That’s why I’d hesitate to call Alison-Eve Hammersley a newcomer to the industry, as the writer-director has been pumping out quality short films and collaborating with other filmmakers for over a decade at this point. After all that effort, the stars have finally aligned and allowed Hammersley to release her first feature-length project in the form of the found footage throwback Erie.

A late ’90s period piece that was (mostly) shot on tape, the Pennsylvania-set thriller was completed in 2025 and is finally headed towards its world premiere via this year’s edition of Beyond Fest. While I admire the confidence behind the flick’s ill-advised tagline (“Not all stories are worth telling…”), the truth is that Erie might not be the kind of movie you were expecting when judging from the marketing.

The finished film stars Carley Stewart as Stella Scott, an aspiring journalist investigating the mysterious suicide of her sister Iris (Aimee Paxton). Stella’s investigation is aided by her reluctant brother Oscar (Grant Crater), with the bickering duo soon uncovering a bizarre conspiracy involving multiple unexplainable suicides in the area surrounding Eerie, Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, Stella’s growing obsession with the story and what it might mean for her budding career soon puts everyone around her in grave danger as the clues point her in the direction of an otherworldly force lurking in the wilderness.

This is obviously a great setup for a mystery, with the retro aesthetic and uncomfortable subject matter combining into an appropriately compelling thriller that doesn’t need to rely on jump scares and monsters to keep you hooked. In fact, while the majority of the runtime here is dedicated to the characters discussing events that occurred off-screen and piecing together a larger and possibly supernatural conspiracy, the emotional implications behind these story beats keep things consistently interesting.

This subtle approach to scares and intrigue only works because of the excellent performances driving the story forward. In particular, I was a big fan of Ryan W. Garcia’s strange demeanor as the troubled conspiracy theorist Red, though Carley Stewart’s fascinating main character is the obvious highlight of the experience here.

Stewart had previously collaborated with Hammersley on her 2019 short Fragile.com, with that horror yarn going viral back in the day due to its unflinching depiction of the hidden horrors behind seemingly innocuous online fetish content. Much like in that film, Stewart’s dedication to her role also nearly carries Eerie to the finish line, especially during the latter half of the experience when Stella is forced to confront the horrific nature of what she’s investigating and how her work affects those around her.

Unfortunately, this is where I have to address the spoiler-filled elephant in the room, as Erie is not a traditional found footage experience – at least, not entirely. The final act of the feature suddenly and unexpectedly transitions to a third-person cinematic perspective as Stella comes close to unraveling the truth behind all those mysterious suicides.

To go into further detail would require spoiling essential plot points, but suffice it to say that there was very little indication that this highly immersive story was headed in a more conventional direction. While films like Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon and The Last Broadcast have managed to effectively make use of the hybrid format in the past, I’d argue that Eerie loses much of its lo-fi charm the second those cinematic lights kick in and we suddenly find ourselves in a completely different aesthetic environment.

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate how Hammersley gives Stewart a chance to shine in a more traditional manner, and that’s not even mentioning how creepy the visuals are during this last third of the movie, but I get the troubling feeling that the abrupt transition was more of a practical decision than a creative one. After all, it’s much harder to convey subjective experiences via an objective in-universe camera, so it’s possible that the filmmakers simply realized that they would have to resort to a comparatively simpler format in order to properly conclude a story about personalized frights that make people take their own lives.

Personally, I view this combination as something of an immersion-breaking cop-out that doesn’t even have a meta justification for its inclusion. However, even if you’re not as much of a found footage purist as I am, you’ll likely still find yourself baffled by some of the narrative decision-making towards the end of the movie, especially if you’re looking for concrete answers about the mystery that Erie spent so much time building up.

At the end of the day, your enjoyment of Erie will depend on both your opinion on the “sanctity” of diegetic filmmaking and whether you prefer your narrative puzzles to be solved with a logical conclusion or a sensorial smorgasbord of atmospheric scares. Personally, I didn’t quite connect with the surreal finale despite really enjoying the first half or so of the flick, but I can imagine that other cinephiles might have a completely different experience.

Regardless, Hammersley is clearly talented enough to warrant keeping an eye on her work, and I’d personally love to see what she comes up with next – especially if Carley Stewart is also involved!

Eerie made its world premiere and Beyond Fest and screens at Brooklyn Horror Film Festival next.

The post ‘Erie’ Review: Lo-Fi Found Footage Mystery Breaks Its Own Rules appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

That’s why found footage is such a fascinating genre, as it’s a technique that requires relinquishing so many of these artificial tools in favor of authenticity. As a found footage enthusiast myself, I’ve long come to the conclusion that, while shooting in this format is almost always cheaper than investing in studio lighting and shot-reverse-shots, it’s also invariably a lot harder – at least if you’re doing it right.

I recently found myself thinking about these inherent difficulties of the genre when I had the pleasure of watching Robbie Banfitch’s sophomore feature, the criminally underseen Tinsman Road. A deceptively simple “home movie”, this lo-fi experiment had me fascinated by how masterfully Banfitch wielded a remarkably limited toolset. It’s a masterclass in cinematic minimalism.

Robbie Banfitch first rose to notoriety back in 2022 with the release of his divisive debut film The Outwaters. A surreal examination of the power of suggestion within found footage, this weird little movie had just as many fans calling it a masterpiece as it did detractors accusing it of being one of the worst films ever made. Though I personally didn’t connect with The Outwaters, even I could see the potential behind some of Robbie’s creative decisions, and that’s why I eventually decided to give Tinsman Road a chance.

This second film was a much more intimate project that began production immediately after The Outwaters as an attempt to decompress after a comparatively larger and more scripted endeavor. That’s why Tinsman Road has more in common with a personal video diary than a traditional horror movie. As its story suggests, the film was shot on location in New Jersey as Banfitch briefly returned to his roots, with nearly the entire production relying on existing locations and non-actors. In fact, out of the twelve cast members, a whopping nine of them are related to the director, with his own mother giving a standout performance.

Of course, the film’s nature as a 2000s-set period piece means that there’s still some level of simulation going on here. Not only is the entire thing shot on standard-definition mini-DV tapes, but the story also forgoes smartphones and online resources that could have made its characters’ lives a little easier. While these elements obviously enhance the flick’s atmosphere, I’m of the opinion that this nostalgic approach is also meant to engage with the story’s themes of coming home and dealing with the past – which is arguably what the director did in real life when he set out to make a DIY movie in his hometown.

In the finished film, which had its festival premiere in March of 2025, we follow Banfitch himself as “Robbie Lyle”, a young filmmaker who moves back in with his grieving mother (Leslie Ann Banfitch) years after the mysterious disappearance of his musically inclined sister Noelle. When Leslie reveals that she has been feeling Noelle’s ghostly presence around the house, Robbie decides to shoot a documentary meant to process the family’s loss and find out what really happened to his sister. Unfortunately, Robbie’s home movie ends up unearthing more than he bargained for as the locals catch wind of his little project.

At first glance, this may seem like a standard ghost story where paranormal activity leads to Robbie finding his long-lost sister, but Tinsman Road does things a bit differently than your standard found footage narrative. By insisting on realistic depictions of grief and family trauma, Banfitch has crafted an incredibly moody (not to mention believable) character study that rewards viewer patience.

It’s actually easy to mistake the film for being completely devoid of narrative depth if you don’t pay close attention to certain details. Much like real life, a lot of essential information here is conveyed through implied dialogue and subtle clues, and much of what you absorb only really pays off during the final twenty minutes or so of the experience. While this indirect approach might have come off as frustrating in another production, the DIY qualities of Tinsman Road make it feel like you’re actually engaging with a real mystery as you attempt to understand what’s really going on beneath the surface.

The only caveat is that getting to that satisfying final act requires a non-trivial amount of commitment from the viewer. Even as a huge fan of the experience, I still think that Banfitch could have left an additional 15 minutes behind on the cutting room floor, and your own mileage may vary depending on how much depressing family drama you’re willing to deal with before we get to the actual horror.

A friend of mine actually described the experience as “what if The Blair Witch Project contained an hour of Heather moping about her family life before finally heading into the woods?” While this is a rather mean-spirited comparison, especially since the family issues are the entire point of Banfitch’s film, it’s not that far from the truth.

That being said, while Tinsman Road is more of a somber mood piece than a traditional scary movie, it does manage to touch on some of the same elements that made films like The Blair Witch Project so successful in the first place – elements that many of that film’s imitators have failed to reproduce over the years.

To put it simply, as far as found footage is concerned, the best way to simulate something is usually to just do it for real. From actually inhabiting a certain time and place to making use of interesting-looking townsfolk, found footage movies work better when real life is allowed to interfere with the script. That’s why it’s so easy to fall down Tinsman Road’s rabbit hole and accept these events as reality. And the deeper you go, the more you’ll find curious details like how the flick’s “Shades of Death” Road is a real paranormal hotspot frequently visited by investigators (don’t even get me started on real vanishings in the backwoods of New Jersey).

I won’t get into spoilers, but connecting the dots between Noelle’s eerie music/homemade album art and the details behind her disappearance is a deeply satisfying process that results in the same kind of chill you get when researching a disturbing topic online and slowly realizing that the truth is much stranger than you originally imagined.

At the end of the day, Tinsman Road is a decidedly slow burn that won’t appeal to every kind of horror fan, but I appreciate how it allows viewers to flex their own investigative muscles as they inhabit a brooding rendition of the mid-2000s. And if you agree to play by the film’s rules, I think you’ll also find that this is one of the most underrated Found Footage experiences in years.

However, if you do decide to embark on this investigation, please keep in mind that it’s always a bad idea to hike alone in New Jersey.

The post ‘Tinsman Road’ Is Minimalist Found Footage Horror Done Right appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Compliance, the feature debut of writer/director Kyle Mangione-Smith, aims to do just that. It’s a film with admirable ambition but lacks the necessary focus to make its point, making for an uneven horror experience that completely unravels by the time the credits roll.

Recent LA transplant Sam (Megan Wilcox) is a social worker hired as a PR rep for Airbnb-like company UVisit. When UVisit patron Sarah (Lindsey Normington, Anora) is brutally gang-raped at one of the company’s properties, Sam is sent in to force her to accept a cash payout in exchange for her silence or, as the film’s title suggests, compliance. The company also volunteers to cover Sarah’s counseling and legal fees. 

Torn between natural human empathy and the demands of her job, Sam lies about having a history of abuse in an effort to bond with Sarah. The survivor catches on to the lie immediately, sending the corporate shill on her way after hinting at a larger conspiracy at play. Sam’s boss Harry (Charlie Wood) doesn’t have the patience for Sam’s “whole therapist thing” and eventually fires her when a colleague is able to get Sarah to sign an NDA. It’s not long before Sam finds a hidden camera in her apartment, sending her down an investigative rabbit hole of conspiracy theory trappings.

To its credit, Compliance starts promisingly, with its found footage/screenlife approach and Dark Web-centric plot suggesting something akin to Zachary Donohue’s exceptional and underseen 2013 chiller The Den. Following an intriguing first act that contains most of the film’s tensest moments, however, the film craters, briefly turning into an unengaging espionage thriller before devolving into a muddled political pseudo-satire that’s undercut by haphazard editing and an abruptly unsatisfying ending. The final act is chaotic in a way I don’t think Mangione-Smith intends, as it’s occasionally difficult to decipher just how many sides there are and who is on which one. Though perhaps that’s the point?

Mangione-Smith uses the screenlife format to his advantage when doling out exposition, such as an early scene in which we’re treated to an unskippable UVisit ad that plays before a news report Sam is watching. The voyeuristic nature of Compliance is keenly felt as well. Not limiting itself to just computer screens and camcorders, the film is presented via diegetic cameras of any kind, and boy howdy are there a lot of them. iPhones, security cameras, satellite imagery, body cams, computers, and more are used to make the audience feel just as complicit as Sam. Most of this is employed successfully, though the excessive use of digital artifacts gets old real fast, especially during a protracted late-game exposition dump from various news broadcasts.

Carrying the film is Wilcox, whose serviceable performance is strongest in the early scenes where she must grapple with the ethical dilemmas that her job entails. The actress sells Sam’s desperation well, especially in an unexpectedly humorous moment in which she almost gives herself bangs during a drunken haze of self-pity. Normington exudes the appropriate amount of mystique as Sarah, though she’s given far too little to do. Wood, meanwhile, delivers a rage-fueled performance so over-the-top that it becomes comical. This might have felt less tonally out of place if the satire were sharper, but it’s not.

Mostly, though, Compliance doesn’t really have anything to say, and subtlety is not its strong suit. Set in May of 2024 with plenty of references to the impending November election, Compliance is nothing if not topical. Though Donald Trump doesn’t exist in this universe, the mirroring to our current society is crystal clear. Content creators discussing how Naziism “isn’t really that bad” while empathizing with a mass shooter echo the current times, but we see all of this on a daily basis in real life. Compliance is content with simply reiterating the truth instead of actually commenting on it. 

Compliance wears its feel-bad nature on its sleeves, and while its early scenes are engaging, the narrative quickly falls apart as the shifting genres begin to take hold. It’s a shame, as this material is ripe for a satirical horror approach. Compliance just isn’t it.

Compliance made its North American premiere at Fantastic Fest

The post ‘Compliance’ Review: Timely Screenlife Horror Unravels With Unsatisfying Payoff [Fantastic Fest 2026] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

These down-to-earth adventures may have led to some unfortunate incidents as unprepared content creators became involved in international controversies (such as the infamous Logan Paul suicide forest incident), but they also led to a demystification of different cultures as internet users felt more connected to the rest of the world.

That’s why it’s surprising that so few genre filmmakers took advantage of this emergent format to tell spooky stories. After all, there’s nothing scarier than becoming involved in a bad situation while stranded far from home. And if you need an example of how this format could be used to tell an effective freaky story, look no further than Derek Lee and Clif Prowse‘s Afflicted – an underrated found footage thriller that has a lot more up its sleeve than you might initially suspect and that I’d like to invite readers to revisit with me.

Originally envisioned as an ARG hot on the heels of online hits like Marble Hornets and LonelyGirl19, Afflicted was meant to bridge the gap between Derek and Clif’s amateur shorts and their aspirations as feature filmmakers. With the aforementioned rise of travelogues, the Canadian duo thought that there was potential in telling a slow-burn horror story that only revealed its supernatural nature after viewers were already invested in the world and characters.

