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Best Found Footage
So last night i watched Apollo 18, the latest edition to the found footage craze but unfortunately not the last with Paranormal Activity 3 coming out later this year and an American version of Troll Hunter in the works as well i'm sure many other's im not aware of.
So i was very disappointed in Apollo 18 and generally am getting sick of this style of movie making. I started to think about all the found footage movies that there have been lately because of this and which one's i liked and disliked. Here's my opinion on the ones that i can think of. The Blair Witch Project: Really dull and kind of silly. It only had one moment that could be considered creepy and it definitely wasnt enough to redeem the whole movie. In my opinion, i don't think this would have been as big as it was without people thinking that it was real. So kudos to the marketing department on that one. Paranormal Activity: I found it interesting but i think it's hype and mystique were the only things it had going for it. Repeat viewings expose this movie for what it is, redundant and boring. The movie is watched to see what happens next instead of enjoying the story. Paranormal Activity 2: Much like the first one without the wonder of what will happen next as it's nothing different from the first. They tried to put more of a story into it but the constant boring shots of the living room/pool and other locations of the house without anything happen null out anything else the movie had going for it which wasnt much. I get they were trying to build suspense but they really failed with that. Cloverfield: The reviews on this one seemed to be mixed but i for one really enjoyed it. There's a lot about the camera work that takes away the realism effect and there's enough shaky cam elements to make you think you're watching a Jason Bourne movie but i love giant monster movies (so i'm probably biased) but i really enjoyed the movie. Much like Blair Witch, the best thing about this movie was probably the marketing as much about the film was kept secret and i think a lot of people went to see it mostly out of curiosity. This film also seems to get a lot of grief that other found footage movies don't even though the complaints are typical to this kind of film such as the ending. Troll Hunter: One of my favorites along with Cloverfield. The story was great, the camera work was excellent and i loved the Trolls. (Once again my love of giant monster movies come into play) The Last Exorcism: The biggest thing i've heard people complain about with this one is the ending. Much like Cloverfield people seem to give this one some unwarranted grief. I however really liked the ending and thought the build up and story before that was very interesting. REC: Very interesting "zombie" movie and a great use of the found footage technique. REC 2: What i really liked about this one was instead of going the Paranormal Activity 2 route and trying to duplicate the success of the first, this one gave us a completely different kind of movie and story that still went along with the first one. Really well done. Quarantine: Pretty much a shot for shot remake of REC with the exception of the different ending. Still very good though. The Poughkeepsie Tapes: This one is done with more of a documentary style then watching things unfold as the characters themselves do. I found this to be really disturbing and i enjoyed it. Lake Mungo: Totally boring. They didnt even try to give a feel that what you were watching could possibly be real or at least that the characters thought it was real. The whole thing felt like the dramatizations from one of those ghost shows where the people talk about times they witnessed a haunting. Monster: Rip-off of Cloverfield. Boring with really bad effects. Not worth watching at all. Megan Is Missing: Pretty lame. The only thing the movie had going for it were the last couple moments where there actually was some scary elements. But it also had one scene that was so long and boring that dragged on forever that i actually found myself fast forwarding. I guess i liked it but it was nothing special. From this list, i would say my favorites were Cloverfield and The Troll Hunter and the worst i had seen were Monster and Lake Mungo. Obviously there are a lot not included as there are the only one's I've seen. I'm curious as to what everyone else thinks about these movies and other's that i haven't seen and what is everyone's opinion on Found Footage movies. I think the craze is dying and for good reason. It's become overdone and i think people are getting tired of it. I don't think they should completely stop but maybe just be more spread out. |
My favorite would have to be REC. My second would have to be Paranormal Activity. But I agree with you, its a movie you really only can see once.
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Favorites:
REC. Home Movie The Troll Hunter Noroi: The Curse The Poughkeepsie Tapes The Silent House Cloverfield Not as good as I expected but decent nonetheless: Atrocious Paranormal Activity 1 & 2 REC. 2 Better than the expectation: Paranormal Entity The Zombie Diaries Not good but not so bad either: Exorcismus The Tunnel Re-Cut Grave Encounters Disappointing/hated: Blair Witch Project Diary of the Dead Lake Mungo The Zombie Diaries 2 The Last Exorcism Haven't seen more than half of this list of 57 FF Films from wikipedia. |
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I really liked The Blair Witch Project, and I didn't go into the film thinking it was real. Of the other films you listed that I've seen, I enjoyed:
Cloverfield Quarantine (saw this before Rec, but they rate about the same) Paranormal Activity Troll Hunter Monsters - I was torn with this one. I loved the monsters, and was disappointed I didn't see more of them. The Poughkeepsie Tapes - just mediocre. I also liked The Last Broadcast; a film that was made not too long before Blair Witch about a film crew that went out in the woods to make a short film about the Jersey Devil. |
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Looking at that Wikilist, the only other one I've seen is Paranormal Entity. That was truly awful. |
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i liked
blair witch rec atrocious cloverfield paranormal activity home movie troll hunter silent house i hated quarantine 1 and 2 diary of the dead paranormal entity paranormal activity 2 rec 2 last exorcism of emily rose |
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I'll have to agree with Roshiq that Home Movie is one of the best of this type of film.
I also found Paranormal Activity to be one of the best horror films of the 2000s. It's a shame so many people have lost the capacity to enjoy a film that takes the time to build up the atmosphere and create real characters that can be empathized with, instead of the modern formulaic style of a jump element every 8.3 minutes to regain the attention of audiences who are too busy sending text messages to pay attention to the subtleties of what's going on. |
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Has no one mentioned Man Bites Dog or Cannibal Holocaust yet?
