Found Footage: The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity

Found footage films are an interesting way of making a film. A found footage film is when there is rough footage recorded by a character in the footage, and they are used to make the film seem real. In the last 15 years found footage horror films have really been brought to the forefront. A found footage film is perfect for supernatural horror movies. Why? Because they add a sense of realism to a usually unbelievable story. Another great thing about found footage films is that they are so low budget. In this piece, there are two films I would like to talk about: The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity. These are two of the most famous found footage horror films, and they are also considered two of the scariest films ever made.

The Blair Witch Project is about three people who go into the woods to make a documentary about the myth of the Blair Witch. They soon get lost and strange things start happening at night. These strange things soon turn to terrifying things and they realize that they might not survive. This film, while being an awesome film, is a really un-attractive film. The quality of the camera they use is not great, but that’s to be expected. They are in the woods a lot and in occasional black and white viewing it’s a dull sight, but it is also very up close with the characters. You can totally see these three people break down, and near the end, the woman talks to the camera with an extreme close up and she starts crying. The camera lens is at times foggy. It’s a really well done film, but it’s not that easy to watch, partly because of the camera, but mainly because it is really scary and disturbing. You never see the witch, but it scares the hell out of you anyway. The myth goes that the witch would take kids to a house and two at time take them to the basement. She would make one stand in the corner looking at the wall as she killed the other one. It’s creepy to say the least. My only problem with this movie is a small one. At one point in the movie they hear noises in the night, when they get out of the tent, they see something and they freak out and start running, the camera looks at what they say but because they are running you don`t really see it, and it kind of annoyed me how this thing that makes them freak out like they never have before is unseen by the audience. Saying that, this is definitely one of those films that plays on what you don`t see is scarier than what you do see. While not being the first found footage film, this was made in 1999; it is one of the first really popular ones, and one of the scariest. This film does have a sequel: Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, although it is considered to be awful, and it is not even a found footage film, it is the exact opposite of the first in style. I have no plans of watching it.

Paranormal Activity was made in 2007 and was screened just at certain film festivals. It was an independent film and then Paramount Pictures acquired it and gave it a wide release. This film tells the story of a young couple who are living in a nice house and the woman thinks strange things have been happening to her since she was eight. The boyfriend decides to record everything, and at night he sets up a camera in their bedroom. From the first night strange things happen, and they get worse each night. It starts out with things like the door slightly swaying, and eventually screaming and loud bangs. I`m not going to say what else happens during the night, but they get worse and worse. The couple hires a man to come and try to learn about the ghost/demon in their house. He soon leaves because he feels the demon becoming angry at his presence. The film is mostly shots of what happens at night in their room and as I said earlier, they get worse and worse. This film is not only extremely scary and intense, but it is also actually a very good film. It is praised for not showing too much, the most you see of the demon is a shadow and footprints. The climax is one of the scariest scene`s and you technically don`t see it at all. The film has two sequels with the 4^th installment coming in October. These films are apparently very good as well, but not as good as the first. They both apparently show too much and it takes away from the tense atmosphere. I will definitely check out Paranormal Activity 2 and Paranormal Activity 3 and I will go see the fourth one in theatres when it comes out in October.

            So, that is my view on found footage and two of its best films. I would definitely suggest checking out both films, and the sequels to Paranormal Activity. I look forward to seeing more of these types of films in the horror genre, because I find them to be perfect for the genre.