"Found Footage" Movies

[Gail Simone]

I can't help it, I kind of loved them. I might be one of the few people who LOVED the ending to the Blair Witch Project.

I've loved a ton of these movies since--I find them creepy, I admit it.

Just watched Apollo 18 and am watching Paranormal Activities 3 right now.

[bert]

I liked Blair Witch, and I really, really liked "Cloverfield"

but since those two, I haven't really enjoyed the sudden "boom" of these.

Ive not seen the PA films, but I heard the 3rd one was very good, so I might try that one soon.

"the Devil Inside" is supposedly AWFUL tho. .so no desire to see that.

[Keith P.]

I thought Blair Witch was genuinely scary, but a lot of that had to do with my upbringing.

I grew up in a wooded, rural area, we camped a lot, and there were lot of similiar stories told, especially amongst people of Irish descent.

No one does a ghost story like the Irish.

[Infra-Man]

Last one I saw that I enjoyed was TrollHunter. That was a crapload of fun.

[ZimMan2]

I have already exprssed my love of Cloverfeild many times on here, but I should also throw out there: if you haven't seen Troll Hunter: please do. Even if you're not that big on found footage, if you like monster movies, you must watch Troll Hunter.

[Keith P.]

Last one I saw that I enjoyed was TrollHunter. That was a crapload of fun.

It's keeps coming up on my suggested movies on Netflix, I think I need to watch it.

[Infra-Man]

Like ZimMan2 said, TrollHunter is a must watch if you love monster movies. It's got a nice sometimes-deadpan, sometimes-goofy sense of humor too.

[Slewo.O]

I thought Blair Witch was genuinely scary, but a lot of that had to do with my upbringing.

I grew up in a wooded, rural area, we camped a lot, and there were lot of similiar stories told, especially amongst people of Irish descent.

No one does a ghost story like the Irish.

Coulda tell one right now? :x

[The Funketeer]

I like em a lot but I wish they'd bite the bullet and just start hiring better actors. The Last Exorcism worked so well party because of Patrick Fabian who is a much better actor than most of the people they get for these kinds of movies usually.

[Tom Stillwell]

Last one I saw that I enjoyed was TrollHunter. That was a crapload of fun.

Trollhunter was great! I liked Apollo 18 too.

[Ryan Elliott]

I don't mind found footage at all.

I wish they'd do more with it than ghosts and demons/exorcisms.

[EmarAndZeb]

The only "found footage" film that I've unequivocally liked is this thing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fDeT8H2CwQ

...but then, I haven't seen many.


I saw the first Paranormal Activities(dumb dialogue/characters, but good "let the camera roll while spooky things happen" sequences), Cloverfield(I've gone at length about how much I disliked this), and Diary of the Dead (okay as long as I can convinve myself it's meant partly as a parody of other "found footage" horror).

I haven't seen Blair Witch or Troll Hunter, and those are about the only other two I'm that interested in.


Oh, I guess I follow Marble Hornets (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bn59FJ4HrmU), too, which is decent (esp. for the budget). It's got moments of "ACTING" and some of their tricks/gimmicks are starting to wear thin as the episode count climbs... But overall I enjoy it.

[BnL]

I like a lot of them, like the aforementioned Blair Witch Project, Cloverfield, and Troll Hunter.

I can't stand Paranormal Activity, though.

A lot of the ghost/exorcism/supernatural ones hinge on maintaining a level of believability, and Paranormal Activity fails for me. The hook is usually that we're seeing actual events. In Blair Witch Project, the events are subtle enough to leave things open to interpretation. Paranormal Activity goes too over the top with the supernatural, and it no longer becomes a story you could believe actually happened, while still remaining a secret to the public at large.

[Weeto]

I've always hated this type of movie for one reason - the wobbly cameras.

I tried watching The Blair Witch Project years ago and I ended up feeling ill as the camera work was giving me motion sickness and I had to go to bed as I felt dizzy. I've heard Cloverfield is worse and I didn't watch it purely because of the camera work.

[Gail Simone]

Trollhunter was a lot of laughs, I enjoyed it.