The project soon ballooned into something much bigger as the team decided to incorporate a more body horror-centric take on vampirism into the project. They also realized that they would need a more traditional budget in order to make it all seem convincing. That’s how the web series morphed into a major motion picture, with the duo raising funds through government grants and family investments. In true guerrilla fashion, Derek and Clif would also opt to write, direct, and star in their feature in order to cut costs even further while still maintaining full control of the project.

In fact, their commitment to authenticity ended up becoming one of the flick’s greatest assets, with a budget rumored to have been around $300,000 forcing the filmmakers to actually embark on a real trip to Europe, and then improvise much of the film in real life instead of hiring traditional actors and relying on an immutable script.

This experimental gambit worked out for the best, as not only was the directing duo left with a kick-as movie at the end of the experience, but their very first trailer went viral in a way that few indie productions could ever dream of as internet users connected with the premise. While I’d argue that the film never got the marketing push it deserved, its huge collection of accolades suggests that I’m not the only one who frequently includes it in “top ten found footage films” lists.

In any case, after a successful festival run, Afflicted was released in limited theaters in April of 2014. In the finished film, we follow Clif and Derek as fictionalized versions of themselves as they embark on a classic Eurotrip after Derek is diagnosed with an AVM that can kill him at any moment. While their trip initially promises to be the adventure the duo had always dreamed of, with Clif recording everything as part of an interactive travel blog, things take a turn for the worse when Derek is assaulted by a Parisian woman and begins to grow ill. As Derek’s symptoms get stranger, Clif begins to suspect that whatever is wrong with his best friend can’t be dealt with in a regular hospital.

What follows is a surprisingly versatile found footage yarn that juggles tropes from superhero movies, supernatural horror flicks, and the aforementioned travel vlogs and combines it all into a singular eerie experience. From Derek discovering his emergent bloodlust to high-octane chase sequences as the main duo attempts to escape the authorities, you’re never sure where Afflicted is headed next, and that’s why it’s so much fun to watch.

Of course, the whole thing only works because both our leads have that infectious kind of brotherly rapport that can only be developed over years of earnest collaboration. Derek’s condition only feels dangerous because we know what’s at stake if it all goes wrong, and there’s a heartbreaking twist towards the final third of the film that simply wouldn’t have worked if these characters had been played by anyone else.

That’s not to say that the speculative elements of Afflicted aren’t impressive on their own, with the movie boasting several simulated feats of supernatural strength and agility that I still can’t wrap my head around even all these years later. The found footage approach only enhances these moments, especially as Derek becomes more comfortable with his newfound abilities.

My only real gripe with the experience comes from the fact that it loses a bit of steam towards the finale as the story shifts gears and embraces the tragedy of Derek’s predicament. While the excessively dour ending is somewhat mitigated by the mid-credits sequel bait, I actually feel like the movie was originally building up to a more climactic confrontation before budgetary issues got in the way.

Regardless, these blemishes aren’t enough to distract from the miraculously immersive romp cooked up by Clif and Derek. Like the very best found footage projects, Afflicted‘s preference to actually do instead of pretend puts it one step ahead of its POV competitors.

That’s why I’d still recommend revisiting this one even a decade after it first dared to deconstruct both vampire stories and excessively cheerful travelogues.

Afflicted is currently available to stream on Paramount+.

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This season sometimes struggles to articulate its points and can feel like more of the same. However, it provides a deeper dive into Peachfuzz’s character, which may be enough for some audiences. Season three is a mixed bag, but it still works hard to exceed expectations, push boundaries, and leave its comfort zone through more frightening character-driven found footage experiments.

Season two innovatively riffed on found footage’s many different styles, while this season is more interested in character archetypes and the act of connection. These constantly disarming performances leave each episode’s subject – and the audience – feeling incredibly vulnerable. The series explores these perpetual exercises in control and privilege as characters engage in tugs of war over authority and are left to litigate who really has the power in these sordid situations. Peachfuzz casually declares that “we contain multitudes” in the season’s premiere, which strongly resonates in each episode.

These new episodes explore how Peachfuzz’s killings are all repeated attempts to genuinely, truly connect with another human being, even if that’s by steeping his own backstory in lies, deception, and a creepy equivalent to kabuki theater. There’s some muddled commentary on the creative pursuit of being an artist and the grueling process of tirelessly pouring yourself into thankless work and how this artistic pursuit can change you.

Certain episodes do admittedly feel like they run out of steam and abruptly conclude in ways that some may consider to be underwhelming. That being said, it’s important to understand that The Creep Tapes is not about the kills, as gory and grandiose as they may be; it’s about human connection.

This season bombards the audience with some of Peachfuzz’s most wild and ridiculous character archetypes yet. This includes a Tommy Lee-esque rock star who is desperate for notoriety through a viral sex tape, an enigmatic billionaire who is eager to unload a confession that doubles as a budding journalist’s big scoop, and a voyeur living in a listless shut-in’s walls. These contrasting performances are all over the map in attempts to obfuscate Peachfuzz’s truth. However, they’re all connected by a desperate need for relevancy and a compulsion to not be forgotten that’s been present in this franchise since its very start. 

It’s a message that’s crucial to Peachfuzz’s legacy as a prolific serial killer, but one can’t help but feel this quest for relevance extends to the broader found footage genre as a whole. It’s a style of storytelling that’s never completely disappeared, but often feels like it’s one foot out the door and constantly at the risk of being disregarded. The Creep Tapes’ third season makes a strong case for why this genre is still meaningful and a valuable way to tell horror stories.

A lot of this season sticks to stripped-down, minimalist filmmaking that frequently utilizes a bottle episode-like framework. There are still opportunities for these episodes to go bigger and take some risks. There’s a particularly tense stalker story that sets Peachfuzz loose in New York City. There’s also a formative flashback episode in 1994 that chronicles one of Peachfuzz’s earliest kills when he was just a teenager. This season also features the franchise’s most extreme and creative death to date that deserves credit for the sheer audacity of the spectacle. 

This season also continues the tradition where one episode turns the camera onto Peachfuzz and attempts to unpack his own trauma and history. This season’s experiment is a one-man show from Duplass as Peachfuzz confronts and succumbs to his codependent demons. It doesn’t reach the same heights as the previous seasons’ glimpses into Peachfuzz’s dynamic with his mother and sister, but it’s still very rewarding and a real highlight of the season that helps demystify this increasingly interesting monster. 

Season three still retains the dark humor that’s always been baked into the franchise, which may work better for some than others. This heightened behavior and inappropriate sense of humor fit into Peachfuzz’s pursuit of throwing off and destabilizing his would-be victims so that they can’t tell where the truth lies and the performance ends.

The Creep Tapes is a series that lives and dies based on its guest stars. This season features some impressive and eclectic talent that includes Kate Siegel, James Earl, Chris Gethard, Rekha Shankar, It: Welcome to Derry’s Nicholas Hamilton, Terrifier 2 and 3’s Elliot Fulham, and Mark Duplass’ own daughter, Ora Duplass. Patrick Brice continues to handle all the directing duties and has only grown more confident in cultivating this franchise’s avant-garde voice. However, at this point it wouldn’t be a bad idea to bring in some fresh blood. 

Like before, six episodes is the perfect length for this season so that Peachfuzz’s continuous kills don’t feel repetitive, formulaic, or blur together. It’s just enough time for The Creep Tapes to approach its central idea from complementary angles and still wrap things up so that the audience is left wanting more, rather than being exhausted by Peachfuzz’s schtick.

The Creep Tapes still has lots to say and plenty of tricks up its sleeve. That being said, this is the first time that the bloom is starting to come off the rose. While a very strong continuation of this concept and character, these are arguably the weakest batch of episodes from The Creep Tapes’ three-season run. This doesn’t mean that a season four would have even greater diminishing returns. However, it’ll need to bring something different to the equation.

As Peachfuzz would say, “You’ve just got to trust the creative process,” even if it makes a bloody mess. It at least helps keep the wolves at the door.

The Creep Tapes premieres September 15 on Shudder, with back-to-back episodes airing weekly.

The post ‘The Creep Tapes’ Season 3 Review: Peachfuzz’s Most Personal Season Is Also Its Most Uneven appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The film comes to AMC, Regal and Cinemark theaters in the U.S. on September 4, 2026.

Variety notes in today’s report that The Deadliest Mansion “became Vietnam‘s first theatrical found-footage horror release and turned into a breakout hit after its June debut.”

The story pulls from a well-known Vietnamese urban legend: a band of young streamers force their way into the notoriously haunted Hứa family estate, hoping the stunt will bring them fame and money. Instead their broadcast captures a dormant, malevolent force stirring back to life, pulling them into the century-old tale of the “Ghost of the Hứa Family.”

Hùng Trần directed the upcoming found footage horror movie.

“Found footage has the power to make audiences feel as though they are experiencing the horror themselves,” producer Lee Jin Sung said in a statement shared by Variety this week. “Working with Hive Media Corp allowed us to bring that experience to a uniquely Vietnamese legend while preserving the identity and atmosphere that make the story distinctive.”

“Lầu Chú Hoả: The Deadliest Mansion delivers one of the most intense Vietnamese horror experiences in recent years,” said Mockingbird’s Phong Duong. “We believe this is a film that can travel, and we want audiences around the world to experience that fear for themselves.”

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Bennett began, and still works, in television. His wheelhouse of animal documentaries served The Dinosaur Project well. For starters, there’s a visual admiration for nature that even the pressing POV format can’t undo. Bennett, plus cinematographer Tom Pridham, put a welcome coat of gloss on those scenic parts. Another thing to consider is the fact that some of the characters are professional cameramen. That means the found-footage genre’s necessary evil of shaky cam is, at least in a comparative context, kept to a minimum.

The South Africa-shot The Dinosaur Project seems pretty groundbreaking for found footage, but at its core, this, too, is another movie about people dying in the unforgiving outdoors. Of course, this more singular instance saw an official expedition taking a turn somewhere in the Congo, as opposed to everyday folks getting lost in the deep, dark woods of Anywhere, America. Nevertheless, the ingredients are indeed different here, but the recipe is roughly the same.

As things tend to go in these kinds of movies, one’s profound curiosity soon turns into deep regret. Yet in The Dinosaur Project, there is more than just pure speculation that spurs a voyage to the Congolese forests; the British Cryptozoological Society is responding to worldwide news of a not-so-hidden cryptid. It’s found footage within found footage.

Who better to lead that journey of a lifetime than renowned adventurer Jonathan Marchant (Richard Dillane)? He’s this universe’s Josh Gates, albeit way less cheery and not drunk on his own wanderlust. But to keep Marchant from becoming a basic man of action, the movie gives him something of a foil; his teenage son, Luke (Matthew Kane), demonstrates more attention-seeking behavior by crashing the trip and causing trouble at every turn.

Luke’s youthful presence, along with the potential for father-son drama playing out in between dino chases, smells of a family movie being passed off as a toothless creature-feature. Yet as the Jurassic Park franchise has proven time and time again, there’s no need to sacrifice thrills or carnage just because there are young characters among the cast. If anything, including kids fuels the dread. The story is also wise not to draw focus away from the main attraction. You came for dinosaurs, and that’s essentially all you get here. I mean it as a compliment when I say the human characters take a back seat to their larger-than-life co-stars.

Regardless of their extinction status, surviving dinosaurs are often more plausible than the most common subjects in horror found footage, which includes a variety of paranormal entities and mystifying monsters. In the same breath, that’s where this movie runs into an issue—are living dinos that much more scary than the unknown?

It goes without saying that Jurassic Park put dinosaurs on everyone’s radar well before Bennett and co-writer Jay Basu ever conceived this story of prehistoric peril in the present day. So there is a bit of desensitization that comes with this, and really any newer genre movie about dinos. The oohing and awing toward these animals is not quite as loud as before. Our habituation, though, is put on pause once we’re forced to identify with the characters on screen and see everything through their eyes.

First-person narratives in found footage sometimes have a way of making the unreal feel real, even when the artifice is recognized. However, The Dinosaur Project is never able to execute that same sort of feat; for obvious reasons, nothing depicted here comes across as credible. Surely no one will walk away from this movie and think dinosaurs are alive again. That said, you may still be impressed by those methods used to manifest their cinematic return.

Jellyfish Pictures were the digital wizards behind this movie’s creature visuals. The London-based company, which has since merged with another production studio to become JFX, had a hand in a variety of other non-dino media, including Black Mirror and the Fear Street trilogy. Most beneficial here, though, was Planet Dinosaur (2011). That BBC docuseries was like a good dry run for The Dinosaur Project, although Jellyfish had clearly stepped up their game for the movie. Undoubtedly, now having humans in the same scenes as the CG dinos required more care and effort on the artists’ part.

A smaller budget than what Steven Spielberg was working with means this movie shows a lot fewer dinosaurs. Don’t go in expecting to see a Tyrannosaurus like the one found on some of the posters; that iconic theropod is nowhere to be found. In the T-Rex’s place, however, are other familiar species, such as Pteranodon, Elasmosaurus and Liopleurodon. Those last two are notable for their shared set-piece—the best one—as well as for their mere inclusion in the movie. After all, giant marine reptiles wouldn’t appear in the Jurassic films until a few years after The Dinosaur Project was first released.

This was one of several well-funded, high-concept movies from the 2010s era of found footage. While The Dinosaur Project has little in the way of complex characters and storytelling, it remains unique among its peers. Anyone who enjoys atypical POV offerings, prehistoric fauna, or simply both, is urged to hunt this movie down. It may just end up surprising you.

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The Influencer Project will release in theaters October 2, 2026.

Check out the official poster below, which was debuted by Fangoria this afternoon. The outlet also shared two first-look images from the film, which you’ll find above and below.

Beauty and fashion influencer Chiara King stars in the found footage movie, based on true events.

In the film, “Influencer Chiara King travels to Copenhagen with a documentary crew promising an unfiltered look behind the glamorous business of online fame. But as the cameras and her devoted fans follow her every move, someone else is watching too. When an obsessive stalker begins closing in, the documentary mutates into something far more terrifying, blurring the line between content and evidence, follower and predator, fact and fiction.”

