Found Footage Films: Which are Good & Which are Bad

[InformationGeek]

Found Footage films are one of those magical trends going on in films right now and seem to be all over the place.  I mean, in August alone, we had at least 3 of these types of films (all under the radar of course) pop up and Apollo 18 is soon to be hitting theaters.  So I got to thinkin', so there are so many out and a lot of them seem to be dividing people, I want see which are the good and bad ones out there.  I have never watched a horror film of this type yet, so I'm not officially sure what to see and what to avoid.  So I turn, as always, to you fellow movie fans, and ask you: What are the best and worst films of the found footage?

For films in particular that make me curious, can anyone say if Troll Hunter or Home Movie are any good or bad?

[akiratubo]

I haven't seen a single one that I liked, to be honest.

[zombie no.one]

easily the worst one of these I've seen is PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2. cannot believe anyone considered this good enough to be released...

[Criswell]

Well I do like Blair Witch Project. I also like Cannibal Holocoust, but I don't really know if it can be considered a full fledged lost footage film, and Cloverfield... Well at any moment of time I either Like it or hate it. I can't decide still!

[66Crush]

I know the monster at the end of "Cloverfield" is real impressive, but it's so not worth the wait. I have always felt that this movie is highly over rated. On the other hand I found the end of "Paranormal Activity" to be worth the wait, because the movie seemed more realistic. It looked more like a real documentary. "Cloverfield" had a "fake" feel about it right from the start. I didn't find the performances of the actors as realistic. Of course that could be because I recognized the reporter as the actress from "The Exorcism of Emily Rose." An unknown actress would have given it a more "real" feel. The point is if you want impressive CGI and lot's of action, than these movies won't work for you. I found parts of "Paranormal Activity" to be boring, but I really felt like I was watching a real couple dealing with this, so I expected I would have to wait for something to happen. "Cloverfield" seemed like I'd seen it all before, it had a very "planned out" feel about it, which I found contradictive to what they were going for. The more it tried to look real, the more unreal it seemed. That's what you can expect from these kinds of movies, they are hit or miss depending on what you want from them.

[SaintMort]

Not sure if this counts but I HIGHLY recommend Beneath Loch Ness... it starts slow but it's pay off is worth it.

[Flick James]

I watched The Blair Witch Project recently, and was not entertained, although I was somewhat when it came out. I will still give it's due respect for being the first in that regard.

I don't really go for the found footage movies in general. At some point I can't justify in my mind why on earth the camera(s) would be running as much as it does, and capturing as much as it does. Yeah, sure, this dickhead is shooting this thing that's happening where in reality he would have dropped the camera and either have been killed or be running for his life while simultaneously soiling his underpants. I understand that in order to tell a story, these things have to be captured, but ultimately it is ruined for me because the whole premise of found footage movies are that we are supposed to buy it as conceivable. That's the whole point, right?

The only found footage movie I really like is the first Paranormal Activity. That one made sense. The reason for the camera recording was justifiable about 90% of the time. I could let go and accept the premise and take in the creeps. However, I agree that Parnormal Activity 2 was just insulting, although IMO no because of the premise, but the delivery.

The found footage genre is basically the mockumentary, which has been around since the 60's (Take the Money and Run comes to mind), but with a less professional premise and a bunch of jump scares thrown in.

[zombie no.one]

I watched The Blair Witch Project recently, and was not entertained, although I was somewhat when it came out. I will still give it's due respect for being the first in that regard.

not sure it was the first, there was a bit of fuss about how much it took from this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Broadcast_(film) - although I don't know if this is strictly a 'found footage' film

and of course this from 1980 would qualify I think...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannibal_Holocaust

[66Crush]

I haven't seen "Paranomal Activity 2" because I heard it was awful. Since I liked the first one, I wanted to save myself the disapointment (a lesson I learned from "Clerks 2").

[zombie no.one]

yeah the first Paranormal Activity was pretty good I thought, especially for a low budget film. I watched number 2 last week with my friend and we were both in disbelief at how bad it was. it's probably the most incompetent film I've ever seen. and least scary

on a similar note I've heard Blair Witch 2 is also crappy, not seen it though...

[JaseSF]

I don't know if it qualifies as a "found footage" film but the TV film GhostWatch (1992) deserves a mention alongside a lot of the other movies being mentioned here and is probably better than most of them too.

[Chainsawmidget]

I enjoyed this one. 



What?  ... stop looking at me like that.

[zombie no.one]

lol unfortunately I can go one worse, me and a friend watched this



I'd forgotten all about this, at least your one had some kind of pun in the title. this one has a gorilla!

[Doggett]

[REC] Is still favourite of all of these...

Its just so darn gripping and I love the cool Spanish chick!

[dean]

Diary of the dead wasn't horrible, and had some good moments.  Though tis a far cry from Romero's best it's still enjoyable enough.

I like Paranormal Activity 2 despite its flaws.  My house mates are obsessed with it and think its the bees knees.

Rec and Quarantine are meant to be good.

Don't watch Blair Witch Project 2, its not a found footage film strangely enough.