[Patrick Gerard]

Aw. You mean movies that claim to be Found Footage, not people poking fun at Found Footage.

I was all set to plug everythingisterrible.com

[RobStaeger]

The new TV series The River is apparently a found-footage horror drama taking place on the Amazon. It starts up Feb. 7th.

[Thequeerjock]

Last one I saw that I enjoyed was TrollHunter. That was a crapload of fun.

It was and I think the main reason was it didn't take itself too seriously. There's only so many times these movies can try and genuinely freak you out before you become jaded.

[Jim Schnobrich]

Aside from Blair Witch, I don't think I've seen any found footage movies...

[Endy52]

Loved the ending of Blair Witch (HATED the sequel, although the lead went on to Burn Notice so that's okay). Loved Cloverfield. Haven't seen any of the others but like Rob just stated, there's supposed to be a tv series coming out in Feb along those same "found footage" lines.

[Linkara]

I love the Paranormal Activity series, though I'll happily poke fun at it - especially the first one, since Micah is such a horrible character (dude, your girlfriend is in danger, PUT DOWN THE DAMN CAMERA AND HELP HER). The second one did better with the idea of the security cameras, but went a little too far in the powers of the demon. Third one I felt balanced things out nicely and had likeable characters, some great scares, and kept the demon's presence fairly restrained for the most part.

Apollo 18 I find really enjoyable, but has a loooot of plot holes and the pacing is a little off - I feel it goes far too quickly and doesn't let us have a chance to appreciate how frightening being alone in an environment that is quite literally alien to us can be. Plus the makers seemed to not be able to decide if they wanted ghosts on the moon or aliens on the moon.

But yeah, I like found footage movies, too, for the most part. ^^ Not fond of Cloverfield - with some movies, you need to have a good reason to keep characters holding a camera, which is why stuff like Paranormal Activity works - the characters are in their own home documenting this stuff. In the middle of a life and death situation with a giant monster attacking a city, I find it less believable that a guy would be doing this. Diary of the Dead was just friggin' stupid. The characters were unlikeable and Romero seemed to forget that it's supposed to be SUBTLE social commentary and not bang us over the head with it, especially since he fails to understand how a found footage movie is supposed to work, that the camera is supposed to make us feel like we're with the characters.

[RobStaeger]

I've only seen the original Paranormal Activity, but yeah, Michael is a tremendous douchebag. But necessarily so, since the plot mechanics demand he film so much of the story personally. (The security camera in 2 seems like a better solution, and the oscillating fan I hear they use in 3 sounds like a great gimmick!)

I loved the ending of Blair Witch, too, and liked Cloverfield, but wasn't over the moon about it.

Spoilers for the end of The Blair Witch Project here, couched in a story about our Christmas tree:

When Kathy and I were hanging ornaments on our Christmas tree last year, one of the snowmen resolutely kept facing himself toward the interior of the tree. I pointed it out and said, "Look, honey, it's the end of the Blair Witch Project!" To which Kathy replied: "Great. Now I'll be scared of snowmen for a month."

[zemo]

Gotta agree with what was said up there: Found footage movies are all good and well, but the camera movements are sickening. Is not only a problem of that genre, though (see shaky cam).

[Thequeerjock]

I love the Paranormal Activity series, though I'll happily poke fun at it - especially the first one, since Micah is such a horrible character (dude, your girlfriend is in danger, PUT DOWN THE DAMN CAMERA AND HELP HER). The second one did better with the idea of the security cameras, but went a little too far in the powers of the demon. Third one I felt balanced things out nicely and had likeable characters, some great scares, and kept the demon's presence fairly restrained for the most part.

Apollo 18 I find really enjoyable, but has a loooot of plot holes and the pacing is a little off - I feel it goes far too quickly and doesn't let us have a chance to appreciate how frightening being alone in an environment that is quite literally alien to us can be. Plus the makers seemed to not be able to decide if they wanted ghosts on the moon or aliens on the moon.