Mike Nybroe makes his feature directorial debut on the project, which is a co-production between Hades Films and Denmark’s Point Neuf. Eduardo Sanchez and Gregg Hale produce alongside Nybroe, Alex Hertzberg, and Ahmet Zappa (son of musician Frank Zappa).

“30 years ago, fear was a supernatural force in the woods. Today, it’s with you constantly, in social media — the possibility of opening up your life to strangers who wish you harm. What could be more terrifying?” Sanchez and Hale said in a recent statement.

The post ‘The Influencer Project’ – Found Footage Movie from ‘Blair Witch Project’ Creators Releasing in October [Poster] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Of course, the truth is that a movie’s overall quality depends more on who’s making it than whether or not it’s based on an existing idea, and that’s why I wasn’t so quick to judge when I heard that the popular found footage movie Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum was getting another re-imagining (the film has also been remade in Indonesia as Haunted Korean Hospital) in the form of Strange Frequencies: Taiwan Killer Hospital, that was quietly added to Netflix late last year.

A Philippine production set in Taiwan, writer-director Kerin Go’s latest film is less of a retread of Gonjiam’s localized thrills and more of an original found footage experience that just so happens to borrow elements from the South Korean original. In fact, Strange Frequencies isn’t a remake at all, with the film’s own characters referencing Gonjiam as a kick-ass horror film and the leader of the group even admitting that he got the idea for the team’s elaborate camera harnesses from Jung Bum-shik’s 2018 hit.

That’s why I think it’s worth comparing both of these pictures, as it says a lot about Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum that the feature is so well-suited for international remakes – especially when these productions turn out to be surprisingly entertaining homages with their own unique spin on the same premise.

The first major element that stands out when looking at these films is the fact that both productions are based on real abandoned hospitals that spawned countless urban legends over the years. In Gonjiam’s case, the real-life Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital had at one point been featured on a CNN list highlighting some of the most haunted locations in the world, with both urban explorers and government officials claiming that the place was rife with unusually aggressive paranormal activity. However, a little digging reveals that the hospital’s eerie reputation is based more on bad vibes than anything else, as there’s nothing about the institution’s history remotely resembling a horrific backstory.

In fact, the Hospital’s ultimate closure was the result of economic mishaps and concerns regarding plumbing/sewage issues, with this actually being one of the reasons why the filmmakers ultimately opted to recreate the location inside of an abandoned elementary school rather than shoot the entirety of the film on location.

On the other hand, Strange Frequencies’ Xinglin General Hospital has a much more disturbing backstory despite being much less famous. Once a bastion of Taiwan’s highly advanced public healthcare system, the hospital closed down in the early ’90s due to multiple reports of medical malpractice, including wrongful deaths, and years of budgetary fraud. Since then, locals began telling stories about ghostly patients and orderlies who still roam the building’s decayed halls. Xinglin was also the setting of another horror movie back in 2020, appropriately titled Hospital.

Despite not being quite as famous as Gonjiam Psychiatric, Xinglin’s sordid history is much more well-documented, with claims of murdered patients seeming more plausible under the sleazy hands of a corrupt administration.

Beyond the settings, both films also share the same premise of having an exaggerated group of internet celebrities attempt to stay the night at these haunted locations before their own hubris leads to their doom. However, each movie goes about criticizing these characters in a different way. Strange Frequencies approaches the idea through a more meta lens, with some of the victims here being real actors and film producers risking it all in order to further their careers in an industry that has come to value likes and followers more than genuine talent.

There are still plenty of jabs at influencer culture and online engagement farming despite the sensitive nature of the hospital’s gruesome history, but it’s clear that what the movie really wants us to question is why we’re so entertained by the exploitation of a morbid past in the first place.

This also leads to a completely different ending this time around, with director Kerwin Go reworking certain story-beats from Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum in order to question if building cinematic success over a foundation of human suffering is worth the results.

It’s also interesting to note that, while the backstory of each haunting is remarkably different (with the original film presenting us with a ping-pong-obsessed hospital director who went mad and Strange Frequencies suggesting that otherworldly entities were involved in Xinglin’s collective downfall), both films focus more on the consequences of our main character’s actions than any master plan by the supernatural antagonists.

That being said, the very end of Taiwan Killer Hospital suggests that the success of the livestream may not have been natural, though I won’t get into details in order to avoid spoilers if you’ve yet to see the film.

At the end of the day, I’m more comfortable referring to Strange Frequencies: Taiwan Killer Hospital as a spiritual successor to Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum rather than a remake or even a pseudo-sequel. Both films share enough of the same base DNA to obviously be related, and they both borrow heavily from the cult favorite Grave Encounters, but there are so many creative differences in both story and presentation that the movies end up feeling like completely unique dishes based on the same ingredients.

While I still think Gonjiam is the superior film due to Jung Bum-shik’s incomparable eye for scares, both films are worth watching for completely different reasons.

If you really think about it, there are (allegedly) haunted hospitals in almost every single country in the world, each with their own unique histories and plenty of potential for ghostly scares. That’s why I wouldn’t mind seeing even more international “remakes” of Gonjiam so long as they’re as creative as this one and manage to include some local flavor into the mix.

The post Netflix’s ‘Strange Frequencies: Taiwan Killer Hospital’ Is More Than Just a ‘Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum’ Remake appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Found footage progresses with technology to often startling effect, so that’s a great hook.

Unfortunately, the hooks are basically all we get from this one. Though there’s an earnestness and eagerness to the film that’s endearing, and the production design definitely provides a solid foundation, this is a stiff, rough, half-formed horror film that wants all of the trappings of found footage without any real sense of immediacy.

Arkar Soe Oo is Aung Khant, a tech-obsessed young man who’s just bought his 4K recording glasses and is eager to try them out. Fortunately, the perfect occasion has just arrived. His friend Thu Ya (Charlie Nyein) has inherited an old rubber plantation in the middle of an isolated forest, and since their friend group of half a dozen or so young people likes to take annual trips together, it seems like the perfect adventure. So the group piles into a bus and heads out to the woods, only to run into Thu Ya’s uncle (Kyaw Kyaw Bo), who warns them that supernatural interference might await them, and insists on tagging along.

Now, if the title didn’t give it away, the film opens with a Blair Witch-style declaration that what we’re about to see is the only evidence remaining of these friends and their trip. They went out into the woods, disappeared, and the footage is all that’s left. We know these young people are barreling toward their doom, and we’re left wondering not if it will happen, but how. That the film also opens with an increasingly disturbing montage of footage from other people’s 4K glasses only adds to the menace.

So we have a strong start, and despite a little meandering (we really don’t need to watch these people ride a bus for as long as we do), a promising story takes shape. Friends Mya (Lain Maw Tee) and Wa Na (Thiha Tin Aung Soe) are always whispering about rituals they found on the dark web that they may or may not have already done, while their friend Linn (Li Li Kyaw Khaing) had to bring her little brother (Phyo Khant) along for the ride, only to quickly lose him when they arrive in the woods.

Then there’s the witch (Mo Khum) who shows up in the woods, mumbling about a monster buried deep beneath the Earth while doing some very shady things in the name of reuniting with her own lost relative.

This is all solid stuff, and when you add in various shrines and candlelight altars placed strategically in the woods to conjure a folk horror vibe, you get something that feels quite ripe for a bonkers, gore-strewn ride. But that ride never comes, and to make matters worse, it isn’t replaced by anything narratively satisfying. There are several reasons for this, which I’ll try to unpack without spoiling anything, but unfortunately it begins with the subtitles.

I debated even bringing this up, because I do not speak Burmese and therefore cannot attest to the accuracy of the subtitles, but…something is off. The dialogue often arrives in sentence fragments, like a literal translation of another language rather than an adaptation to make the characters speak in complete thoughts. At one point, a character is frequently referred to as “Chris,” and I can’t figure out whether that’s a deliberate Anglicization of his name or simply an error. We were told before screening this film that the subtitles initially arrived unfinished as the film is still being finalized, so hopefully this is corrected by the time The Last Footage sees wider release.

Even with the subtitle issues in mind, though, the dialogue is an issue unto itself, in that it plays like a second screen experience you might find on a streaming service. Characters are constantly restating key bits of information, whether it’s a character’s dark past, bits of magical lore they’ve picked up on, or simple directions. Making sure an audience is keeping up with your story is one thing, but this feels like repetition to the point that it crowds out any actual attempt at character development. With a couple of exceptions, the sole character traits for these young people seem to be “They are friends,” which only adds to the frustration of the narrative. There’s very little chance to latch onto these people as people, something crucial to establishing the immediacy and tension of a found footage movie that’s hurtling toward a violent end.

Which brings us back around to the footage itself. Arkar Soe Oo definitely prepared for this film on a technical level, lighting and blocking things in such a way that the film works in long takes to build tension, and allows characters to take long walks out into the dark that genuinely conjure the feeling of something lurking out there.

The problem, of course, comes when you realize that the sole camera in the film is mounted to the eyes of the person wearing the glasses, so as a character, Aung Khant’s job is mostly to…well, just kinda look at stuff. Even in the film’s third act, when monstrous violence is happening around him, he just mostly stands and stares at it, maybe mumbling a plea for the horrors to end along the way. Of course, he has to do this because we wouldn’t have a movie if he didn’t, but the framing just makes it look like he’s a guy standing around waiting for his friends to die. There’s an interesting conversation to be had here about the way these smart glasses work, particularly as more and more news stories pop up about how people use that technology maliciously.

There’s also the philosophical concern of why someone like Aung Khant would want to record every single moment of this trip, from the mundane to the dramatic, a concern that many found footage films have thrived in. The answer seems to be “He likes gadgets,” and the rest of the characters just shrug about it. It’s dramatic meat left on the bone, and does the film no favors.

I wish I liked this film more, not just because it’s made by a group of people who seem genuinely out to do something new and open a new frontier of Asian horror, but because there really is something interesting lurking in all of this half-formed filmmaking. The Last Footage is a light that burns hot and fast, fizzling before the movie even really gets off the ground, and that’s a shame, because there are things in here that could’ve made it great.

The Last Footage made its world premiere at the 2026 Fantasia International Film Festival. Release info TBD.

The post ‘The Last Footage’ Review: Myanmar’s Found Footage Debut is Dead on Arrival [Fantasia 2026] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The found footage nightmare is set to premiere at Mad Monster Party in North Carolina and Houston Horror Film Fest in August. 

In Sundown, “Mary, whose husband has recently died of dementia, claims his spirit is haunting her house. When her estranged son Chris learns that Mary believes she is being haunted, he arrives with his filmmaker friend Bill and a spiritualist named Clarissa with the intention of proving to Mary that it’s all in her head. They soon discover the truth is far more disturbing than they could have ever imagined.”

Damian Maffei (The Strangers: Prey at Night, Haunt), Emily Sweet (V/H/S/95, Castle Freak), Chris Alexander, Kelly Waters, Erich Rausch, and Michael Leavy (Terrifier, Stream) star.

Sundown is directed by Marcus Slabine (The Dark Offerings) and Brian Klingborg, who also wrote the screenplay.

“The second I read Brian’s script, I knew I wanted to direct it. It had everything I love about horror: grounded characters, mounting tension, and a mystery that keeps getting darker the deeper you go. I feel when found footage is done right, we wanted every scare to feel earned and every performance to feel real, so when the horror finally hits, it hits hard. I’m incredibly proud of what our incredible cast and crew accomplished, and truly can’t wait to unleash the film onto the world,” Slabine said in a statement.

Klingborg adds, “The inspiration for SUNDOWN came from a true story that Chris shared with me about a death in his family. The strange and unsettling events surrounding that experience stayed with me and became the foundation for the screenplay. I wanted to explore the fragile line between love, grief, and horror, and how loss can leave us questioning what’s real. In an incredible twist of fate, we ended up filming SUNDOWN in the very house where the real events took place, adding an authenticity and atmosphere that we could never have recreated anywhere else.”

The upcoming film is not to be confused with Sundown, the vampire revenge movie from Rebekah McKendry.

Check out the trailer and poster below.

The post ‘Sundown’ Trailer Turns a Family’s Grief Into a Found Footage Horror Nightmare appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

This is by no means a new phenomenon, and I think one of the most pertinent examples of Hollywood misunderstanding what makes a movie work has to be the aftermath of The Blair Witch Project. While Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez’s genre-defining movie proved that POV camerawork and lo-fi aesthetics can captivate mainstream audiences when backed by a genuinely compelling story, there was a sudden trend of filmmakers attempting to appear hip by incorporating found footage into their films as if the occasional presence of diegetic recordings was enough to make a movie seem “hip”.

That’s why the 2000s were such a frustrating period for found footage fans, as the genre was still mostly relegated to obscure indie productions while studios only teased us with the format’s narrative potential. And yet, talented filmmakers can tell compelling stories under any circumstances, and this is how we get to the weird world of found footage bonus features produced alongside traditional movies.

Diegetic filmmaking may not necessarily be easier than conventional camerawork (it’s a lot harder to simulate reality without the added toolbox of cinematic editing), but it’s certainly a hell of a lot cheaper. That’s why it makes sense that plenty of high profile projects invested in found footage bonus content in order to add value to their home video releases – a once profitable industry that is sorely missed in the current media landscape.

The irony here is that many of these found footage extras were a little too good when compared to their promotional origins. With that in mind, I’d like to take a closer look at three examples of found footage bonus features that were better than the movie they were meant to enhance!

3. Halloween: Resurrection (2002): WebCam Special

I might lose some of my horror cred for admitting this, but Halloween: Resurrection was actually the first Halloween film I ever saw. Thankfully, this misguided entry didn’t scare me off from watching the other movies in the series, but even as a teenager I recognized that the flick’s premise of an online streaming show gone wrong had some merit to it – it’s just too bad that these ideas were never fully realized in the feature itself.

It was only years later that I discovered the fabled WebCam Special on Resurrection’s physical media release and got the film I had always wanted. This 41-minute cut of the film is by no means a masterpiece, but excluding everything except for the found footage elements of the production somehow transforms this ill-advised sequel into a deeply unsettling exercise in voyeuristic cinema.

In fact, I’d argue that the long takes of Michael simply moving through the house without calling attention to himself are much closer to John Carpenter’s original vision of the bogeyman than any of the exaggerated sequels that depict The Shape as something more akin to a superpowered Jason Voorhees. It’s just a shame that the franchise would never explore this format again.

