Editorials
That’s Definitely Not ‘Jaws’: 6 Spooky Mockbusters Worth Watching
There’s a popular idiom often attributed to Picasso about how good artists copy and great artists steal. Naturally, this isn’t referring to plagiarism, but rather the idea that it’s better for an artist to reproduce something directly from the source instead of simply regurgitating it as-is. The way I see it, this sentiment also applies to creative rip-offs, as I’ll take an unlicensed cash-grab over endless sequels any day of the week.
After all, this is how we got beloved franchises like Friday the 13th (the original film was an attempt at capitalizing on the success of Halloween) and even Star Wars (A New Hope was meant to be a cheap Flash Gordon knock-off). And in honor of all the rip-offs that continue to feed the ouroboros that is popular culture, we’ve decided to come up with a list celebrating six spooky Mockbusters that are actually worth your time.
For the purposes of this list, we’ll be defining Mockbuster as any production that intentionally exploits the popularity of an existing intellectual property without actually being affiliated with that particular movie or franchise.
With that out of the way, don’t forget to comment below with your own favorite cinematic knock-offs if you think we missed a particularly fun one.
Now, onto the list…
6. Gamera, The Giant Monster (1965)
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: an atomic explosion awakens a gigantic reptile (played by an overworked actor in a rubber suit), with the creature proceeding to wreak havoc in urban Japan. No, this isn’t Godzilla, this is Noriaki Yuasa’s derivative classic Gamera, The Giant Monster. The Pepsi to Godzilla’s Coke, Gamera may not exactly benefit from the original formula, but it’s still an important part of kaiju history despite the studio only commissioning the project as a quick cash-grab.
Sure, this schlocky creature feature feels somewhat unremarkable when compared to the real thing, but Gamera really earns its place on this list by launching an entire franchise that would one day hold its own against Toho’s iconic dinosaur. And as someone who grew up building tiny LEGO cities for my pet turtle to destroy as it searched for dried shrimp snacks, I wouldn’t have it any other way!
5. Abraham Lincoln vs Zombies (2012)
Based on a humorous novel written by Seth Grahame-Smith (who is often credited with popularizing the literary genre mash-up), the forgotten 2012 flop Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter isn’t as bad as people make it out to be. However, we’re not talking about that film, we’re talking about its low-budget Asylum-produced mockbuster: Abraham Lincoln vs Zombies.
While Vampire Hunter was criticized for its overuse of CGI and a nearly un-recognizable portrayal of the 16th American president, Richard Schenkman’s Asylum feature boasts a hilarious yet compelling performance by Bill Oberst Jr. in proper period makeup as well as a truckload of hand-crafted practical zombie effects!
Just be sure to keep this one away from historical accuracy enthusiasts…
4. Orca (1977)
Piranha might be the most popular example of the Jaws rip-offs that attempted to ride the wave of Spielberg’s iconic monster movie, but Michael Anderson’s Orca will always remain one of my personal favorite scary movie meant to confuse grandmas at the video store. Yes, the film’s frights are as unoriginal as the Jaws-like marketing makes them out to be, but Orca benefits from some surprisingly competent direction and plenty of underwater violence.
Not only that, but this underrated creature feature also gives our raging antagonist a tragic motivation for its rampage, with highly intelligent Killer Whales being better suited for revenge stories than sharks. They’re also much easier to train, which is why Orca boasts so many spine-chilling attack scenes performed by real animals.
And with the recent trend of real-life Orcas ganging up to sink yachts, only time will tell if this infamous Dino DeLaurentis production was actually meant to be a prophetic warning.
3. Zombi II (1979)
Most mockbusters inhabit a legal gray area, with their slightly different titles and premises giving them some amount of protection against lawsuits. Lucio Fulci’s Zombi II is an infamous exception. When film producer Fabrizio De Angelis realized that Italian law allowed for any film to be marketed as an official sequel regardless of whether or not the project is affiliated with the license holders, De Angelis took advantage of this loophole to create an unlicensed follow-up to George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead.
While the film doesn’t boast the same polish and sociological implications as an official entry in Romero’s Dead series, Zombi II stands out by being a wildly creative zombie romp with its own sense of style. You also get to see a zombie fight a shark! What’s not to love?
2. Carnosaur (1993)
Roger Corman is no stranger to rushed cash-grabs, so it makes sense that the legendary producer would be responsible for the other dinosaur movie of 1993. While Carnosaur is technically based on John Brosnan’s 1984 novel, Corman only greenlit the project because he knew he could capitalize on 90s paleo-fever by getting a dinosaur movie released ahead of the then-upcoming Jurassic Park.