But yeah, I like found footage movies, too, for the most part. ^^ Not fond of Cloverfield - with some movies, you need to have a good reason to keep characters holding a camera, which is why stuff like Paranormal Activity works - the characters are in their own home documenting this stuff. In the middle of a life and death situation with a giant monster attacking a city, I find it less believable that a guy would be doing this. Diary of the Dead was just friggin' stupid. The characters were unlikeable and Romero seemed to forget that it's supposed to be SUBTLE social commentary and not bang us over the head with it, especially since he fails to understand how a found footage movie is supposed to work, that the camera is supposed to make us feel like we're with the characters.

My biggest issue with Apollo 18 I guess is that they try to pull one of those ominous, potentially apocalyptic endings with the whole epilogue about how the alien moon rocks that made it to Earth mysteriously disappeared, but the fact that the movie itself is a period piece sort of kills that.

Something like Rec.2's ending is supposed to be scary because the heroes are dead and we know that there's a huge chance that the zombie virus is about to be spread, leading to the end of the world. But Apollo tries for one of those by attempting to provoke an "Oh no! That means the aliens are already loose on Earth!" response....except it's 40 years on and there has yet to be some sort of hostile alien attack. :p

[Ryan Elliott]

The only thing I don't like about the handheld camera thing is when the "monster" starts charging, the person starts running, and I can't fucking see anything.

Doesn't make me sick, just pisses me off.

[Cam63]

No one does a ghost story like the Irish.

Ghosts scare each other with stories about the Irish.

[DungeonMasterJim]

The one's I've seen I've enjoyed quite a bit. Unfortunately, I suffer from the shaky camera nausea so often I listen to the movies more than watch them even when I'm in the theater.

[EmarAndZeb]

It's weird... I've never gotten shaky-cam nausea from a movie; but I need to pop a Dramamine in order to play any modern FPS. Or even Doom, if the screen is big enough.


Also... oh, man, you guys... okay, if you're familiar with History Channel's "Monster Quest" (exactly like Ghost Hunters, but devoted to bigfoot and shit), then you're likely aware it's a boring, monster-less piece of shit. Hell, even if you aren't familiar with it, you can pretty much predict it will be like that based on how I summed it up, there. All these stupid "In Search Of"-esque reality TV shows suffer from a pretty basic flaw in terms of a reason for regular viewing: even if ghosts/bigfoots/UFO-o-nauts DID exist, and one of these shows found conclusive proof? You'd totally hear about that shit on CNN before the airdate of the actual episode. Probably in a segment with a hastily-compiled CGI title-sequence that reads something like "HOLY SHIT: GHOSTS/BIGFOOT/WHATEVER REAL!!" My point is, there's no point to watching them in hopes of them actually finding something, even if you do believe in whatever it is they're looking for.

So, if you're me, the chief appeal of watching "Monster Quest" (besides an excuse to avoid doing the laundry or whatever) is fantasizing about how awesome it would be if, during one of the "main guys dicking around in the woods" sequences, a big blurry shadow suddenly loomed up behind them and the feed went dead and then a disclaimer was like "THAT IS THE LAST KNOWN FOOTAGE OF TODD; HIS CURRENT WHEREABOUTS ARE UNKNOWN; WE ARE BEING SUED BY HIS FAMILY OH GOD WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THIS SHOW?!" Or something.

That's where "Lost Tapes," from Animal Planet (!!!), comes in. It fulfills the dreams of what you wish "Monster Quest" would be... in the shittiest, formulaic-est, low-budget-est way possible. It's not a good show, but it's an entertaining show, is what I'm saying. Every episode is a 30 minute "found footage" mockumentary about some hikers or ATV-ers or other disposable non-characters who fart around for a bit, and then BAM! Mongolian death-worm. If you don't care about ghosts, don't particularly believe-in or care if Bigfoot exists but think stories about people getting mauled by Bigfoot are badass, and can gather enjoyment from poorly made TV shows... this the a show for you. It's on Netflix instant.



I may or may not have had a few drinks, everyone, I'm very sorry.

[Kingsmythe]

Isn't one of the movies coming out this year suppose to be another one of these? About the telekinetic kids, Chronicle or whatever they're calling it?