2. Believers (2007): The Quanta Group Videos

Daniel Myrick’s Believers is by no means a bad movie, with this direct-to-video thriller following a duo of paramedics who find themselves captured by a deranged death cult inspired by all the worst aspects of Jonestown and Heaven’s Gate. Unfortunately, the Blair Witch alumni’s low-budget exploration of religious madness was quickly forgotten simply because most people didn’t bother to engage with the other half of the experience by exploring the DVD menu.

Within the disc’s extras, Myrick actually included in-universe interviews and orientation videos meant to expand the Quanta Group’s backstory and beliefs. These found footage recordings greatly enhance The Believers by providing much-needed context for some of the film’s scariest moments. There’s even a wonderfully creepy epilogue sequence here as another group explores the cult’s dilapidated compound after the events of the film.

While it’s baffling that this material didn’t make it into the movie itself through in-universe cutaways (especially IO’s darkly humorous interview), watching it alongside Myrick’s film turns the whole thing into a highly compelling multi-media experience.

1. Dawn of the Dead (2004): The Lost Tape & Special Report: Zombie Invasion

I’ve always considered 2004’s Dawn of the Dead remake to be Zack Snyder’s best film (though most of the flick’s qualities are the result of James Gunn’s excellent script) even if it fails to capture the social anxieties of Romero’s 1978 original. However, this apocalyptic production is also the perfect example of an expensive project being overshadowed by the low-budget bonus features on its own home video release.

You see, the Dawn of the Dead DVD actually boasts two separate found footage short films that I find much scarier than the movie they’re marketing. The Lost Tape: Andy’s Terrifying Last Days Revealed is a somber video diary written by Gunn and starring Bruce Bohne as the ill-fated Andy – a minor character in the main film who becomes trapped in his own gun store when the zombies attack. Then there’s my personal favorite, Special Report: Zombie Invasion, a fully simulated news program starring Babylon 5’s Richard Biggs (as well as Bruce Boxleitner) that chronicles the spread of the undead virus.

Not only do these bonus features add context to Snyder’s film, but I’d argue that they make for a better standalone viewing experience than the so-called “main attraction”. Special Report honestly feels like a charming low-budget adaptation of Max Brooks’ World War Z novel (despite coming out a couple of years before that book was published), and I adore how The Lost Tapes turns Andy into a genuinely tragic figure.

These obviously aren’t the only found footage extras worth revisiting (for instance, I adore that Skull Island mockumentary that accompanied the special edition of Peter Jackson’s King Kong remake), but I figured that the three aforementioned projects could provide us with a snapshot of a curious moment in popular culture where found footage could still impress viewers despite not being quite as respected by the studio system.

That being said, don’t forget to sound off in the comments below if you can think of any other found footage bonus features that deserve a shout-out! After all, I’d love to see this trend of diegetic extras make a comeback in modern times – especially where found footage-heavy movies like Backrooms are concerned.

The post 3 Found Footage Bonus Features That Were Better Than the Movie appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

That’s why I’ve developed a habit of mostly ignoring the moral quandaries behind many of film and television’s biggest “hoaxes” in favor of appreciating the narrative elements that drive productions like Mermaids: The Body Found and even Animal Planet’s highly underrated The Cannibal in the Jungle. However, if there’s a definitive case of a highly publicized broadcast fooling the world into taking it seriously, it has to be Fox’s infamous 1995 TV special Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction.

It’s been over three decades since that eerie footage first haunted television screens right at the peak of the ’90s ufology craze, and in that time, the video has taken on a life of its own. From countless parodies and references in everything from The X-Files to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater (as well as John Dower’s recently released tell-all documentary The Alien Autopsy Scandal, which I’d highly recommend to genre fans everywhere), there’s no denying the legacy of the Alien Autopsy video. However, I rarely see the tape discussed as what it truly is: a highly convincing found footage film directed by a passionate stage magician and brought to life by masterful practical effects work.

That’s why I’d like to invite readers to join me on a deep dive into one of the most infamous broadcasts of all time in an attempt to reevaluate the footage as a fascinating narrative experience rather than a complete hoax.

The TV Special That Convinced Millions It Was Real

For starters, regardless of whether or not you believe that there was in fact an extraterrestrial crash in Roswell during the summer of 1947 and that some form of autopsy was performed on the victims, the producers behind the black & white recordings, Ray Santilli and Gary Shoefield, insist that their video was a “restoration.” Though I’d argue that the proper word is “remake”of genuine footage that was too damaged to air on television. That’s why the duo went on to recruit filmmaker and eccentric magician Spyros Melaris and sculptor/monster designer John Humphreys to bring their version of the autopsy to life and sell it to the highest bidder.

This is where the story of the Alien Autopsy as a narrative experience really begins. Melaris claims that his approach to the faux recording consisted of striving for extreme period accuracy in both shooting equipment and setting while also planting subtle details that would initially seem like mistakes but could later be revealed to actually fit the time period. That being said, the filmmaker was under the impression that the short would be released for free as a PR stunt, with the team later producing and selling an informative documentary chronicling exactly how the footage was faked and commenting on how easy it is to manipulate public perception with a good old-fashioned magic trick.

This obviously isn’t how things went down, and that’s likely the reason why Melaris has since distanced himself from everyone else involved with the project. Yet, no amount of behind-the-scenes drama can undermine the genuine effort that went into making the short as impressive as it is. From the sourcing of real animal organs from a local butcher to make the organic part of the creature more lifelike to the highly detailed sculpt that made use of a hollowed-out underlayer that could be filled with fake blood and assorted viscera, there’s a reason why so many Hollywood specialists are still impressed with the artistry on display here.

Of course, the believability is only half the story, as I think that the best part of the autopsy is how Melaris builds on the existing tension by obscuring certain details and often embracing the chaos of what a real examination of extraterrestrial life could feel like. The camera often goes out of focus at just the right time to make certain effects hit even harder, and we can only speculate as to what the hazmat-suited doctors are gesticulating about during the operation. There’s a real air of mystery to the whole thing that almost makes it feel like a cosmically terrifying, cursed film containing forbidden knowledge that civilians were never meant to see.

So when Fox’s Fact or Fiction brings in the specialists to comment on the film and its otherworldly subject, it’s no surprise that we end up with one of the most memorable mockumentaries of all time – albeit one where the participants are unaware that the footage they’re commenting on is basically a large-scale practical joke. A joke that the network was obviously in on, as many participants claim that the TV special cut out significant portions where guests point out that they believe the footage to be an elaborate hoax.

The Lasting Impact of the Hoax Turned Cultural Event

Regardless, I remember going to bed terrified after watching reruns of the special and thinking about the respected pathologist who claimed that the body was almost certainly inhuman, with even effects maestro Stan Winston commenting on how difficult it would be to recreate some of these visuals through practical puppetry. That’s not even mentioning Jonathan Frakes’ dramatic hyping up of the disturbing imagery as if he was talking about the tape from The Ring, with his spooky demeanor here likely being responsible for his later role as the host of Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction a few years later.

Personally, I’d argue that the Alien Autopsy phenomenon had just as much of an impact on me as a horror fan as The Blair Witch Project, a film that was almost certainly influenced by the success of this immensely popular hoax (to the point where they even produced their own TV special commenting on Heather’s found footage). Even if Fox didn’t intend to produce a narrative feature about the aftermath of the Roswell crash, the end product still holds up remarkably well as a highly entertaining mockumentary exploring the idea that we may not be alone in the universe.

While neither Santilli nor the rest of the production team has ever commented on this, I also think it’s very likely that the idea of a faux Alien Autopsy could have been influenced by Dean Alioto’s The McPherson Tape/UFO Abduction. I’ve already written about how this granddaddy of found footage was co-opted by rogue ufologists who began selling bootlegs of the tape at conventions as if it were real evidence of a close encounter, so it’s not that much of a stretch to imagine that Santilli and company could have heard about this phenomenon and been inspired to come up with their own highly profitable hoax.

At the end of the day, it’s unlikely that the Alien Autopsy film is recreating any real footage from Roswell, but I can still appreciate the short and the accompanying television event as a standalone horror story that still influences the way we see found footage to this very day.

After all, the possibility that something could be real is often much scarier than finding out for sure – and that’s why I think Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction is still worth revisiting three decades down the line.

The post Before ‘The Blair Witch Project’, ‘Alien Autopsy’ Showed How Real Found Footage Could Feel appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

However, now that this once-niche creepypasta has escaped the online bubble and permeated all of popular culture, several of these developers have decided to rework and rerelease some of their old titles in order to reach a new audience. Puppet Combo did this with their interpretation of The Backrooms last month (originally released in 2019 as Day Seven), and now Cortez Productions is doing the same with the console release of The Backrooms: Lost Tape.

However, Lost Tape is more than just a cleverly timed rerelease, with Vini Cortez having taken the time to completely overhaul the 2022 game’s graphics and transfer the project over to Unreal Engine 5.6 – complete with bug fixes, exclusive new content, and a brand new visual style that’s a little too impressive when compared to what the original version of the game was trying to do. In fact, I’d argue that this is more of a remake than anything else, though it’s still built over the skeleton of that original game.

In the updated title, which is presented as a found footage anthology where each “tape” tells a self-contained story, players initially take control of a movie theater usher named Josh as he no-clips into the titular Backrooms and tries to find his way out of a liminal labyrinth. The second (and final) tape follows Josh’s brother Nikolas as he attempts to track down the missing usher and ends up embarking on his own journey through infinite hallways and not-so-empty pools.

What follows is a highly atmospheric first-person walking simulator with the occasional light puzzle and a handful of thrilling chase sequences. While the liminal environment is obviously the star of the show here, the rooms are actually populated by monsters in this game, and our characters have plenty to say about the situation they find themselves in.

Unlike Parsons’ more introspective take on the Backrooms mythology, Cortez has decided to incorporate the multiple levels of the Backrooms wiki as well as several crossovers with the SCP “franchise”. While I personally don’t mind this inclusion due to the creepypasta’s collective origins, die-hard fans might be bothered by the fact that you can run into SCP-173 (affectionately referred to as Peanut by some fans) while wandering around the yellow hallways.

However, the real problem here is the fact that the game is simply presenting imagery and ideas made by other people without adding anything new to these familiar elements. There is an undeniable novelty to exploring these beautiful renditions of classic liminal environments, but Lost Tape offers little in the way of originality in both narrative and presentation. This extends to the unfortunate use of generative AI in some of the new textures and audio files – issues that weren’t present in the 2022 version of the title.

Though Cortez has promised that he’s working on bringing back the VHS filter that made the original experience so grungy and atmospheric, the glossy new visuals make the game feel a lot less scary while also consuming way more computing power than can be reasonably expected from an indie title. Sure, the game is pretty in a “tech-demo” sort of way, but there’s no reason for it to be hogging resources like a blockbuster AAA title.

This is made even more frustrating by the fact that this found footage anthology is technically still incomplete. The two existing tapes only scratch the surface of the setting’s narrative potential, and Cortez has announced that the next ones will only be available as (likely paid) DLC. Josh and Nikolas’ tapes are self-contained yarns that’ll each get you about a feature film’s worth of entertainment, though a lot of that runtime is taken up by very slowly walking from one point to another. But it’s a shame that there isn’t a concrete promise of more content to come.

At the end of the day, Backrooms: Lost Tape isn’t a bad game. Cortez really nails the liminal atmosphere and even breathes new life into tired SCP tropes, and the upcoming VHS filter will likely resolve most of my gripes with the revamped visuals. That being said, I find it hard to recommend a project that took a completely functional experience and spoiled it with AI-generated assets and poorly-optimized “upgrades” that no one was really asking for – especially since it doesn’t give existing owners the chance to roll back to a previous version of the game.

So, if you’re looking for more Backrooms-related thrills after enjoying the A24 adaptation, Lost Tape isn’t necessarily a bad place to start, but there are certainly better and more original options out there.

Backrooms: Lost Tape is available now on Steam and PS5.

The post ‘The Backrooms: Lost Tape’ Review: An Entertaining But Unnecessary Upgrade appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Join Michael Roffman, Justin Gerber, and Rachel Reeves as they discuss director Stephen Cognetti’s found footage gem that has since spawned multiple sequels and spinoffs. But, as with anything, nothing is ever quite as good as the original.

Note: This episode was originally released to our patrons in October 2025.

Stream the whole conversation below or subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, RadioPublic, Acast, Google Podcasts, and RSS. New to the Halloweenies? Catch up with the gang by revisiting their essential episodes on past franchises such as Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Scream, The Evil Dead, Chucky, Alien, and Universal Monsters.

This year? Hellraiser AND The Omen.

You can also become a member of their Patreon, The Rewind, for hilariously irreverent commentaries (e.g. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Gremlins, Child’s Play) and one-off deep dives on your favorite rentals (e.g. Saw, 28 Days Later, Manhunter, Near Dark). Each month promises something new and unexpected from the wildest corners of the genre.

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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!

The post 5 Found Footage Hybrid Horror Movies to Watch After ‘Backrooms’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Director Jason Zink and writer Nolan Mihail return for the sequel to last year’s found footage horror film Looky-loo.

Continuing where the first film left off, the looky-loo killer’s newfound infamy encourages him to push his crimes to further extremes as he documents his sadistic ventures, adding a new metatextual element to the film.

Julie Kashmanian, Kansas Bowling (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), Jessa Flux (Murdercise), Kali Malia Michaels (Never Hike Alone 2), and Siane Wilson star.

Zink’s Weird on Top Pictures produces along with Erin Mathew and Bobby Chastain.

“From the beginning, Looky-loo was intended as a trilogy,” Zink tells Bloody Disgusting. “So, everything we withheld in part one, we deliver on with part two. He thinks this is his opus… but he’s still just getting started.”

Fresh off its Best Director win at Crimson Screen, Looky-loo: Part II‘s upcoming festival screenings include Recovered Reels in Quakertown, PA, on May 29 and Hysteria Fest in St. Louis, MO, on July 9.

While you wait for the sequel, the original Looky-loo is streaming for free on Found TV.

The post ‘Looky-loo: Part II’ Trailer – Found Footage Horror Sequel Gets Bigger & Bloodier [Exclusive] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

However, with A24’s The Backrooms set to be released in theaters later this month after years of development (with Kane having even been secretly mentored by Longlegs director Osgood Perkins during production), plenty of fans have been left wondering if the movie is meant to be a continuation of the original YouTube series or a complete remake of the same story.

