Editorials
In Defense (And a History) Of Found-Footage
“Dr. Seward’s Diary.
(Kept in phonograph)”
Thus begins a passage in Bram Stoker’s celebrated horror novel Dracula. Though we know from the start that this is a piece of fiction, due in part to countless adaptations and persistence in popular culture, the book’s epistolary presentation (meaning that it reveals the story through a series of letters, journal entries, audio recordings and etc.) results in a higher level of realism and tangibility than a regular novel could hope to achieve through narrative alone.
Naturally, Dracula isn’t the only example of epistolary storytelling done right. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein also used the format to inject further believability into an already enthralling plot, and many recent novels have taken this a step further, like Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves. With ever-evolving artistic and technological media, it was only a matter of time before these ideas jumped to the big screen.
Can you imagine Bela Lugosi with Shaky-Cam?
Found-Footage, despite being considered by many critics as just a lazy cash-grab, is just the natural evolution of older storytelling techniques translated into a new medium. Stoker used every element of media that was available to him at the time to formulate a cohesive tale, so it’s not much of a stretch to imagine him or even Mary Shelley including a video-diary in one of their works. These recent films are doing the same, but on a different narrative level.
It’s generally accepted that Cannibal Holocaust is the first of its kind, despite having conventional filmic elements as well. In my opinion, the first proper Found-Footage production was U.F.O Alien Abduction (also known as the McPherson Tapes, and later remade as Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County), a horror movie directed by Dean Alioto and released in 1989. The film begins as a home-movie chronicling the Van Heese family during a birthday party. All hell breaks loose when the power goes out and the family has to deal with hostile alien invaders in a secluded area.
The highest resolution image available for this classic.
This film is an obvious precursor to both The Last Broadcast and king of Found-Footage, The Blair Witch Project. Many of the modern clichés we know and love (to hate) started here, and no doubt influenced Eduardo Sanchez, Daniel Myrick and even Lance Weiler and Stefan Avalos in their work. What really makes the picture stand out as a founding father of found-footage, however, is the un-interrupted use of a home-video camera to record the horrific events.
The Blair Witch Project would go on to become one of the most successful films in the sub-genre, and eventually spread this method of filmmaking to the masses. The Paranormal Activity Franchise, V/H/S and many others owe their existence to this film’s ingenious marketing and scary plausibility. Though it is one of my personal favorite films, criticism regarding the simplistic narrative is mostly well founded, and this is a problem these movies sadly still face today.
Another High-Definition extravaganza.
It’s quite apparent that this sub-genre isn’t being used, at least most of the time, to its full potential. It’s unfair to expect that every found-footage film will be good, but there is a disproportionate amount of knock-offs and lazy direction/writing. It’s almost certainly due to how cheap these flicks are to make, but there should be more filmmakers out there willing to experiment and provide actual character development and more nuanced stories.
Another strange point about found-footage is why it usually gravitates towards horror. The epistolary novel is considered to have originated with Diego de San Pedro’s Prison of Love, which is as far removed from horror as can be. Though there are a few non-horror-related features, almost none of them are worth mentioning. Nevertheless, a possible explanation for this preference is that, when it comes to film, the genre most comfortable with radical changes and extremism is horror. When done right, horror films tend to defy the usual tropes and present us with a new and startling experience.
That’s not to say that all decent Found-Footage films are scary. Josh Trank’s sleeper hit Chronicle took audiences by surprise with its modest presentation and ambitious superhero (or supervillain, if you prefer) origin story. The story was grounded in a very personal point of view which made even the more outlandish scenes seem believable. The climax also brilliantly used the concept to its advantage, but I’d rather not spoil the fun here.
Now we’re talking!
In any case, if better storytelling is possible within this sub-genre, where did found-footage go wrong? The fact is, it did not. Film is still a relatively young medium of expression. Most examples of what future film enthusiasts will consider ‘classics’ haven’t been produced yet. There might also be some radical change in technology that renders film as we know it obsolete. Literature, on the other hand, has had far more time to develop new forms of storytelling and better authors, not to mention the fact that producing a book is usually less money and time-consuming than a feature film. In time, it’s not only possible but likely that we’ll get new and better found-footage films that can compete with The Godfather or even Metropolis.
Even other media is adapting and including concepts similar to both epistolary storytelling and found-footage. Games where backstory is told through notes and recordings like Bioshock are simply following an extensively old storytelling tradition. Recent releases like Slender and Outlast also serve as examples for ‘Found-Footage games’. Social Media and online video have also changed our way of comprehending stories, and multimedia series like Marble Hornets use almost every possible digital outlet as a means for extending the narrative, from fake Twitter accounts to YouTube.
There should have been more Slender-Man movies before he became a tired meme.
Ultimately, Found-Footage films have a long way to go in terms of maturing as a serious genre, but they’re getting there. A story told through specific points of view is only as good as the characters who tell it, so generic and undeveloped scripts are not enough. I hope to see more filmmakers in the future that can take these films seriously and treat them like actual art and not just a cheap thrill. It would even be interesting to see more structurally faithful adaptations of similar literary stories. This doesn’t necessarily mean that I think Dracula would best be enjoyed as a Found-Footage film, but I sure as hell would buy a ticket for that.