[Artful Angie]

There's one I saw on Netflix a while back called The Last Broadcast which I liked. Here's the info:



The Last Broadcast
1998 NR 87 minutes

The producers of a local cable access show venture into the New Jersey woods with a lone assistant to make a documentary about the legendary Jersey Devil. A year later, only one of them returns -- and he has the footage to prove he didn't kill his fellow filmmakers. While many people decried the similarities between this film and The Blair Witch Project when it premiered in 1999, The Last Broadcast was actually made first.

Then there was one that had a movie poster in my local theater three years ago, but never seemed to come out, called The Poughkeepsie Tapes. The buzz seemed to be good about the film, but it never seemed to come out. Here's the info:



The Poughkeepsie Tapes
2007 R

Director John Erick Dowdle's thought-provoking mockumentary probes the mind of a cunning serial killer in a way that's both engrossing and disturbing. When police ambush an empty house in New York, they find hours of footage of disturbing murders. Combining interviews with police officers, profilers and victims' families with the footage of murder and torture, Dowdle tracks the desperate search for a criminal from start to finish.

[Morrison_Lad]

It's funny. Blair Witch seems to be one of the best examples of a love it - hate it movie ever. My friend and I saw it in the theatre. I thought it was very good, scary, and I was completely sucked in right away. My friend just thought it was stupid and boring. One of the differences between us is that I've been lost in the woods, wet, cold, and not knowing when the hell we were going to find our way out. He had never been in that situation. That might not be the only reason our opinion differed, but I think it's one of them.

I loved "Cloverfield" too.

I've never seen the PA films, but I want too. I just need to find the time one night.

[Stressfactor]

I like em a lot but I wish they'd bite the bullet and just start hiring better actors. The Last Exorcism worked so well party because of Patrick Fabian who is a much better actor than most of the people they get for these kinds of movies usually.

The problem is that to handle the 'suspension of disbelief' on a lot of Found Footage style movies you can't really have big name stars. So you really wouldn't see a Johnny Depp in a Found Footage style film.

But if you're getting no-name stars then you're probably looking at young men and women who may not have a lot of acting experience under their belts and then it's a crap shoot. You might get someone who is mediocre.... or you might get someone like Matt Smith. But truthfully you're more likely to get someone mediocre.


I'm not one for the Found Footage type films because they're mostly horror and, well.... horror is just not my bag. I'd love to see someone break the mold and do like a 'Found Footage' adventure story -- or an espionage story but that seems highly unlikely -- although I have heard there's some sort of Found Footage superhero story coming up? Also, count me among those who get kind of nauseous at these things. Shaky Cam gets to me too -- and weirdly enough this is coming from someone who can ride roller coasters and spinny rides with the best of them. But Shaky Cam and microfilm machines make me sick to my stomach.

[ZimMan2]

Isn't one of the movies coming out this year suppose to be another one of these? About the telekinetic kids, Chronicle or whatever they're calling it?

Yep. It's what Stressfactor weas thinking of, too. But it seems to be more about the rise of a super villain.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkngycnIVBQ
Looks like it's got some promise, and it's not horror, which is very rare for found footage.

Also, it reminds me a bit of Akira, so maybe, just maybe, if it takes off, they won't make an American Akira for fear of being accused of ripping this off.


Then there was one that had a movie poster in my local theater three years ago, but never seemed to come out, called The Poughkeepsie Tapes. The buzz seemed to be good about the film, but it never seemed to come out. Here's the info:

I've actually heard, by all accounts, that The Poughkeepsie Tapes is terrible. Like the found footage equivalent of torture porn.

I also want to say that the reason I'm up right now is actually because EmarAndZeb got me to start watching "Marble Hornets." Yeah, I'm not sleeping anytime soon.

[Artful Angie]

I'm not one for the Found Footage type films because they're mostly horror and, well.... horror is just not my bag. I'd love to see someone break the mold and do like a 'Found Footage' adventure story -- or an espionage story but that seems highly unlikely -- although I have heard there's some sort of Found Footage superhero story coming up? Also, count me among those who get kind of nauseous at these things. Shaky Cam gets to me too -- and weirdly enough this is coming from someone who can ride roller coasters and spinny rides with the best of them. But Shaky Cam and microfilm machines make me sick to my stomach.