Thankfully, writer/director Adam Simon (who you may know from Salem and The Haunting in Connecticut) refused to phone this one in, making the best of a low budget by focusing on humorous dialogue and nostalgic practical effects (as well as a bonkers story about a virus that makes women give birth to dinosaurs).
Carnosaur ended up being so successful that it spawned an entire mockbuster franchise, though fans should proceed with caution, as future entries vary wildly in quality.
1. Paranormal Entity (2009)
Another Asylum picture, you’d be forgiven for having overlooked this obvious Paranormal Activity knock-off back when it was first released. However, horror fans who dared to check this one out were shocked to discover that writer/director Shane Van Dyke opted to add his own spin to a familiar story instead of simply rehashing the “source material.”
P.E. may not be quite as polished as its more mainstream cousin, but it’s still better than the vast majority of DIY haunted house flicks available on streaming. In fact, Oren Peli (director of the original Paranormal Activity) was so impressed with this ambitious little homage that he later collaborated with Shane on other projects.
Found footage movies rely on immersion and a particular kind of suspension of disbelief in order to scare viewers, so it stands to reason that playing along with the “kayfabe” of it all is necessary for these movies to be effective. However, despite being something of a purist when it comes to in-universe recordings, I’ve come to accept that traditional productions can benefit from the occasional injection of found footage thrills.
For instance, Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation makes genius use of the analog gimmick in order to trap us in the titular rooms alongside our main characters before effortlessly switching back to a more cinematic language. In honor of these dynamic films that manage to combine the best of both worlds, today I’d like to share six other hybrid horror movies that successfully incorporate found footage into their scares!
For the purposes of this list, “hybrid” horror movies are defined as any flick that shifts between diegetic recordings and traditional filming techniques for a significant amount of time (or at least for pivotal scenes).
As usual, don’t forget to comment below with your own hybrid favorites if you think a particularly freaky one was missed.
With that out of the way, onto the list!
5. The Last Broadcast (1998)
Internet critics may have overstated the influence that Stefan Avalos and Lance Weiler’s The Last Broadcast had on The Blair Witch Project, but the found footage subgenre still owes a huge debt to this underrated piece of avant-garde filmmaking. However, while the movie sets itself up as a documentary about the disappearance of a group of cryptid-hunters attempting to track down the Jersey Devil, things take a darker and much more grounded turn towards the final act.
I won’t get into details in order to avoid spoilers, but suffice to say that the jarring shift in perspective actually helps to sell the idea that everything we’ve seen before the finale was an attempt at using filmmaking to manipulate the public perception of a “real” incident.
Not bad for a movie with a $900 budget!
4. Cam (2018)
When you consider just how much the internet affects our daily lives, it’s strange that we don’t see Screenlife elements pop up in more movies these days. For instance, Isa Mazzei & Daniel Goldhaber’s highly underrated Cam only works as a freaky parable about online sex-work because it masterfully balances Madeline Brewer’s intimate moments with highly immersive segments within cyberspace.
While one might argue that the entire film could have been produced as a Screenlife experience, the hybrid approach allows the filmmakers to explore our main character’s life beyond the screens – with the duality of modern human existence actually becoming a recurring theme in the story.
3. Banshee Chapter (2013)
Most of H.P. Lovecraft’s popular stories were told in the epistolary format (where the text is presented as an in-universe compilation of letters or personal notes), so it makes sense that a spiritually faithful adaptation of his work would incorporate elements from the modern-day equivalent to epistolary fiction – found footage!
That’s why Blair Erickson’s Banshee Chapter is such an effective scare-fest, as this hybrid adaptation of From Beyond -retold through a conspiratorial lens as it references MK-Ultra and even secretive numbers stations- immerses viewers in a mind-bending tapestry of Cosmic Horror that blurs the line between fiction and reality.
2. The Deep House (2019)
The underwater setting does a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury’s The Deep House, with the film being especially uncomfortable if you’re already scared of tight spaces and being deprived of oxygen. However, even the universally unsettling elements of the flick only work because the POV often shifts into claustrophobic footage courtesy of our main characters’ GoPro cameras.
Telling the story of a couple of YouTubers who encounter a haunted house at the bottom of an artificial lake while vacationing in France, The Deep House’s first-person exploration sequences contain some of the film’s scariest moments. In fact, I’d argue that the movie didn’t even need ghosts, as becoming trapped in the titular House already sounds like a fate worse than death.
1. Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)
My personal favorite instance of filmmakers successfully managing to combine traditional cinematography with POV filmmaking, Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, is proof that the two formats can co-exist if the right story comes along.
After all, what better way to conclude a mockumentary all about reality getting increasingly more cinematic than by ditching the found footage gimmick altogether during the finale? Not only does this shift in presentation work on a conceptual level, but it also elevates Behind The Mask into a proper Slasher, which is probably why we’re so excited for that long-overdue sequel!
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