Newcomers have also been asking online if they need to catch up with the ARG in order to fully enjoy the movie, especially since it looks like it may very well be the horror event of the Summer.

Thankfully, we’ve got answers for you!

During a Discord chat with fans from a couple of months ago, Kane sneakily revealed that the upcoming film is 100% in-canon with the YouTube series and even appears to take place during the same time frame in the 1990s. It’s also not exactly a sequel to the ARG, as the project was developed as a standalone story that could entertain audiences that weren’t yet familiar with the concept of The Backrooms.

In short: no, you don’t need to watch the YouTube series in order to understand the movie, though it certainly takes place within the same universe as those original “tapes”.

That being said, I’d still recommend checking out Kane’s channel as it’ll likely help viewers to recognize eerie little clues and Easter Eggs in the upcoming film.

It’s also a completely free source of Found Footage frights, so what’s not to love?

The Backrooms will be available in theaters starting May 29.

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Paul Syre Lee, Mark Anthony Williams, and Danielle Kennedy star in the film from director Nicholas Pineda.

Infirmary follows “a young security guard begins his first night at the Wilshire Infirmary, a crumbling, long-abandoned mental asylum with a history that refuses to die. Paired with Lester, a retiring guard whose unusual behavior only adds to the unease, Edward quickly realizes this isn’t just another job.

“An intruder shatters the silence, but vanishes before Edward and Lester can act. Lester, his only ally in this forsaken place, disappears into the bowels of the asylum without a trace, leaving Edward to fend for himself. As the hospital’s dark history closes in on him, the line between reality and madness blurs. Edward becomes the prey of forces he cannot understand, trapped in a labyrinth of horrors that seem intent on breaking his mind.

“Haunted by visions, stalked by unseen entities, and tortured by his own unraveling psyche, Edward must face his fears and escape the infirmary’s clutches… or lose himself in its twisted depths forever.”

An abandoned psychiatric hospital tends to make for one of horror’s creepiest settings, so this premise already intrigues.

The horror movie made its world premiere earlier this year at the Dances With Films NY festival.

“We’re always looking for films that create a strong sense of atmosphere and psychological unease, and Infirmary immediately stood out,” said Michael Paszt of Raven Banner. “Nick has crafted a film that is deeply unsettling, visually confident, and rooted in a kind of dread that travels well internationally.”

With Infirmary heading to Cannes this week, expect to hear more about the film’s release soon.

The post Raven Banner Boards Psychological Found Footage Horror ‘Infirmary’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

From analog horror ARGs to Adult Swim’s patented style of over-the-top satire, these entertaining blasts from the past have been proven to work in short form, but few creators dare to experiment with the format when it comes to feature films. However, Simon Glassman’s retro oddity Buffet Infinity aims to change that with a Lovecraftian homage to Second City Television (an underrated comedy sketch show where heavy hitters like John Candy, Eugene Levy, Harold Ramis, and even Catherine O’Hara poked fun at TV tropes).

Originally meant to be a YouTube short produced during the Covid-19 pandemic before Glassman realized that the idea had the potential to become a full-length movie, Buffet Infinity is presented as a series of recordings depicting local commercials from the fictional Canadian town of Westridge County, Alberta. As we comb through the VHS-style footage, a bizarre rivalry between two neighboring restaurants soon expands into a cosmic nightmare as a mysterious sinkhole threatens to consume the entire community – one local business at a time.

What follows is a delightfully absurd exploration of capitalist excess and low-budget advertising combined with a healthy mix of Analog Horror that would make Local 58 blush. The best part is that you don’t actually have to be versed in any of the media that Glassman is referencing to enjoy the show.

The commercials themselves are fantastic, with such attention to detail and authentic period-accurate charm that you could easily mistake them for real ads if the filmmakers removed some of the more obvious nods to the underlying horror of it all. Not only that, but all of this simulated low-budget marketing never repeats itself with similar jokes or formats. From intentionally crappy musical numbers to sinister infomercials backed by sci-fi death cults (as well as local super-heroes that keep the public safe from unfair pricing), there’s genuinely never a dull moment here.

That being said, the real genius of Buffet Infinity lies in the way that the filmmakers manage to establish an ensemble of memorable characters with actual story arcs between individual commercials. You end up becoming just as interested in the fate of quirky figures like Ahmed Ahmed, the music-loving pawn shop owner (not to mention the unfortunate Babbacock Insurance Lady) as you are in the cosmic horror that’s slowly taking over Westridge County.

These solid characters and the charming performances behind them keep the experience grounded enough for viewers to remain invested even as the flick switches between conflicting different styles and formats. In fact, while some of these segments could work as standalone sketches, the overall context connecting them makes them even more entertaining, which is why the movie never feels like the loosely-connected anthology I was expecting.

This avant-garde style of comedy results in a unique experience unlike anything I’ve ever seen in the realm of genre filmmaking. In fact, the only movie I can really compare it to is Chris LaMartina and company’s WNUF Halloween Special (as well as its spiritual sequel, Out There Halloween Mega Tape). However, that film still benefits from a much more traditional story than Buffet Infinity’s narrative puzzle pieces that slowly come together to form an absurdist satire of capitalism that’s usually reserved for exaggerated internet humor.

While the film is first and foremost a comedy, the cosmic horror elements are so well executed that it’s easy to imagine a project shot in the exact same style but replacing the humorous bits with more disturbing examples of supernatural anomalies slowly sneaking into day-to-day life. In fact, plenty of the footage in the latter half of the flick is legitimately creepy even within the comedic context, especially once you realize that this entire community has been so utterly dominated by eldritch forces that they can’t help but normalize the insanity surrounding them. I’m also a sucker for emergency broadcasts with a paranormal twist, so this movie was right up my alley.

Of course, breaking new ground in any art form will always unearth new and exciting challenges, so it’s not that surprising that Buffet Infinity stumbles from some minor pacing issues during its final act as the overarching story struggles to tie up all of its loose ends. I’d actually argue that removing about 10 minutes of footage from the project would have helped the experience to flow more smoothly and would guarantee that audiences never get a chance to become bored with the constant deluge of bizarre visuals. That being said, fans of meta ARGs might actually enjoy the batshit insanity of the finale so much that they’ll be left wanting more, so your mileage may vary depending on your personal media diet.

As it stands, Buffet Infinity is one of the most rewarding genre productions of the past few years and a must-watch for fans of absurdist humor and Lovecraftian terror. The internet-inspired rapid-fire humor may not appeal to everyone, but I was thoroughly impressed with what may very well be the very first instance of a true analog horror comedy.

Buffet Infinity will be available on VOD starting May 8.

The post ‘Buffet Infinity’ Is The Analog Horror Comedy We Didn’t Know We Needed [Review] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Louie La Vella and Monica La Vella, the husband-and-wife duo behind the streamer, produced the project for $10,000, with Louie directing from a script by Monica.

The found footage horror film follows a man as he documents his wife’s cancer — until a terminal diagnosis leads him to an ancient ceremony to make a deal with the Devil. His footage spirals into a chilling record of kidnapping, demonic rituals, and the price of desperation.

Matt Gallagher stars as Jake, a desperate husband pushed beyond moral limits, with Sabrina Knappett as Juliet, the ailing wife at the center of his unraveling.

The cast also includes Hannah Brennen as Rebecca, Juliet’s nurse who becomes a victim of Jake’s escalating actions, and JoAnn Bundock as the psychic who introduces Jake to a dangerous ritual.

“This film was about proving what’s possible within the genre,” said Louie La Vella. “We wanted to make something that felt true to indie found footage at its core. Something made with limited resources, but a clear vision. We believe that with the right skills, anyone can be a filmmaker.”

A Possession in Lincoln County will premiere on Found TV later this year, signaling the platform’s expansion from streaming service to original content studio. Stay tuned for more.

The post ‘A Possession in Lincoln County’ Teaser – The Devil Is Always Listening in Found Footage Horror [Exclusive] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Consumer-grade drones now come with a “hands-free” setting that automatically directs the camera to follow you – in case you’re a surfer taking your next wave, a snowboarder back-flipping off a half-pipe, or a serial killer stalking your next victim.

When a group of teens knock this drone out of the sky, they discover that it contains home movies of the killer’s brutal crimes. Now, they must race to expose the killer before becoming his next victims.

Leonberg and his Good Boy writing partner Alex Cannon penned the script.

Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, John Fischer, Hal Sadoff, & Ben Levine of Temple Hill Entertainment (Smile, Clown in a Cornfield) produce. Dave Bishop, James Pugh, and George Hamilton of Protagonist Pictures (The Lobster, Bronson) serve as executive producers.

Protagonist will launch international sales at the upcoming Cannes film market. Temple Hill and Verve Ventures are co-repping domestic rights.

“The rise of hands-free drone technology has introduced a chilling new vulnerability to everyday life — anyone with a drone can become a peeping tom, a stalker, or worse,” commented Leonberg. “That anxiety drives Follow Mode. We’re so thrilled to be partnered with Temple Hill, whose track record in the genre makes them a perfect fit for this unsettling new take on found footage.”

“We were blown away by Ben’s first film Good Boy and its original approach to perspective in the horror space and sought him out to find something to do together,” added Temple Hill. “We see Follow Mode as the next evolution of the found footage movie – playing on the terrifying reality that any of us could be followed and watched by store-bought technology. With Ben’s tremendous vision and expertise in POV filmmaking, we couldn’t be more excited to share this spine-chilling project with audiences around the world.”

“Follow Mode is the kind of bold, high-concept horror that stops you in your tracks – propulsive, original and viscerally thrilling from its first frame to its last,” said Bishop. “In Good Boy, Ben proved he is a filmmaker both comfortable pushing boundaries and mastering tension. Shot entirely with drones, delivering a strikingly cinematic experience, Follow Mode offers a new perspective on terror audiences have simply never seen before. Ben has crafted a rare, diabolical treat that feels both groundbreaking and deeply unsettling.”

Leonberg also recently signed on to direct an adaption of Grady Hendrix’s Ankle Snatcher for Sony.

The post ‘Good Boy’ Director to Film Serial Killer Horror ‘Follow Mode’ Entirely on Drones appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The indie film follows a high-profile social media influencer who discovers a mysterious deck of battle-style collectible cards. What begins as a curious find turns his local sanctuary into a hunting ground.

Trapped in a hellish game where every draw summons a grotesque new creature into reality, he must document his own potential demise for an audience that can’t look away.

The film includes cameos from real influences as well as The Blair Witch Project co-director Eduardo Sanchez.

A.J. Bennett makes his feature directorial debut on the project. Eric Martinez and Curt Fulster produce for Floating Rock Productions.

“We wanted to capture that childhood sense of wonder found in games like Jumanji and twist it into something unrecognizable and terrifying,” said Bennett. “The audience will feel the same dread as our protagonist — waiting to see what nightmare crawls out of the next card.”

Last Look is coming soon. Stay tuned for updates.

The post ‘Last Look’ Teaser Trailer – ‘Jumanji’ Meets ‘Paranormal Activity’ in Found Footage Horror appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Fangoria reports that the horror film is now in production, with The Butcher Brothers’ Mitchell Altieri (The Hamiltons, April Fool’s Day 2008) directing from a script he co-wrote with Jacquelin D. Hayner.

It follows a nursing student assigned to document an elderly dementia patient whose rare moments of clarity begin to suggest unsettling recollections tied to an infamous serial killer. As her investigation intensifies, so does her obsession, drawing her closer to a truth that may put her in danger.

Robert Donavan (Attack of the Unknown) and Sadie Scheufler also star.

“This is my first foray into found-footage filmmaking, and it’s a completely different beast,” says Shepis. “I used to think this style might be easier, but the reality is quite the opposite — limited camera angles often mean limited coverage. That puts a premium on performance; you have to get it right from the very first take, because it might be the only one you have.”

Frequent Altieri collaborator Jeffrey Allard (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2003) produces alongside Shepis, Alex Newberry, and Ricardo J. Santos.

“Bringing love — and filmmaking — back to Northern California feels like a homecoming,” adds Altieri. “This is where we shot The Hamiltons and The Violent Kind, and now it’s the backdrop for The Case of Walter Briggs. There’s an incredible depth of locations and talent here. Working with Tiffany Shepis and Jeff Allard, I’ve developed a creative shorthand that makes even the most challenging projects feel seamless.”

“The Case of Walter Briggs is an ambitious found-footage horror thriller that also plays like a dark drama, which is a combination that really drew me in,” says Allard. “Tiffany Shepis always delivers, and working with Mitch again is always a great time. This marks our seventh film together, and each one has been vastly different from the last—yet all have found their own kind of success. When I first read the script and saw the vision for the cast, I knew Walter Briggs would be something special.”

The Case Study of Walter Briggs marks Shepis’ fourth collaboration with Altieri and Allard, following 2010’s The Violent Kind, 2017’s The Night Watchmen, and 2020’s Star Light.

The post Tiffany Shepis to Star in Found Footage Horror ‘The Case Study of Walter Briggs’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

That’s why films like Rec opt for a different kind of horror experience altogether despite the familiar setup, and more recent projects like Butterfly Kisses choose to confront the stick-figure-shaped elephant in the room directly by acknowledging their cinematic inspirations in the narrative itself.

Markian Tarasiuk’s Hunting Matthew Nichols is a great example of this latter strategy, with the Canadian mockumentary (which was a big hit at this year’s edition of San Francisco’s Unnamed Footage Festival) actively questioning what it means to be a modern-day successor to The Blair Witch Project while also managing to incorporate these decidedly meta anxieties into a story about loss and grief.

In this authentic-looking feature, we follow a documentary crew led by Tarasiuk himself as they investigate the 2001 disappearance of amateur filmmaker Matthew Nichols in an attempt to bring closure to Mathew’s sister Tara (Miranda MacDougall). Unfortunately, this true crime investigation leads to Tara discovering more than she bargained for when the team realizes that this cold case may very well be connected to a terrible force lurking deep within the eerie woods of Vancouver Island.