On July 13th, 2026, the world lost one of its brightest stars.
Beloved New Zealand actor Sam Neill passed away from pneumonia after a long battle with stage 3 lymphoma. The multifaceted movie star will be remembered by mainstream audiences for his iconic role as Dr. Alan Grant in Steven Spielberg’s 1993 masterpiece Jurassic Park, as well as powerful turns in A Cry in the Dark (1988), The Piano (1993), and Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016), and prestige TV series The Tudors and Peaky Blinders. But horror fans know him as one of the genre’s most surprising Scream Kings.
Through a handful of memorable starring roles, Neill spent the 80s and 90s bringing life to a wide variety of characters and finding humanity in the most unusual leading roles, regardless of how heroic or villainous.
The Final Conflict (1981)
After a decade on the stage and screen in New Zealand and Australia, Neill made his international debut as Damien Thorn in Graham Baker’s The Final Conflict, the third installment of The Omen franchise. Now a 36-year-old businessman, Damien is fully aware of his devilish parentage and hell-bent on world domination. But rather than a hooved and horned monstrosity, Neill’s Antichrist is a suave businessman who leads his followers in an expensive suit and seeks to bring about the apocalypse through deceptive altruism rather than grand proclamation.
Despite his austere demeanor, the man’s true evil knows no bounds. When a prophecy foretells the second coming of Christ, known in the film as “the Nazarene,” Damien commands his followers to commit widespread infanticide, murdering all baby boys born on a specific date. He seduces a high-profile reporter while transforming her teenage son into a bloodthirsty disciple, then uses the child as a human shield. This tricky role allows Neill to demonstrate his trademark versatility, easily charming the outside world while dropping his suave mask of normalcy behind closed doors. Though certain aspects of The Final Conflict are admittedly dated, Neill’s performance feels eerily prescient. He’s mastered the heinous portrayal of a politician willing to sell his soul for power that will ultimately bring about the end of the world.
Possession (1981)
Though Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession is often remembered for Isabelle Adjani’s stunning depiction of a woman on the edge, Neill delivers an equally unhinged performance as Mark, a spy returning home from a lengthy assignment in divided Berlin. Upon discovering that his wife Anna (Adjani) wants a divorce, Mark desperately tries to hold his family together even at the expense of her sanity. Filmed the same year as The Final Conflict, Neill dives headfirst into this visceral role, managing to evoke sympathy for the distraught father who becomes ever more desperate to regain control. Inspired by his own divorce, Żuławski resists blaming either party for the separation, instead showing the chaos and heartache that comes in the wake of a family’s dissolution.
Once considered to replace Roger Moore as the next James Bond, Neill has fun with the international spy persona as Żuławski’s plot grows increasingly bizarre. But the skilled actor never lets us forget that Mark is a flawed human being struggling to keep his life from falling apart. A second character emerges in the film’s mesmerizing climax, allowing Neill to lean into full villainy with a glassy-eyed stare that chills to the bone. Now a cult classic, Adjani and Neill bounce off each other’s seething rage, creating one of the most effective cinematic duets in the history of horror.
Jurassic Park (1993)
When Steven Spielberg’s creature feature first hit theaters, Neill was by no means a household name and hardly a traditional leading man. Without the swashbuckling swagger of Harrison Ford, the mega-watt smile of Tom Cruise, or the chiselled jaw of Brad Pitt — all famous action stars of the era — Neill felt like an unconventional choice for this massive role. But he perfectly captures the essence of Grant, an aloof academic who prefers dig sites to fancy fundraisers and social events. Despite an aversion to children, the dinosaur expert finds himself tasked with saving the theme park’s youngest survivors who gradually break down his emotional walls. Grant’s transformation into a courageous caretaker is a landmark deconstruction of traditional gender norms wrapped in the guise of a rugged outdoorsman.
Neill proves to be the perfect action star, effortlessly navigating Spielberg’s stunning set pieces without losing the character’s relatable hook. But perhaps the film’s most touching moment is Neill’s childlike wonder at seeing a dinosaur for the first time. Stunned to speechlessness, he channels the audience’s wondrous joy when Grant first spies a real, live Brachiosaurus. But he seamlessly weaves this infectious awe into serious concerns about the creature’s existence, amplifying the story’s prophetic messaging. Jeff Goldblum may utter the film’s iconic warning, but the duality of Grant’s performance perfectly illustrates the scientific imperative, reminding us that just because we can doesn’t mean we should.
Neill would go on to lead Joe Johnston’s 2001 sequel Jurassic Park III, in which Grant is again tasked with saving a child. In 2022, he would appear in Colin Trevorrow’s legacy sequel Jurassic World Dominion, which merges the franchise’s two distinct eras while bringing the carnage onto mainland shores. Despite turning in strong performances, neither film is able to top the magic of Spielberg’s original or Neill’s captivating performance as the stoic leading man. But his nuanced depiction of Alan Grant inspired a generation of would-be paleontologists and quiet kids who could now see themselves as courageous academics capable of surprising strength.
