10 Great Found-Footage Horror Movies You've Probably Never Seen

found footage is arguably Horror's most

maligned sub-genre and it's

understandable why as it is

oversaturated with more movies than you

could probably ever watch but when done

well found footage can be a thrill hell

it's honestly my comfort genre and there

are so many out there that you've

probably never given a chance but are

pretty awesome so with that in mind I'm

Josh from whatculture.com and these are

10 great found footage horror movies

you've probably never seen number 10.

incantation okay so incantation is a

bottom of this list because honestly

it's far from perfect it's too long and

occasionally too predictable but is

constantly engaging thanks to its balls

to the wall plot constant scares and

surprisingly emotional through line and

it all starts so unassuming almost like

a Paranormal Activity tale about a

mother reconnecting with her young

estranged daughter after the two move

into a new flat things start getting

weird you know doors moving on their own

an invisible force only the daughter can

see those sort of Supernatural

shenanigans

intriguingly though incantation doesn't

stay in this familiar territory for long

moving on to tell a rather gripping tale

of a curse that's affecting people all

over Taiwan with its blend of sub-genres

locations and characters there's always

something new to be scared by and while

it does meander along the way

incantation thankfully concludes with a

killer ending that manages to LEAP

beyond the confines of the screen right

into the viewers born home the badine

where there are certain horror subgenres

that found footage movies usually center

around possessions and hauntings are

great fodder to be caught on tip while

zombie apocalypses are also a popular

fit of course since they found footage

Resurgence in the 2000s we've seen the

sub-genre naturally spread its wings to

focus under the subjects you know

Bigfoot trolls aliens vampires and with

where we get an underrated fan footage

movie all about werewolves now you might

see the director of this movie that

being William Brent Bell and think I'm

talking absolute nonsense here and

admittedly the guy doesn't have the best

track record delivering one of the worst

found footage movies in the devil inside

and drek like the boy too but he has

made good movies like the original boy

and the recent often first kill and

where is another rare winner blending

elements of police procedural courtroom

drama and werewolf action Bell's flick

filters the body horror that's expected

from this genre through the personal

claustrophobic lens of the found footage

framing the werewolf itself is suitably

menacing and Powerful as you'd expect

and while it's not as Grand as its

contemporaries it does exceed the scale

of usual found footage movies it's

Lowdown on this list for a reason but

it's absolutely worth checking out for

fans of either subgenres number eight

dead stream while we you've talked about

dead stream a fair bit on the channel

the genius of filmmakers Joseph and

Vanessa winter is still shockingly

overlooked in 2022 they dropped one of

the most energetic and exciting found

footage movies in years with the Maori

directing Duo crafting a story around

Joseph Winter's character Sean an Ott

content creator attempting to win back

his audience by live streaming a knight

in a supposed haunted house and it's

really wind its performance that anchors

the whole flick it is so so easy to get

the influencer shtick wrong to the point

where it's just cringe and obnoxious but

here the actor threads the needle well

Sean has plenty of flaws of course but

he is undeniably endearing funny and his

attempts to combat the supernatural

villains by getting advice from his

audience make him feel surprisingly

Human After All it's probably what we

would do as well right dead stream

overall is like a found footage Evil

Dead movie and a promising start for

what I hope turns out to be two horror

rising stars number seven Afflicted I

can't really talk about why Afflicted is

so great without spoiling it Central

mystery so if you want to go in

completely fresh all you need to know is

that this is an effective inventive

found footage horror about two guys on a

holiday one of which becomes infected

with a strange disease it's part body

horror part Creature Feature and one

hell of a debut from the core directors

who are also the two stars no less okay

that's the elevator pitch and here's

where we get into full spoilers so what

makes Afflicted is so special is that it

turns out this isn't just a random

Supernatural virus that our hero has

been Afflicted with but rather these

strange ailments and bodily

Transformations are actually turning him

into a vampire for this isn't your

classic Regal vampire it's a proper

beastly condition one which reeks havoc

on our characters and everyone around

them finding that mystery out is part of

the fun but even knowing it going in

Afflicted is still a scary and confident

found footage flick it's a shame these

directors haven't done anything since in

the 10 years since this came out because

it's clearly he had a real grasp on this

sub-genre 6. Paranormal Activity next of

kin now I know what you're thinking it

might be weird to have a Paranormal

Activity movie on a list like this after

all it's probably the most famous found

footage franchise maybe tied with player

witch but this has admittedly had way

more movies so you might be asking

yourself right now how one installment

could end up in amongst the other

entries here and that's because despite

being the most recent Paranormal

Activity movie pretty much nobody saw on

next of kin dumped on Paramount plus and

quickly forgotten about many wrote it

off because that's not really a

Paranormal Activity movie it's a

standalone found footage horror with a

brand new setting villain and characters

that however should make it a must watch

for found footage fans I personally had

no expectations for this movie at all

yet the snowy setting tight direction

from genre favorite William Eubank and

surprisingly effective monster won me

over big time if you like four Kara this

is definitely worth your time even if

you haven't been impressed with the

franchise previously number five we're

all going to the World's Fair okay so a

few caveats with this one we're all

going to the World's Fair isn't entirely

tilled through found footage in the

conventional sense though it is 99

taught through internet videos uploaded