Presentation-wise, Tarasiuk really knocked it out of the park with the film’s Netflix-like visuals and structure, as well as a series of surprisingly convincing interviews with an assortment of memorable locals. From creepy time-lapse footage to the occasional use of animation in lieu of boring exposition, Hunting Matthew Nichols feels like a genuine attempt at a high-profile documentary throughout most of its runtime – especially when interviewees are allowed to be a little idiosyncratic.

Things get a little less authentic once we get to the more traditional found footage portions of the flick, however, as some of the trope-heavy scripted moments (which are mostly relegated to conversations within the crew) are far less believable than the familiar deluge of talking heads conveying pieces of a larger narrative puzzle. Thankfully, these more over-the-top moments are easy to forgive when you realize that they exist in service of the film’s metatextual layer as a story about the very nature of found footage.

Not only does a big part of the plot involve Tara coming across a lost tape shot by her brother, but the film also establishes that Matthew himself was a huge fan of The Blair Witch Project. The young man’s love of the film and his creative desire to produce something equally spooky is what ultimately led him and his native friend Jordan to venture off into the woods, never to be seen again.

While Hunting Matthew Nichols doesn’t quite explore this idea of unfiction having real-life consequences as deeply as I would have liked, especially now that we know how even the silliest of creepypastas can lead to real-world tragedies, I appreciate how the filmmakers made a point of explaining that the movie takes place in our reality where most people are aware of the concept of a found footage production.

On that note, you could even consider the flick to be something of an unofficial sequel to Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez’s lo-fi opus, though it’s a shame that the main characters here aren’t quite as iconic as Heather and company from the 1999 film. That being said, Miranda MacDougall does a great job of selling her character’s long-gestating grief and obsession.

There are plenty of original scares to be found here as well, and I’m always in favor of Canadian storytellers incorporating more native folklore into scary movies. While I’m fairly certain that the local legend of a cannibal pioneer was made up for the film in much the same way that Kedward was invented for The Blair Witch Project, the bizarre VHS footage and the climactic “encounter” in the woods still feel terrifyingly real.

I won’t get into details in order to avoid spoiling the experience, but suffice to say that Tarasiuk makes great use of light and shadow during the flick’s final moments, and I love how he shies away from showing too much of Mathew’s tapes and focuses instead on our main character’s horrified reactions.

Hunting Matthew Nichols likely won’t enjoy the same staying power as its retro inspirations, but it doesn’t really have to. Despite some iffy performances and a general sense of deja vu, the film works well enough as a meta commentary on why we still insist on searching for answers in the woods even after so many other scary movies have explained to us why that’s a bad idea. That’s why I’d recommend this indie gem to fans of slow-burning supernatural terror everywhere – as well as true crime enthusiasts who wish that missing persons cases could come with a side of paranormal frights.

Hunting Matthew Nichols releases in theaters on April 10.

The post ‘Hunting Matthew Nichols’ Review – A Familiar Yet Effective Homage to ‘The Blair Witch Project’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The tongue-in-cheek found footage horror film will be released on VOD later this spring via Indie Rights.

Henry and Haley are a rising content creator couple who’ve just moved into Oak Bridge, a Los Angeles neighborhood marketed as the safest place to live. They’re ready to film every ‘spontaneous’ moment of their new life, unaware that Oak Bridge isn’t interested in being part of their brand.

When a theatrical scarecrow appears behind their backyard hedge, Henry, whose life is a carefully crafted lie, assumes it’s a viral prank. Haley, who often finds herself going along with Henry’s nonsense, continues filming.

Then the footage changes. A local warns them that the creature hunts those who aren’t what they seem. In Oak Bridge, the land has a long memory, the neighbors are always watching, and the camera never stops rolling.

George Henry Horton (Project Dorothy) writes and directs. Dark Atlantic Studios produces.

Horton also stars alongside Branika Scott, Vincent Ranola, Dallas Steinback, Emily Rafala, and Gary Kasper (“Supergirl”) as the Strawstalker.

“I’ve always been fascinated by Los Angeles, and especially the San Fernando Valley,” said Horton. “Not that long ago, it was all farmland. Now it’s this strange mix of suburbia, aspiration, and performance. You can’t help but wonder what the land remembers… and what it might say about us now.

“Out of those ideas, and with a bit of tongue-in-cheek eye-rolling at how performative life in LA can be, Strawstalker was born. We set it in our own imagined neighborhood, Oak Bridge — a place that feels just real enough, but slightly off, like something isn’t quite telling the truth.”

The post ‘Strawstalker’ Trailer – A Scarecrow Attacks Influencers in Found Footage Horror Movie [Exclusive] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Watch the new trailer for the found footage creature feature below.

It follows Cole Harrington, the host of a popular outdoor series, who sets out to track down the predator responsible for a series of cattle attacks in rural Nevada. The mystery deepens when he uncovers footage depicting the final moments of two missing university employees.

Dillon Brown (Tahoe Joe) writes and directs, citing The Blair Witch Project and Bone Tomahawk as inspirations.

Brown also appears in the movie alongside Blake Hyer, Maxwell Golden, Dustin Tamplen, and Michael Rock.

Blending raw, immersive storytelling with an unflinching tone and a unique adversary, Primal Darkness aims to deliver an experience that is both intimate and terrifying.

“I’ve always wondered why this type of being has been forgotten about as a horror movie antagonist, and I felt like it was the scariest thing I could come up with lurking out there in the dark,” Brown commented.

Primal Darkness is produced by Horror Dadz Productions and executive produced by Louie La Vella.

RELATED: 13 Upcoming Found Footage Horror Movies Releasing in 2026 and Beyond

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Vir Das will star in the film in addition to directing.

Zazu Productions previews, “Positioned as a found footage horror narrative, the project aims to move beyond conventional tropes, blending psychological depth with atmospheric storytelling.”

“The film has been in development for some time and is expected to offer a nuanced take on fear, exploring both external tension and internal human emotions,” the outfit continues.

“Vir Das further expands his creative repertoire, transitioning from comedy to horror while maintaining a strong focus on narrative innovation.”

Variety notes, “Vir Das, one of India’s most renowned comedians, took home the 2023 International Emmy Award for best comedy for his Netflix special Vir Das: Landing.”

Co-director Kavi Shastri will re-team with Vir Das for Baara Number. Shastri previously co-directed the action comedy Happy Patel: Khatarnak Jasoos alongside Vir Das.

A handful of great horror movies in recent years have been directed by creators previously known for their comedic work, including Jordan Peele’s Get Out, Us, and Nope, and Zach Cregger’s Barbarian and Weapons. Cregger told us in 2022, “It’s all about subverting expectations. It’s all about being a step ahead of the audience, zigging when they expect you to zag, and timing. Timing and tone. That’s the anatomy of a joke; that’s the anatomy of a scare. I do feel like I’ve been working that muscle group out for a long time through comedy.”

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With a brand new installment in the Paranormal Activity franchise headed our way next year, and early pseudo found footage cult classic Faces of Death getting a brand new remake this year, it would seem found footage is once again having a bit of a moment. In fact, there are AT LEAST thirteen new found footage nightmares headed our way here in 2026 and beyond.

Here are 13 upcoming found footage horror movies we’re looking forward to.

Rabisu: Curse of the Demon – Releasing April 3

In December ’25, a group of ghost hunters entered a warehouse in Salt Lake City. They were searching for views, but what they found was an ancient evil from Mesopotamian mythology.

That footage is now being released. Found footage horror film Rabisu: Curse of the Demon will be available on VOD outlets at home on April 3 via DeskPop Entertainment.

The horror film follows a rising paranormal investigation team that acts on an anonymous tip, leading them to a remote warehouse rumored to contain the sealed remains of an ancient Assyrian djinn. Once inside, the group encounters a labyrinth of curated mannequins, toys, and costumes — until the lights fail.

When power returns, one member begins exhibiting signs of possession, revealing the entity’s chilling ability to manipulate minds and incite violence. With exits sealed and the building itself seemingly shifting, the team uncovers remnants of a failed prior investigation and races to contain the demon before it destroys them from within.

Hunter King (“The Young and the Restless”), Chase Ramsey (Horizon: An American Saga), Austin Archer (Horizon: An American Saga), Lindsay Foster (Horizon: An American Saga), Tariq Brown, and Wes Brown (“True Blood”) star in Rabisu: Curse of the Demon. Writer-director Chris Copier makes his feature debut on the project.

“Rabisu: Curse of the Demon taps into a very old mythology while delivering the kind of relentless, pressure-cooker experience that plays incredibly well on streaming,” said DeskPop president Steve Bulzoni. He calls the film “intense, unsettling, and deeply atmospheric.”

Watch the official trailer for Rabisu: Curse of the Demon below.

Hunting Matthew Nichols – Releasing April 10

Set on Halloween 2001, Hunting Matthew Nichols is one of the rare found footage horror movies that will actually debut in theaters. It’s releasing April 10, and tickets are on sale now.

Here’s the synopsis: “On Halloween 2001, Matthew Nichols and Jordan Reimer went into the forests of northern Vancouver Island near Port Rupert with a VHS camcorder — and vanished without a trace. Their camera was later recovered, but the boys were never found. Two decades later, Matthew’s sister, Tara, has hired a film crew to document her search for answers.”

Markian Tarasiuk makes his directorial debut on the Canadian indie horror film. He also stars alongside Miranda MacDougall and Ryan Alexander McDonald.

“A sneaky, simmering take on the true crime folk horror genre that boils over and becomes truly unnerving,” praised Steven Soderbergh (Contagion, Ocean’s Eleven). “Given the shocks, I would bet audience participation is guaranteed. And stay for the credits.”

Watch the official trailer for Hunting Matthew Nichols below.

Loner – Releasing April 24

An ancient force haunts a survival vlogger in Loner, an upcoming character-driven found footage film that blends folk horror and psychological tension with a dash of dark humor.

Loner will stream for free April 24 exclusively on Found TV.

The found footage film follows aspiring vlogger Angus Mattock, who ventures to a remote wilderness retreat to create nature and survival videos. His idyllic getaway descends into a nightmarish fight for his life as he is held captive by a mysterious, natural force.

Charlie Robb and Douglas Tawn co-direct in their feature debut.

Loner has won several awards, including Best Feature at the British Horror Film Festival, Best Film and Best Actor at the Black Sunday Film Festival, and Best Director at Nòt Film Fest.

Watch the trailer for found footage movie Loner below.

A Sea of Trees – Coming Soon

What happened to Elliott Cornell in the summer of 2007? We’ll find out in A Sea of Trees, a true crime-inspired found footage film directed by Scott Lyus (Walking Against the Rain).

The upcoming horror movie follows a documentary crew into England’s Epping Forest as they try to uncover the mysterious disappearance of a vlogger almost two decades ago.

“I want to create a film that feels disturbingly real, a story that taps into our collective obsession with missing-person cases and the addictive pull of viral true crime,” said Lyus. “This film dives headfirst into that phenomenon, exploring the volatile collision of grief, spectacle, and belief, asking what happens when the camera stops observing and starts influencing events.”

He continues, “Set within the shadowed depths of Epping Forest, a landscape rich with folklore, disappearances, and centuries of whispered history, the film uses its very real atmosphere to anchor an escalating supernatural mystery. By fusing the immediacy of documentary storytelling with creeping paranormal dread, A Sea of Trees blurs the boundary between fact and myth.”

“This is a story designed to grip true crime devotees, thrill horror fans, and immerse viewers in an experience that feels less like watching a film and more like uncovering something they were never meant to see,” Lyus further previews in an official statement.

Stay tuned for the official trailer for A Sea of Trees.

Looky-loo: Part II – Coming Soon

Director Jason Zink and writer Nolan Mihail return for the sequel to their found footage film Looky-loo, and Looky-loo: Part II debuted this week at Unnamed Footage Festival.

Continuing where the first film left off, the looky-loo killer’s newfound infamy encourages him to push his crimes to further extremes as he documents his sadistic ventures in the upcoming found footage sequel, adding a new metatextual element to the film.

“Expanding his world while ensuring Part II stands firmly on its own, Zink welcomes newcomers into a nightmare of voyeurism, obsession, and the commodification of human suffering,” Unnamed Footage Festival previews. “Looky-loo: Part II doesn’t simply ask you to watch. It asks what it means that you want to.”

Julie Kashmanian, Kansas Bowling (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), Kali Malia Michaels (Never Hike Alone 2), and Jessa Flux (Murdercise) star in the horror sequel.

Stay tuned for the Looky-loo: Part 2 official trailer.

Night Terror – Coming Soon

An estimated 30% of people experience at least one sleep paralysis episode within their lifetime. Most resolve themselves over time. Upcoming found footage horror movie Night Terror, however, documents a case that continues to worsen — until it’s too late.

The upcoming found footage horror film is co-directed by Joshua Brucker (The Fairfield County Four) and Hunter Nino from a script by Joshua Brucker.

Night Terror follows Shelly, a young woman plagued by sleep paralysis and night terrors who becomes the subject of a documentary after her call for help catches the attention of two college students. Things take a dark turn, prompting Shelly to seek the help of a team of paranormal investigators to help stop the malevolent force that has consumed her.

Marleigh Arnold, Madelynn Wierda, Berkeley Slightom, and Samuel J. Howard star.

Filmed in the small town of Watseka, Illinois, Night Terror captures the rural feel Brucker grew up with. “When I was a child, my family and I lived on a farm, no neighbors for miles,” Brucker said. “The isolation can be very terrifying, so my goal was to capture that feeling. No one can hear you, no one is going to rescue you if something goes wrong. You’re on your own.”

Watch the trailer for found footage film Night Terror below.

The Last Footprint – Coming Soon

A found footage take on Bigfoot that’s based on purportedly true encounters, The Last Footprint aims to make you think twice before ever heading out into the woods again.

A documentary crew investigates a wave of animal attacks and missing persons in South Carolina. Teaming up with a local hunting party, they soon discover that some legends are true.

“I’ve always loved cryptids, especially the Wendigo and Bigfoot,” writer-director T.J. Robinson tells Bloody Disgusting. “I’ve grown tired of seeing Bigfoot movies treating him as a joke. There are a few exceptions, but I wanted to make Bigfoot scary again.”

Christiaan Voldstad, T.J. Campbell, Hunter Redfern, Daniel John Kearney, Lucas Dunaway, Brandon O’Hanley, and Jon Vira Mundo star in The Last Footprint.

Watch the trailer for Bigfoot movie The Last Footprint below.

