group of students who stumble onto their government's cover-up of the existence of trolls gets bonus points just for being about something other than ghosts or zombies.  Plus, the designs of the trolls never failed to amuse me.

1. Chronicle -- The only non-horror entry on the list, this entertaining exploration of three teenagers suddenly blessed/cursed with super-powers manages to make the "character is never without a video camera" work on a story level, which is rare.  Even better, the film merges the character trait with his superpowers to set up a pretty creative way of covering the big battle scene at the end without damaging the film's Found Footage nature. 

1 comment:

  1. Cool list. I haven't seen your top two, so might have to search them out!

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