Or a found footage-like comedy. Maybe something like The Hangover, where someone has a Flip camcorder on a guys' night out. It starts with the guys getting ready, and the movie ends with the guys on trial for drunk and disorderly, with you finding out you've been watching the movie as a jury member.

[Morrison_Lad]

Or a found footage-like comedy. Maybe something like The Hangover, where someone has a Flip camcorder on a guys' night out. It starts with the guys getting ready, and the movie ends with the guys on trial for drunk and disorderly, with you finding out you've been watching the movie as a jury member.

Actually, that sounds awesome.

Come to think of it, they could get the same cast from "The Hangover" and make the exact same movie, just with a "found footage" method. I'd still laugh my ass off all over again. :)

[BnL]

Actually, I recently saw a trailer for a "found footage" comedy that looks a lot like Superbad, and I think it's from the makers of The Hangover. I forgot the title of the movie, though.

[BnL]

Actually, I recently saw a trailer for a "found footage" comedy that looks a lot like Superbad, and I think it's from the makers of The Hangover. I forgot the title of the movie, though.

I found it, it's called Project X.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1636826/

[Morrison_Lad]

I found it, it's called Project X.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1636826/

Is it wrong that I literally laughed out loud multiple times while watching that trailer? :)

[C.B. Nerdlinger]

I hate the first two Paranormal Activity movies soooooo much. They're so boring that after an hour of watching stupid, stupid people eat breakfast and watch TV I just don't care at all when things start moving on their own.

[XXXenophile]

One called VHS was getting all the raves at the Sundance festival last week. Even people tired of the "found footage" genre really said said this one was well worth it.

And yeah, all the good reviews Chronicle is getting is really psyching my friends and I to go see it.

[Artful Angie]

I found it, it's called Project X.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1636826/

That is EXACTLY what I'm talking about! That looks so funny!

[Artful Angie]

One that hasn't been talked about is REC and it's sequel and American versions.

[ZimMan2]

I really want to see [REC]. Only ever heard good things about it.

[Thequeerjock]

I found it, it's called Project X.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1636826/


One that hasn't been talked about is REC and it's sequel and American versions.

I actually mentioned it when talking about the ending of Apollo. I enjoyed both and the ending for 2 is especially unsettling.

[Infra-Man]

One that hasn't been talked about is REC and it's sequel and American versions.

[REC] was really well done. I thought [REC] 2 was sort of flawed with how they handled the found footage aspect, though it's a pretty good movie. Without saying too much, whereas [REC] is consistently claustrophobic and tense all the way through, [REC] 2 gives its audience a breather in the middle just when things are getting really nuts.

The final two [REC] movies that are coming out will not use the found-footage format.

[Linkara]

One that hasn't been talked about is REC and it's sequel and American versions.

Since I've never seen REC I can't comment on it, but Quarantine is crap. Seriously, a good chunk of people died because no one ever thought, "Say, maybe we should RESTRAIN the out-of-control violent people who keep attacking. On top of that, how about we keep trying to talk to people as if they're okay even though they have blood all over them and consistently try to attack us."

Also, cameras are apparently the strongest anti-zombie weapon EVAR. Just beat a zombie's head in with it and you won't even damage the lens at all!

[Keith P.]

I watched an episode of Animal Planet: The Lost Tapes last night.

It was the vampire episode, it was suprisingly good, and had some genuinely creepy moments.

[Tyr]

I can't help it, I kind of loved them. I might be one of the few people who LOVED the ending to the Blair Witch Project.

I've loved a ton of these movies since--I find them creepy, I admit it.

Just watched Apollo 18 and am watching Paranormal Activities 3 right now.

Can't stand them myself, I find them boring, I don't like watching the same shoot for 3 or 4 minutes just to wait for something to happen. I saw Paranormal Activity 2 with some friends, and I only tolerated that cause I was drunk when I watched it. That and I MST3K'd my way through the movie. Yeah don't watch a movie with me if you can't stand commentary.