In the Mouth of Madness (1994)
After catapulting to worldwide fame, Neill returned to horror proper to lead John Carpenter’s mind-bending In the Mouth of Madness. We first meet John Trent (Neill) as he’s dragged, kicking and screaming, into a padded cell. An unknown stretch of time later, he recounts an unbelievable story while covered in protective crosses scrawled into his skin — and the cell’s walls — with black crayon. A private investigator, Trent has been tasked with locating Sutter Cane (Jürgen Prochnow), a world-famous yet elusive genre author whose work has been driving his ravenous readers to disturbing acts of random violence.
A love letter to fans of horror fiction, we delight in watching Trent explore literary easter eggs that lead him down jarring rabbit holes. A late-night road trip takes Trent and Linda Styles (Julie Carmen), an editor for Cane’s publishing house, to a tiny New England hamlet teeming with darkness. While investigating an ominous cathedral on the outskirts of town, Trent realizes that he’s somehow been transported into the author’s interdimensional story and become its unwitting protagonist.
Neill serves as a skeptical everyman and the audience’s conduit through this bizarre tale of literary monsters that find a way to burst through the page. An often overlooked Carpenter film, In the Mouth of Madness spirals into insanity, but Neill keeps us grounded throughout each outlandish twist. A shocking conclusion leaves us gaping at our screens and contemplating our own relationship with horror fiction. After all, does free will truly exist? Or, like Trent, are we merely pawns in someone else’s monstrous creation?
Event Horizon (1997)
One of the scariest movies ever set in space, Paul W.S. Anderson’s Event Horizon builds upon the heroic image Neill established for himself in Jurassic Park. Dr. William Weir (Neill) is a physicist temporarily joining the crew of the Lewis and Clark to assist in their latest rescue mission. Seven years after vanishing without a trace, a spaceship called the Event Horizon has suddenly reappeared near Neptune’s orbit. As the creator of a top-secret gravity drive designed to facilitate faster-than-light travel, Dr. Weir has been sent to explore the ship and find out what happened to its missing crew.
Still haunted by his late wife’s suicide, Dr. Weir is a sympathetic figure, particularly in comparison to the harsh Captain Miller (Laurence Fishburne) who commands the crew of the Lewis and Clark. But Weir’s desperation to return to the infamous ship hides a sinister secret that leads his fellow astronauts to the threshold of hell. Neill’s talent for playing the everyman pays off in spades as the formerly sympathetic widower transforms into a disciple of this frightening dimension. Resembling a long-lost cenobite, Weir claws out his own eyes and prepares to drag the crew into a world consumed with sadistic pain.
Daybreakers (2009)
Neill returns to his Omen roots in Michael and Peter Spierig’s action-packed film as a secretly sinister businessman. But rather than the Antichrist, Charles Bromley (Neill) is a proud vampire convinced of the species’ superiority. With human blood in short supply, Bromley Marks Corp. is working on a synthetic substitute to prevent the human race from impending extinction. While hematologists perfect the formula, Bromley oversees disturbing fields of humans chained to massive machines that systematically harvest their blood.
Neill chills in this sinister role with vampiric yellow eyes, a pale complexion, and subtle fangs. But more upsetting is the fact that he honestly doesn’t believe he’s wrong. Once diagnosed with cancer, Bromley was delighted to find that vampirism would totally reverse his illness and grant him the gift of eternal life. He begged his daughter Alison (Isabel Lucas) to turn alongside him, but she has rejected her father’s controversial choice and is now hunted by his bloodthirsty goons. In a heartbreaking moment of clarity, Bromley brings his daughter to the brink of death, then turns away in disgust when she will not embrace his undead lifestyle.
Daybreakers is a surprisingly thrilling exploration of survival and sustainability. Similar to a plot Damien Thorn would hatch, Bromley’s ultimate plan is to placate the vampire population with synthetic blood while allowing the human population to replenish itself. With a larger stock, he plans to sell authentic humans at a premium, hunting these poor souls to season the meat. Bromley rejects a cure that would reverse the vampiric disease, choosing to enrich himself over saving the world. The strangely captivating villain’s end is a cathartic nightmare and fitting punishment for a wealthy man who places himself above everyone else.
In the Mouth of Madness
While the world may remember Neill for his signature role as a gruff but compassionate paleontologist going head to head with a raging T-Rex, horror fans may picture the versatile actor maniacally rocking back and forth in a filthy Berlin apartment, commanding a boardroom of corporate vampires, disappearing into the darkness of a haunted spaceship, sermonizing to satanists, or giggling over popcorn in a deserted movie theater. Or perhaps you have another favorite role in the beloved actor’s stellar career. But whether he was playing a hero or villain, Neill brought undeniable humanity to every role, redefining our idea of masculinity and the very nature of goodness vs. evil. By bringing such disparate characters to life, Neill challenged audiences with a variety of complex roles, asking us to examine the humanity of each character no matter how flawed or virtuous.
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