The last Broadcast was a decent enough effort too. The August Underground films would count too. |
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Interesting initial review of a film you "really liked:" Quote:
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Paranormal Activity was totally ruined for me by viewing in a theatre full of noisy teenagers...Messed up the atmosphere...
Theres a few other 'fake' snuff films that use the 'Found Footage/First person perspective' device: The Last Horror Movie Snuff Tumbling Doll of Flesh Snuff 102 Flower of Flesh and Blood/The Devils Experiment (as far as I remember) Emanuelle in America (to a small degree) |
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Superb thread topic, Villain. Thanks.
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My top 5 in this category - The Poughkeepsie Tapes Troll Hunter Rec Cloverfield Rec 2 ...in that order. |
My favourites are definitely Man Bites Dog, The Last House On Dead End Street, Snuff, Rec and Rec 2. I also saw Blair Witch Project at the time (we knew it wasn't real by the time if got to the UK) in the cinema with a VERY noisy crowd (the adults were just as loud as kids)so killed the atmosphere to it.
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Not seen The Poughkeepsie Tapes yet though.
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I loved Home Movie - Incredibly underrated and overlooked - Talk about a disturbing slow-burner - One of the best "Found Footage" films that I've ever scene. Also loved Paranormal Activity, though I wish that I had watched it at home instead of in the theater - I had the misfortune of being accompanied by an incredibly annoying audience. :mad: I'll need to watch it again - Alone, in the dark of my apartment. :D To be honest, whenever I look back and think about movies that truly scared me, Blair Witch Project is definitely at the top of my list - I found that movie absolutely horrifying and loved how it intertwined the interviews with "local lore" to build up to that iconic climactic scene - I'd say that, of all of the movies mentioned, this is my hands-down absolute favorite. It's a shame that no one seems to like Lake Mungo as much as I did. Aside from it's ridiculously terrible name, I thought that this was a fantastic creepy slow-burner that really gave me goose bumps. NE - I do think you'd like this if you haven't seen it - The Horrorfest films have been appearing free on Comcast lately, so it's possible that it might be available now if you want to check it out. As for Rec vs. Quarantine, this is one of those few scenarios where I actually liked the remake better, only because I liked its change on the ending more than the original. Both good films, though it's too bad that the heroine was so friggin annoying (in both of them, no less!). Cloverfield I need to watch again - For some reason my boyfriend invited his friggin family when we want to see it and they kinda talk through movies. BAH. :mad: Pissed me off. I need to watch it again. Trollhunter was an absolute blast, though I think it dragged a bit. Regardless, I think it's a fun watch. The Last Exorcism was kinda silly - I wasn't a huge fan, maybe because it was talked up A LOT prior to my seeing it... I guess I was disappointed, but that's what happens when you have high expectations. It wasn't bad - I just couldn't always suspend my disbelief. Has anyone seen Yellowbrickroad? Such an odd little flick - Incredibly uneven, but I feel like it actually had quite a bit of potential. A bit silly, but there were parts of it that I liked a lot. My boyfriend liked it more than I did, but ultimately it did have us talking for hours afterward, so I guess that's a good thing. I haven't seen The Poughkeepsie Tapes - Can't get my hands on it... But I really really want to see it. I haven't finished Monsters yet, but I liked what I saw. I guess my absolute favorites in the genre:
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I actually agree with you on REC. I actually liked the ending of Quarantine better then REC but with the inclusion of the second one i have to say i like the REC series better then Quarantine. On its own though, i would say i prefer Quarantine. Also just to clarify again, its Monster not Monsters. Two different films and only one of them is found footage. |
My faves:
Cannibal Holocaust Man Bites Dog Blair Witch Mordum Troll Hunter |
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Haven't seen Quarantine 2 but, man, from what I hear it's awful. Ferox - Thanks for the heads up on Man Bites Dog - That looks great. Adding to Netflix queue now. |
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man bites dog is def one of the best movies.
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Still gotta watch Troll Hunter been more into TV shows than movies lately. |
Finally got around to watching Man Bites Dog - I agree; definitely think it's a ground-breaking film (also seems like it's way before its time).
I also watched The Last Broadcast, and despite its (very) low budget, I really enjoyed it - My boyfriend wasn't a fan and, admittedly, I thought the ending was a little silly, but I thought it was a good slow-burner. Reminded me a lot of Lake Mungo, so if you didn't like that style, you wouldn't like this, but I really appreciate the movie for its style - More like a PBS documentary than your typical "found footage strung together." |
i just watched grave encounters, i know there are so many movies like paranormal activity but i found this movie had alot more jumps. it starts of cheesy but gets darker as it goes along.
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Grave encounters
Grave encounter is my favorite found footage film of all time. If you have ever seen a ghost hunters show B4 you will definately find the first half of this movie super funny.The second half of the film was very scary. I would say about 15+ jump scares.I have watched this film 3 times and its really awesome and super beleivable. Now i would give it a [(9.3)] out of (10). So why not a perfect 10, well there was one scene which broke the mood (SPOILER).........the crew wakes up with a bunch of big black arms coming out of the ceiling(super cheesy) but other than that this was a great movie. Definately WATCH this, not one to pass up.
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Paranormal Activity 3 was quite good. A huge improvement over the second one.
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