[JBK405]

What I've discovered is that I can really get into the movie, provided it makes sense for the character to never put the camera down. The rationale that "We need to keep a record" doesn't hold water with me, since your record isn't going to go anywhere if you die because you didn't have your hands free, and when they watch other people die because they couldn't bother to put the camera down and help I feel such a rich loathing for the characters. However, when they do cover just why it is that they keep filming, then it can be a very effective tool.

I saw Chronicle last week and they put some effort into explaining why the camera was always rolling. The primary camera operator, Andrew, starts filming because he's living with an alcoholic abusive father, and the implication is that he's hoping the presence of the camera will get his dad to hang onto his control with a "witness." As the film progresses he also seems to have some sort of compulsion to keep filming himself. It gets to the point that, when he doesn't have a camera present, he starts just grabbing peoples phones and iPad's and pointing them at himself; he's not planning to show this to anybody or anything, and he doesn't have any way of retrieving the videos, it's just his psychosis manifesting itself. They also put several scenes at events (A party, a school talent show) where people really do film stuff, so they got multiple cameras rolling with a very reasonable explanation. It also got around the "Put the camera down or you'll die!" aspect by virtue of the powers that the movie is about; Andrew can telekinetically hold the camera and point it at whatever he wants, leaving his hand free to do whatever he needs his hands to do, and there were three or four scenes spent just establishing that he could do this before it became plot relevant. The film also approached a lot of the normal problems that come from filming everything; he's eating his lunch at school and put the camera down next to him, where it happened to be pointing at the cheerleaders practicing, and they came over and told him that it was really creepy of him to be filming them, and he shut off the camera then.

This movie covered why he is filming himself, how he is filming himself, and a lot of the problems that come with it, and the result was (In my opinion) a very engrossing film that took advantage of the medium.

[ssteve1011]

My biggest knock on this type of movie is in the horror genre when you are in the process of being stabbed by a masked killer or bitten by a rabid zombie you don't drop the camera. WTF. Also all the damn shaky camera footage makes nauseous like I just got off the gravitron at the fair.

[Thequeerjock]

I watched an episode of Animal Planet: The Lost Tapes last night.

It was the vampire episode, it was suprisingly good, and had some genuinely creepy moments.

The sea monster episode is pretty good because they give you enough of a glimpse of the monster to show you what it is (it looks like most depictions of the Loch Ness Monster) but the only clear shot is overhead and underwater so it doesn't break the tension by looking extremely fake or something.

[Keith P.]

The sea monster episode is pretty good because they give you enough of a glimpse of the monster to show you what it is (it looks like most depictions of the Loch Ness Monster) but the only clear shot is overhead and underwater so it doesn't break the tension by looking extremely fake or something.

Im gonna watch some more tonight. I was impressed how they made vampires, who are just really the least scary monster, super creepy.

That scene from the security cam in the kids bedroom when he was sleeping was pure nightmare material.

[Ryan Elliott]

I fucking LOVE Lost Tapes. I have the first season on DVD.

Really stems from my interests in cryptozoology though. Lost Tapes was right up my alley. Interesting, fun, actually scary, something we've seen before but also completely different.

The skinwalkers episode was CREEPY.

[EmarAndZeb]

I'm glad people legit enjoy "Lost Tapes" and I can feel less silly about drunkenly rambling about it earlier in the thread.

Related note: I'm not particularly a cryptozoology believer (although, obviously, hidden monsters are awesome), but fear of Bigfoot is a constant, low-level background anxiety in my life. Like it's late at night and I'm shutting things down for bed and I glance toward the picture window... I dread the non-zero chance that some large, hunched thing from out of the woods will be right outside, straight up looking in at me.

In this part of the country, it would probably be a skunk-ape, which is just insult to injury.

[Ryan Elliott]

I'm glad people legit enjoy "Lost Tapes" and I can feel less silly about drunkenly rambling about it earlier in the thread.