Primal Darkness – Coming Soon

A found footage creature feature described as The Blair Witch Project meets Bone Tomahawk, Primal Darkness is expected to be released sometime in Spring 2026.

The film follows Cole Harrington, the host of a popular outdoor series, who sets out to track down the predator responsible for a series of cattle attacks in Nevada. The mystery deepens when he uncovers footage depicting the final moments of two missing university employees.

“With this film, I wanted to push myself into uncomfortable places,” says writer-director Dillon Brown (Tahoe Joe). “Primal Darkness is meant to unsettle you.”

Blake Hyer, Maxwell Golden, Dustin Tamplen, and Michael Rock star.

Watch the trailer for Primal Darkness below.

Heritage – Coming Soon

Heritage has the unique distinction of being the first horror feature from Corsica, an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France.

Also of note, the upcoming found footage folk horror film was shot on a early-2000s camcorder with the goal of immersing viewers in realistic archival material.

Made independently for under €5,000 ($5,800), it was shot in five days with small cast and a six-person crew led by writer-director Baptist Agostini-Croce in his feature debut.

In Heritage, Marie and Daniel return to Corsica to visit their elderly grandfather 15 years after leaving the island. Looking to capture the reunion, they film their trip with the family’s old video camera — but what they uncover is far from what they expected.

Marie Bolbenes, Daniel Di Grazia, Luca Lavallette, and Philippe Ambrosini star. The actors were given significant freedom, helping to reinforce verisimilitude.

Watch the trailer for found footage movie Heritage below.

Frogman Returns – Coming Soon

The legend of the Frogman continues in the upcoming found footage sequel Frogman Returns, once again being directed by Anthony Cousins. In the sequel to 2023’s Frogman, there’s unfinished business in Loveland. Dallas, Amy, and Frogman are back to settle the score.

Nathan Tymoshuk, Chelsey Grant, Natalie Tran and Alexis Alotta star.

In the original Frogman, 12-year-old Dallas captured footage of the mythical Frogman in the summer of 1999, but no one believed it was real. 20 years later, Dallas returns to Loveland, Ohio with his friends, determined to obtain irrefutable proof that the creature exists.

Frogman Returns will continue leaping through the festival circuit here in 2026, while director Anthony Cousins plans to expand the universe with other cryptids in the coming years.

Stay tuned for the Frogman Returns trailer, expected soon.

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Dooba Dooba – Coming Soon

Buzzy found footage horror film Dooba Dooba was originally scheduled for release back in January, but Bloody Disgusting exclusively told you that its release had been pushed back.

A new release date has not yet been set, but distributor Dark Sky Films assures us the delay is “for a good reason” that will be announced soon. Stay tuned for more on Dooba Dooba.

Told through in-home security camera footage, Dooba Dooba is rooted in the analog horror aesthetic popularized by YouTube creators. Here’s the official plot synopsis:

Nearly a decade after her brother’s murder, 16-year-old Monroe still needs a babysitter. Amna comes to babysit Monroe and learns that not only is she being watched by security cameras, but she needs to say ‘dooba dooba’ whenever she moves throughout the house to let Monroe know that it’s her. Amna becomes increasingly unnerved and Monroe increasingly attached.

Amna Vegha, Betsy Sligh, Winston Haynes, Erin O’Meara, and Billy Hulsey star. Ehrland Hollingsworth writes and directs in addition to producing.

Dooba Dooba won Best Feature at Nightmares Film Festival and Best Horror Film at Midwest WeirdFest, with additional honors from Panic Fest, Unnamed Footage Festival, Another Hole in the Head, and Central Florida Film Festival. “The final act of this film is one of the more upsetting things I’ve seen in years,” Matthew Jackson wrote in his review. “This is one of the year’s must-see indie horror releases, a skin-crawling watch that’ll leave you squirming.”

Watch the Dooba Dooba official trailer below.

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The Willowbrook Tapes – Coming Soon

You might have come across a mysterious found footage project titled The Willowbrook Tapes in your travels around your social media feeds the past year, but what exactly is it?

From director Michael Costa, The Willowbrook Tapes is an upcoming found footage horror movie that was filmed on both VHS and Digital, and it’s coming soon.

Most know Willowbrook, Staten Island, as a haunt for restless youth and the rotting shell of Seaview Hospital—fewer speak of what lies beneath.

The silence is shattered by fragments of vanished lives stitched together with panic, ritual, and the shadow of something older than fear…

Erica Crawford, Devin Bonomo, Elyse Robin and Dagmara Bragiel star.

“Honestly, I just wanted to create the kind of horror I was craving—something that really got under my skin in the best way,” director Michael Costa tells Bloody Disgusting. “The stuff hitting theaters wasn’t quite tapping into that strange corner of my brain that loves to be disturbed, surprised, and a little haunted. So I figured—why not make it myself?”

Watch the teaser trailer for The Willowbrook Tapes below.

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Paranormal Activity 8 – In Theaters May 21, 2027

The most high profile upcoming found footage horror movie is of course Paranormal Activity 8, the next installment in the biggest found footage franchise of them all.

Ian Tuason (Undertone) will direct the eighth installment in the Paranormal Activity film franchise, and the new footage will be unleashed in theaters on May 21, 2027.

The new installment comes from Paramount and Blumhouse, with James Wan on board to produce alongside Jason Blum and franchise creator/original director Oren Peli.

“I’ve been a huge admirer of Paranormal Activity since the brilliant first movie, with its creeping slow burn and subtle ability to make the unseen terrifying. I’m looking forward to expanding on its legacy and helping shape the next evolution of this scary found-footage franchise,” James Wan told THR when the news recently broke about his involvement.

Stay tuned for much more on Paranormal Activity 8.

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Which of these found footage movies are you excited for?

Comment below and let’s talk!

The post 13 Upcoming Found Footage Horror Movies Releasing in 2026 and Beyond appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Find the answers when the found footage horror film opens in theaters April 10. Tickets are on sale now.

On Halloween 2001, Matthew Nichols and Jordan Reimer went into the forests of northern Vancouver Island near Port Rupert with a VHS camcorder — and vanished without a trace. Their camera was later recovered, but the boys were never found.

Two decades later, Matthew’s sister, Tara, has hired a film crew to document her search for answers.

Markian Tarasiuk makes his directorial debut on the Canadian indie film. He also stars alongside Miranda MacDougall and Ryan Alexander McDonald.

Hunting Matthew Nichols is rated R for “language and some violent content/bloody images.”

Producers Dropshock Pictures and Moon7 Films have partnered with former National Association of Theater Owners president John Fithian’s Attend platform to self-distribute on 1,500 screens nationwide.

“A sneaky, simmering take on the true crime folk horror genre that boils over and becomes truly unnerving,” praised Steven Soderbergh (Contagion, Ocean’s Eleven). “Given the shocks, I would bet audience participation is guaranteed. And stay for the credits.”

Watch the Hunting Matthew Nichols trailer below, where you’ll also see the poster by Creepy Duck Design. You can also attempt to unravel the mystery yourself by exploring the ARG website.

The post ‘Hunting Matthew Nichols’ Trailer Unravels a Found Footage Mystery [Exclusive] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The Australian found footage horror movie incorporates elements of true crime, Celtic mythology, and folk tales associated with rural New South Wales.

When several people inexplicably vanish after wading into a lake, a paranormal investigator, an actor, and their camerawoman set out to document their search for the truth. The investigator suspects this may have something to do with her mother’s disappearance years earlier.

Determined to find answers, their investigation leads them to the mysterious Lake Mungo and brings them face-to-face with an unspeakable evil.

Writer-director Jennifer Van Gessel makes her feature directorial debut on the project, which she also produces via Far From Everything Films.

Lauren Grimson (Beast of War) and Dean Kyrwood (Wyrmwood: Apocalypse) star with Jessica Tovey (“Wolf Creek”), Barbara Bingham (Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan), Rob Flanagan, and Socratis Otto (I, Frankenstein).

“Water Horse is a heart-pounding thriller that immediately engages viewers with its true-crime storytelling,” said Vision Films CEO Lise Romanoff. “Although one may draw their own conclusion, the ending will startle and surprise you.”

Watch Horse is available on VOD today via Vision Films. Watch the trailer below.

The post ‘Water Horse’ Trailer – Australian Found Footage Folk Horror Out Today appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The Australian production follows three high school graduates who become stranded on a remote stretch of highway after a fatal car accident. In a desperate bid to conceal their unintentional crime, they fabricate a found footage film.

19-year-old writer-director Nick Annas makes his feature debut on the project, which explores themes of self-preservation and narrative control through a contemporary youth perspective.

Helen Tuck & Enzo Tedeschi of Deadhouse Films produce. Executive producers are Deanne Weir of WeirAnderson Films and Bobby Romia & Tianna Roberts of the newly formed Atypical Originals.

Crashout is slated to begin production later this month. Blue Finch Films is handling worldwide sales rights, excluding Australia and New Zealand.

Bird can next be seen in the supernatural horror film Leviticus, in theaters June 19 via Neon.

The post ‘Talk to Me’s Joe Bird Will Fabricate a Found Footage Film in Satirical Thriller ‘Crashout’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Find out in A Sea of Trees, a true crime-inspired found footage horror film written and directed by Scott Lyus (Walking Against the Rain).

It follows a documentary crew into England’s Epping Forest as they try to uncover the mysterious disappearance of a vlogger almost two decades ago.

“With A Sea of Trees, I want to create a film that feels disturbingly real, a story that taps into our collective obsession with missing-person cases and the addictive pull of viral true crime,” said Lyus. “This film dives headfirst into that phenomenon, exploring the volatile collision of grief, spectacle, and belief, asking what happens when the camera stops observing and starts influencing events.”

He continued, “Set within the shadowed depths of Epping Forest, a landscape rich with folklore, disappearances, and centuries of whispered history, the film uses its very real atmosphere to anchor an escalating supernatural mystery. By fusing the immediacy of documentary storytelling with creeping paranormal dread, A Sea of Trees blurs the boundary between fact and myth.”

Former Dread Central editor-in-chief Mary Beth McAndrews produces alongside Lyus and Chris Nials under their Crossroad Pictures banner.

“This is a story designed to grip true crime devotees, thrill horror fans, and immerse viewers in an experience that feels less like watching a film and more like uncovering something they were never meant to see,” Lyus added.

Further details are being kept tightly under wraps, but stay tuned for more as we learn it.

The post True Crime-Inspired Found Footage Horror ‘A Sea of Trees’ Will Search for a Missing Vlogger appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The found footage cryptid horror film is set to screen at Unnamed Footage Festival in San Francisco later this month and Panic Fest in Kansas City next month.

In the sequel to 2023’s Frogman, there’s unfinished business in Loveland, Ohio. Dallas, Amy, and Frogman are back to settle the score.

Nathan Tymoshuk and Chelsey Grant reprise their roles, joined by Natalie Tran and Alexis Alotta.

The post ‘Frogman Returns’ in First Images from Found Footage Cryptid Horror Sequel appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Horror’s found footage subgenre is designed to be an intimate portrayal of reality. It wants the audience to forget that they’re watching a movie, and the very best found footage horror movies manage to accomplish this magic trick, if only for brief moments. It’s been rewarding to watch the escalating nature of found footage’s evolution as it’s pushed to ambitious new places that find creative ways to use technology as an immersive storytelling tool. The genre has grown increasingly subversive with ambitious titles like One Cut of the Dead, The Taking of Deborah Logan, “screenlife” films like Unfriended and Searching, or any entry in the V/H/S franchise.

Found footage’s intent may be to create the illusion of reality. However, we’re entering an age where “reality” has become increasingly fluid and obfuscated. Real life is now immediately couched in challenging skepticism due to the power and prevalence of deepfake technology and other forms of media manipulation. These developments present some fascinating opportunities for found footage, especially when the alleged truth is filtered through trusted norms that are meant to be seen as safety nets. 

The most successful found footage movies condition the audience to question what they see and what’s real, but this has now become a necessary component of media dissemination. Bodycam takes advantage of the truth’s murky nature in a subversive horror film that simultaneously provokes a raw wound in society and unleashes a surreal, supernatural threat.

Brandon Christensen‘s latest begins in a harrowing place that presents an uncomfortably real situation. Two police officers, Officer Bryce (Sean Rogerson) and Officer Jackson (Jaime M. Callica), respond to a domestic dispute where an intense situation and a trigger-happy mentality result in a tragic shooting. The cops’ efforts to erase the incriminating bodycam footage suddenly become the least of their problems when a paranormal presence seeks retribution. Bodycam separates itself from other found footage ventures by having something to say on the topic of police brutality and the “ACAB” narrative. It’s an inspired combination of medium and theme.

Christensen has delivered increasingly impressive and ambitious work between Night of the Reaper, Still/Born, and The Puppetman. Bodycam takes the biggest swings yet and kicks off with a harrowing prologue that could work as its own short film or V/H/S/ segment. In fact, the closest reference point is an ahead-of-its-time X-Files episode, “X-Cops,” that’s a COPS crossover. A run-of-the-mill COPS episode suddenly begins to chase after supernatural entities, which is not dissimilar to Bodycam’s genre-blending stylistic structure.

Its most successful moments are born out of its skewed buddy cop dynamic and the contrasting ways in which Bryce and Jackson respond to the film’s catalyst. These officers have clashing points of view that lead to extreme behavior. It’s a powerful examination of grief, responsibility, and ego.

The film transforms into a moving character study as these two officers are put in an impossible situation at two in the morning and then are left to spiral and panic. These officers’ descent into darkness also functions as a commentary on belief, religion, and redemption, while also digging into the generational pain that’s linked to parenthood and legacy. There’s no doubt that Jackosn and Bryce are under attack by actual demonic forces, but they’d still be haunted even if they weren’t.

Bodycam is such an effective subversion of the found footage genre because it gradually eases into progressively paranormal material as it goes on. Some of these setpieces work better and feel more natural than others, but they’re implemented with the right pacing. The film’s second half is shaggier than the first, but it still conjures dread that occasionally feels like the characters have wandered into hell itself. It actually feels like it could be a stealth Silent Hill film with how it taps into the same sense of existential, suffocating anxiety. The audience is bombarded with alarming visuals that feel lost between reality and the surreal.

