Found footage (genre)

For the use of preexisting film footage in filmmaking, see Found footage.

Found footage is a genre of film making, especially horror, in which all or a substantial part of a film is presented as discovered film or video recordings, often left behind by missing or dead protagonists. The events on screen are seen through the camera of one or more of the characters involved, who often speaks off screen. Filming may be done by the actors themselves as they recite their lines, and shaky camera work is often employed for realism. While the genre dates back at least as far as 1980s Cannibal Holocaust, it was popularised after the release of such films as The Blair Witch Project (1999), Paranormal Activity (2007) and Cloverfield (2008).

Examples of found-footage films

These films are listed chronologically by year of theatrical or home video release, then alphabetically within each year.

• Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
• Månguden (1988)
• 84C MoPic (1988)
• Man Bites Dog (1992)
• Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County (1998)
• The Last Broadcast (1998)
• 909 Experiment (1999)
• The Blair Witch Project (1999)
• The St. Francisville Experiment (2000)
• August Underground (2001)
• Gang Tapes (2001)
• The Collingswood Story (2002)
• August Underground's Mordum (2003)
• The Last Horror Movie (2003)
• Zero Day (2003)
• September Tapes (2004)
• The Curse (Noroi) (2005)
• The Zombie Diaries (2006)
• Alone with Her (2007)
• August Underground's Penance (2007)
• Diary of the Dead (2007)
• Exhibit A (2007)
• Head Case (2007)
• The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007)
• Paranormal Activity (2007)
• REC (2007)
• Redacted (2007)
• Welcome to the Jungle (2007)
• Cloverfield (2008)

• Home Movie (2008)
• June 9 (2008)
• Chronicle of an Exorcism (2008)
• Lake Mungo (2008)
• Monster (2008)
• Quarantine (2008)
• Evil Things (2009)
• Occult (2009)
• Paranormal Entity (2009)
• REC 2 (2009)
• The Ritual (2009)
• Trash Humpers (2009)
• 8213: Gacy House (2010)
• Abnormal Activity (2010)
• Atrocious (2010)
• Eyes in the Dark (2010)
• The Mitchell Tapes (2010)
• The Feed (2010)
• Love Sex aur Dhokha (2010)
• The Last Exorcism (2010)
• Meadowoods (2010)
• Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)
• Paranormal Activity 2: Tokyo Night (2010)
• Paranormal Effect (2010)
• Re-Cut (2010)
• Shirome (2010)
• The Troll Hunter (2010)
• Unaware (2010)
• Undocumented (2010)

• The Amityville Haunting (2011)
• Anneliese: The Exorcist Tapes (2011)
• Apollo 18 (2011)
• Evidence of a Haunting (2011)
• Grave Encounters (2011)
• Hollow (2011)
• Megan is Missing (2011)
• Paranoid Activity 2 (2011)
• Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)
• Ragini MMS (2011)
• Tape 407 (2011)
• The Tapes (2011)
• Terry (2011)
• The Tunnel (2011)
• Untitled (2011)
• The Whispering Dead (2011)
• World of the Dead: The Zombie Diaries (2011)
• The Amityville Horror: The Lost Tapes (2012)
• Area 51 (2012)
• Chronicle (2012)
• Delivery (2012)
• The Devil Inside (2012)
• Evidence (2012)
• Haunted Poland (2012)
• Project X (2012)
• REC 3 (2012)
• Paranormal Activity 4 (2012)
• REC Apocalypsis (2013)
• Stingy Jack (2013)

Examples of found-footage TV series and made for TV specials

• Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County (1997) (mockumentary)
• Jeopardy (2002) (BBC series)
• Lost Tapes (2009) (series)
• The River (2011) (series)

Examples of found-footage video games

• Michigan: Report from Hell (2005)
• Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days (2010)