Related note: I'm not particularly a cryptozoology believer (although, obviously, hidden monsters are awesome), but fear of Bigfoot is a constant, low-level background anxiety in my life. Like it's late at night and I'm shutting things down for bed and I glance toward the picture window... I dread the non-zero chance that some large, hunched thing from out of the woods will be right outside, straight up looking in at me.

In this part of the country, it would probably be a skunk-ape, which is just insult to injury.

Oh dude skunk apes are the worst.

[Keith P.]

I just finished Skinwalker, I thought it was very eery, different than vampire, more subtle and less pants shitting terror, but still creepy in its own way.

[Thequeerjock]

I fucking LOVE Lost Tapes. I have the first season on DVD.

Really stems from my interests in cryptozoology though. Lost Tapes was right up my alley. Interesting, fun, actually scary, something we've seen before but also completely different.

The skinwalkers episode was CREEPY.

I really dig horrors of an unknown nature so that's one thing I did enjoy. The whole sense of being on the ground-level and not knowing what the hell is going on.

Like to use an example someone else mentioned Rec kinda kills it at the end with a contrived, extremely convenient scene that more or less explains exactly what has happened and where the zombies came from, but with Lost Tapes there's just this really primal sense of dread that comes from the lack of clarity behind where exactly the monster is from. Most of the time at least.

[Ryan Elliott]

I just finished Skinwalker, I thought it was very eery, different than vampire, more subtle and less pants shitting terror, but still creepy in its own way.

Watch the Bigfoot episode.

Not as scary as the vampire episode, but still cool.

[Ryan Elliott]

I really dig horrors of an unknown nature so that's one thing I did enjoy. The whole sense of being on the ground-level and not knowing what the hell is going on.

Like to use an example someone else mentioned Rec kinda kills it at the end with a contrived, extremely convenient scene that more or less explains exactly what has happened and where the zombies came from, but with Lost Tapes there's just this really primal sense of dread that comes from the lack of clarity behind where exactly the monster is from. Most of the time at least.

Oh yeah. You're thrown into these situations and then yanked right out almost as quickly. It's great.

[Keith P.]

Watch the Bigfoot episode.

Not as scary as the vampire episode, but still cool.

Just finished Dover Demon. I will never understand why black people always get killed first since they tend to be the voice of common sense in horror movies.

[Ryan Elliott]

Just finished Dover Demon. I will never understand why black people always get killed first since they tend to be the voice of common sense in horror movies.

You know who broke that c-c-c-c-c-combo?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u26u0mMxqt0

[Hugin]

Just finished Dover Demon. I will never understand why black people always get killed first since they tend to be the voice of common sense in horror movies.That's why. The person who says "let's just LEAVE the damn haunted house as a group and never look back" needs to die so everyone else can proceed with their own idiocy.

[C.B. Nerdlinger]

That's why. The person who says "let's just LEAVE the damn haunted house as a group and never look back" needs to die so everyone else can proceed with their own idiocy.

It's almost like a Catch-22. We want to portray the black character as the smartest and most reasonable, but such a person can't possibly survive for this movie to be effective.

[Artful Angie]

Is The River worth giving a try?

[EmarAndZeb]

If you're unironically into "Lost Tapes" (note: so far, no cryptids on "The River"), and also liked network sci-fi shows like "Lost"/"Heroes"/etc., it's probably worth a shot, 'cause it's basically those things mashed up. It's basically just a "bogey/ghost story of the week" show with the quasi-documentary filmmaking gimmick and the search for a missing expedition as the driving meta-plot. I watched the first three eps on Hulu and honestly thought it was sorta mediocre, but I watched the fourth ep when it came out yesterday and can't promise I won't watch the fifth while I'm working at the computer next week, so... there you go.

I think all the edits/cuts between different "hidden cameras" gets pretty contrived and undercuts any sense of gritty realism after a while. The excuse is supposed to be that this is a "reality show" that the producers put together, not just tapes found in the woods Blair Witch style... but honestly, after a certain point you might as well just make a normal style program and do whatever camera angles you feel like. "Lost Tapes" kind of has the same problem, but I'm more forgiving of that show, because really... it's a low budget thing on freaking Animal Planet.