by main character Casey a young teenager

who submits a video to take part in a

Sinister online game called The World's

Fair challenge likewise this absolutely

is not a crowd pleaser Horror by any

means it's an ominous character study

through and through without any major

scares reveals or Monsters to speak of

rather the movie Taps into the dark

corners of the internet reveling in the

atmosphere of being young scared unsure

of your identity and losing hours in the

middle of the night online that's not to

say there isn't anything freaky going on

of course as Casey becomes more unhinged

as the movie progresses and watches

videos from other players who are

supposedly going through Transformations

since signing up but it's definitely

more about her own isolation her own

sense of self and being left alone

during your most pivotal formative years

it's a film that's tough to put into

words as it's abstract by Design but

with a killer soundtrack by Alex G and

memorable performances and Direction it

is the kind of horror that if it clicks

with you it'll stick with you forever

number four Butterfly Kisses a found

footage movie about people are literally

finding a found footage movie that also

features the director of one of the most

famous found footage movies ever made as

himself yeah talk about man The

Narrative of butterfly kisses is

essentially divided into two connective

halves one follows the past where two

film shootings record themselves

investigating the urban legend of

Cryptid peeping Tom while the other

follows the present where a struggling

filmmaker is attempting to put the

pieces of the past together and pass

this story off as his own how you can

probably tell it's one of the most

ambitious movies on this list one that

not only rewards viewers with a

genuinely scary story within a story but

also asks us to interrogate our own

fascination with found footage as a

whole and the blurred line between

fiction and reality doesn't always come

together but it swings for the fences

and if you're a fan of this sub-genre

then you're at the very least be

intrigued by its send-up and

deconstruction of the genre as a whole

number three Willow Creek few filmmakers

have a career quite as varied as Bobcat

golfwit hell few filmmakers have a name

quite as varied as Bobcat golfway to the

point where I forgot he even directed

The Tight traumatizing found footage

horror Willow Creek now there have been

so many Bigfoot and Bigfoot adjacent

horror movies made over the years that

it's practically its own subgenre at

this point Willow Creek though adapts

the mythology into a found footage movie

with a premise so straightforward it's

surprising there hadn't already been a

million like it that's because the film

follows a couple of Bigfoot enthusiasts

who set off into the woods to finally

document proof the creature exists only

to well maybe live to regret their hobby

the film thankfully leaves a lot to

suggestion by far making it the closest

movie to The Blair Witch Project on this

list which is kind of funny actually

because one of the directors of The

Blair Witch Project also made their own

Bigfoot found footage movie a year after

this one came out but I digress and it

works because Willow Creek still kills

it with effective tension and a

memorable payoff in fact without

hyperbole the last 25 minutes or so of

Willow Creek are so hair-raising that

it's as if the movie actively wants to

set off your flight of fight response

trust me the air the implications are

not good number two the sacrament look

Thai West absolutely rules and while the

director has thankfully returned to

horror and received the plaudits he

deserves with the excellent double bill

of X and Pearl his entire back catalog

is full of gems including my personal

favorite The House of the devil but in

there exists an excellent found footage

movie by the name of the sacrament which

follows a documentary crew invited to

record the inner workings of a cult

there's a more personal motive here

though as one of the crew members is

also there to make contact with his

sister who has become a True Believer

after joining like all Thai West movies

the sacrament is a slow build as the

characters take the time to interview

the cult members and dive into their

beliefs and their community and this is

all anchored by actor Gene Jones who

plays the cult leader known only as

father like so many depictions of cult

leaders Jones plays the part with

charismatic Menace he's someone we know

deep down is no doubt capable of

terrible terrible things but he presents

himself with enough conviction to make

you think that maybe just maybe he

actually might have good intentions at

heart well it's probably no spoiler to

say that he does doesn't and after

simmering for a while and trapping our

characters further in the belly of the

Beast we make our way to the inevitable

end it's gritty grounded and a rare

human found footage tail but that's what

makes it all the more harrowing number

one the Borderlands sometimes you watch

a movie and even if it's not the best

you've ever seen you just know you're

gonna be recommending it forever and the

Borderlands is one of those it's

seemingly unassuming found footage

horror movie with a forgettable name a

bland poster and uninspired premise

about a couple of priests called in to

investigate Supernatural phenomenon

potentially god-given phenomenon at a

run down church and it's that ability to

overlook the Borderlands that makes it

so effective for all those who watch it

as this is a much weirder more memorable

flick than all of its parts suggest the

pair of priests at the heart of the film

accompanied by the guy in charge of the

recordings offer a compelling Dynamic to

support the set pieces how can they

trust their their eyes what intentions

do the thing Behind these strange

happenings have is something

Supernatural going on at all all of

these questions build towards one hell

of an ending that pays them off in space

and one that will leave your jaw on the

floor and have you asking to yourself

wait does that mean what I think it

means so that's my list I want you guys

think down in the comments below are

there any overlooked found footage

movies out there that you would

recommend and what do you think of this

lot let me know and write you down there

if you could please give us a like share

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regular app even if you don't know I've

been Josh thank you so much for watching

and I'll see you soon