The film’s central stylistic conceit may not work for everyone, but Bodycam doesn’t overstay its welcome at only 75 minutes long. That being said, it still occasionally grows repetitive and falls into a pattern. The middle section, in particular, gets lost in unnecessary chaos. Bodycam could stand to be 10 minutes tighter and develop a whole new set piece that breaks up the rhythm once it starts to drag on. Nevertheless, there’s a propulsive story that barrels ahead like a bullet from a gun.

Bryce and Jackson’s saga concludes with a captivating and chaotic ending that bookends Christensen’s latest with its strongest material. Bodycam has its share of concessions, and it doesn’t always work. However, the sequences in which everything comes together are sublime. This uncomfortable found footage film finds the perfect story to tell that pushes the audience to live in touchy territory while they’re left to reckon with what they’re seeing and where the truth lies.

The film’s twisted lens creates plausible deniability so that the viewer is just as lost in doubtful uncertainty as the leading players in this paranormal parable. It’s a powerful project that implicates the audience in something that’s much bigger than a found footage horror film, yet some viewers may prefer better scares and storytelling than poignant, reflective messaging.

Bodycam begins streaming on Shudder on Friday, March 13.

The post ‘Bodycam’ Crafts Creative & Timely Terrors Through A Reflexive Found-Footage Lens [Review] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Funnily enough, despite these puzzle-like narratives already sharing quite a few similarities with gaming, few storytellers have opted to fully lean into the interactive elements of ergodic literature. One recent exception happens to be Backwards Tabletop’s viral sensation SPINE – also known as Siderius Plug’s Immortality in Ninety-Nine Endnotes.

A challenging experience that blends the solo thrills of a role-playing gamebook with the multi-layered narrative of novels like Danielewski’s aforementioned opus, SPINE has been slowly spreading across the internet like a haunted chain-letter– and with good reason.

In this unique gamebook, you play/read as a version of yourself with severe grandma issues as you find yourself inheriting a rare book from her collection. Unfortunately, this unexpected “gift” features a dangerous side effect, with the strange tome appearing to trap its readers’ lifeforce in a cursed portrait the further they dive into the story and the stories within the story. As you follow along the main text and the accompanying interactive endnotes (which will force you to manipulate the book itself and even add your own hastily scribbled notes in the margins), you’ll slowly unearth a traumatic family history that threatens your very soul.

While this insanely creative premise would already make SPINE worth reading purely because of the novelty of the setup, what really caught me off guard is “Siderius Plug’s” genuinely heartfelt exploration of intergenerational trauma, from the backstory implying minor abuse by Grandma to the idea that grooming you for a sinister destiny, the book more or less gaslights you into believing that you truly had this terrible and confusing relationship with a mysterious (yet entirely believable) old lady with a supernatural secret.

The interactive portions also boast a ritualistic element that makes them feel like more than mere gimmicks. The endnotes often require permanent alterations to the pages in ways that will have you pondering the very meaning of art, as well as the story’s proposal that immortality can be achieved through writing. Of course, this also means that handling a hard copy of the book is an essential part of the experience, which is why even the official e-book encourages you to print the file out as an ink-friendly booklet (though I’d recommend simply purchasing the print copy and saving yourself the trouble if you’re within mailing distance).

Unlike most interactive storybooks, the “activities” here are so interesting and diverse that your second time around might actually be a more fulfilling experience than the first, especially since you’re encouraged to only look up the endnotes that really speak to you during that initial read-through. I also really appreciate the suggestion to give the book away once you’re done with it, as encountering a pre-read/played edition of SPINE out in the wild sounds like the ideal way to experience such a cryptic yet thought-provoking story where marginalia is part of the appeal.

Unfortunately, the format has its limitations when it comes to proper narrative build-up. The inherent idea of letting readers pick and choose what elements to focus on means that you’ll likely miss essential information during your first read-through, with the author’s attempts to make up for this resulting in some redundant sections meant to help those who skipped previous mentions of certain important story beats.

There’s also the issue of reader immersion, as some of the endnote instructions are so “out there” and inconvenient that they can’t help but remind you that this is more of a game than a real collection of pre-owned literary mysteries. However, I’d argue that putting yourself in the right headspace for this kind of simulated reality solves most of these diegetic problems, especially if you’re already a fan of found footage films and epistolary horror.

This is also why the horror elements of SPINE will haunt some readers for a very long time, while others might find the suggestion that the book is trapping your soul to be silly and uninteresting. It all depends on how you’re willing to approach the material. In my case, I was more than willing to play along with Siderius’ proposed kayfabe, so I found myself thoroughly thrilled by the experience and wanting more.

While some of the more sensitive subject matter concerning grief and abusive family dynamics brought up in the text meant that I had to tackle it a couple of endnotes at a time, really taking my time and absorbing the meaning of each little note and ritual, I feel that SPINE would be just as engaging if I had simply sped through the whole thing throughout the course of a single inspired afternoon.

In the end, what SPINE really gamifies isn’t the detective work involved in deconstructing a multi-layered mystery, but the indescribable joy of willingly jumping into a rabbit hole when you become so engaged with a story that you can no longer separate it from yourself. So if that sounds like the kind of experience you might want to have on a dark and lonely night, I’d highly recommend picking this one up.

Just be careful not to lose yourself among the pages.

SPINE is available now on Mixam as a physical book and on Itch.io as a PDF.

The post ‘SPINE’ is the Perfect Solo TTRPG Game Book for Fans of ‘House of Leaves’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Found footage horror film Rabisu: Curse of the Demon will be released on VOD April 3 via DeskPop Entertainment. Watch the trailer below.

It follows a rising paranormal investigation team that acts on an anonymous tip, leading them to a remote warehouse rumored to contain the sealed remains of an ancient Assyrian djinn. Once inside, the group encounters a labyrinth of curated mannequins, toys, and costumes — until the lights fail.

When power returns, one member begins exhibiting signs of possession, revealing the entity’s chilling ability to manipulate minds and incite violence. With exits sealed and the building itself seemingly shifting, the team uncovers remnants of a failed prior investigation and races to contain the demon before it destroys them from within.

Hunter King (“The Young and the Restless”), Chase Ramsey (Horizon: An American Saga), Austin Archer (Horizon: An American Saga), Lindsay Foster (Horizon: An American Saga), Tariq Brown, and Wes Brown (“True Blood”) star.

Writer-director Chris Copier makes his feature debut on the project. Douglass Kaufman and Jennifer Ricci produce.

“Rabisu: Curse of the Demon taps into a very old mythology while delivering the kind of relentless, pressure-cooker experience that plays incredibly well on streaming,” said DeskPop president Steve Bulzoni. “Chris Copier has crafted something that’s intense, unsettling, and deeply atmospheric.”

The post ‘Rabisu: Curse of the Demon’ Trailer – Ghost Hunters Unleash a Djinn in Found Footage Horror appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The found footage folk horror film was shot on a early-2000s camcorder with the goal of immersing viewers in realistic archival material.

Made independently for under €5,000 ($5,800), it was shot in five days with small cast and a six-person crew led by writer-director Baptist Agostini-Croce in his feature debut.

In the film, Marie and Daniel return to Corsica to visit their elderly grandfather 15 years after leaving the island. Looking to capture the reunion, they film their trip with the family’s old video camera — but what they uncover is far from what they expected.

“The choice of found footage, built around the idea of archival images, naturally came as theist way to explore memory, something that still connects family members separated by difficult life choices,” said Agostini-Croce. “The story follows two people who feel out of place within their own family and in relation not their island, raising the question of whether Corsica is somehow detained to push its own children away.”

Marie Bolbenes, Daniel Di Grazia, Luca Lavallette, and Philippe Ambrosini star. The actors were given significant freedom, helping to reinforce verisimilitude.

Heritage will premiere at Unnamed Footage Festival in San Francisco on March 26. It will also screen at Light Till Dark in Sweden in March, Toronto Indie Fest in Canada in April, and Fantasy Day Film Festival in Italy in June.

The post ‘Heritage’ Trailer – Corsica’s First Horror Film Is a Found Footage Folk Horror Nightmare [Exclusive] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

If you need proof that the internet is a living, breathing entity, look no further than the ever-evolving collection of viral myths and online folktales that seem to organically spread across the world as if promoted by a singular intelligence. It just so happens that one of these ideas has finally blossomed into popular culture outside the internet, with The Backrooms – a Creepypasta dating all the way back to 2011 – finally being turned into a fully-fledged studio horror film courtesy of A24 and YouTube prodigy Kane Parsons.

In honor of the first teaser promising that the upcoming adaptation is a faithful retelling of the internet legend that conquered the world, we thought that this might be a good moment to refresh readers’ memories about what the Backrooms actually are and where this story originally came from. So strap in because we’re about noclip into layers of reality that the human mind was never meant to comprehend…

The Rise of a New Creepypasta

For the uninitiated, Creepyastas are the horror form of “Copypastas”, a term meant to refer to frequently reposted stories that were “copy-pasted” and shared across numerous forums, websites, and even viral e-mails. As these bite-sized horror yarns became more popular, online communities soon gathered to collect and collaborate on them. The Backrooms mythos was actually the result of a single photograph, which sparked users’ imaginations and led to a form of collaborative fiction.

The original image that began the story was later revealed to be a HobbyTown store under renovation, but the uniform carpets, bizarre wallpaper, and seemingly never-ending hallways somehow lent themselves to storycrafting about a place that looked both utterly alien and eerily familiar at the same time. This is where we get into liminal horror, a topic that we’ve previously covered due to the genre’s inspirations in Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves (itself a book about an infinitely expanding house that’s larger on the inside).

Though I argued in that article that liminal horror can be traced back to Danielewski’s 2000 novel and possibly even further in media like The Shining (with the genre being best described as architectural terror derived from uncanny spaces), I don’t think anyone can deny that The Backrooms really popularized the concept. Liminal horror became a household name as users attempted to classify this collection of seemingly innocuous and “empty” images that made them feel uncomfortable.

Of course, the Backrooms ball only really started rolling in 2019 when an anonymous 4Chan user answered a repost of the original picture in a thread about disquieting images. This is where we got the now-iconic nano-horror story that serves as the first example of Backrooms lore:

“If you’re not careful and you noclip* out of reality in the wrong areas, you’ll end up in the Backrooms, where it’s nothing but the stink of old moist carpet, the madness of mono-yellow, the endless background noise of fluorescent lights at maximum hum-buzz, and approximately six hundred million square miles of randomly segmented empty rooms to be trapped in.

“God save you if you hear something wandering around nearby, because it sure as hell has heard you.”

*A term used to describe exiting the designated play-area in videogames in a way that wasn’t intended by the developers.

The Backrooms Leads to New Wave of Liminal Horror

This brief little piece of existential terror was enough to kickstart the liminal horror movement into overdrive, with other users creating their own liminal hellscapes (such as the liminal pools) and some even choosing to expand the existing mythology with additional “levels” to the Backrooms – each featuring their own collection of photoshopped images depicting all manners of monsters and oddities.

The popularity of these stories also led to adaptations in the form of several video games and even a bizarre episode of the American Horror Stories anthology show. However, the biggest addition to the mythology would only come in early 2022 when High Schooler and YouTuber extraordinaire Kane Parsons (then going by the online moniker Kane Pixels) uploaded the iconic first entry in his incredibly popular Backrooms webseries.

The short film served as a perfect introduction to the concept of a terrifying alternate world layered underneath our own, with its found footage elements and retro aesthetics turning the video into something of a viral phenomenon even outside of the Creepypasta community. Parsons wasn’t a one-trick pony, however, with the YouTuber soon expanding on his (ongoing) series and coming up with his own mythology surrounding an institute named Async and the challenges that they face in attempting to study the Backrooms Complex.

With the web-series becoming a worldwide hit, it’s only natural that Hollywood soon came knocking as several studios were interested in bringing Parsons’ vision of liminal terror to the big screen. A24 was ultimately the one to convince the young filmmaker to adapt his ideas into a feature film, though Parsons wisely decided to finish High School before committing to directing such a massive project.

That’s how we get to the long-awaited release of the first trailer for Parsons’ and A24’s Backrooms film. A nightmarish dream come true for fans of liminal horror, the adaptation stars heavyweights like Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve and is set to come out in May of this year.

From what we’ve seen from the trailer so far, it looks like the movie will incorporate aspects from the entire history of the Backrooms, not just the series. That’s why I can’t wait to check it out – so long as there’s a way to noclip back out of the experience once the credits roll!

The post What Exactly Are The ‘Backrooms’ and Where Did They Come From? appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The teaser trailer for Night Terror, however, shows a case that continues to worsen — until it’s too late.

The found footage horror film is co-directed by Joshua Brucker (The Fairfield County Four) and Hunter Nino from a script by Brucker.

It follows Shelly, a young woman plagued by sleep paralysis and night terrors who becomes the subject of a documentary after her call for help catches the attention of two college students.

Things take a dark turn, prompting Shelly to seek the help of a team of paranormal investigators to help stop the malevolent force that has consumed her.

Marleigh Arnold, Nino, Madelynn Wierda, Berkeley Slightom, and Samuel J. Howard star.

Filmed in the small town of Watseka, Illinois, Night Terror captures the rural feel Brucker grew up with. “When I was a child, my family and I lived on a farm, no neighbors for miles,” Brucker said. “The isolation can be very terrifying, so my goal was to capture that feeling. No one can hear you, no one is going to rescue you if something goes wrong. You’re on your own.”

Produced by Horror Dadz Productions, Gray Sky Pictures, and N15 Media, Night Terror is coming soon.

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Yet, we still see the occasional brave filmmaker who’s willing to try and turn these overly familiar tropes on their collective heads by either defying audience expectations or delivering uniquely chilling retellings of tried-and-true scares. In the case of Ximena García Lecuona and Eduardo Lecuona’s No Me Sigas (Don’t Follow Me), a Blumhouse-produced haunted apartment thriller from Mexico, the creative duo opted to combine Lovecraftian lore with internet-inspired flair in order to make their debut thriller stand out.

Quietly released last month, No Me Sigas tells the story of up-and-coming influencer Carla (Carla Coronado) and her unhealthy fascination with the paranormal while living in an old apartment building with a dark past. When Carla’s videos about the increasingly freaky supernatural occurrences within her home start going viral, she soon realizes that there’s a dark side to becoming the center of attention.

On the technical side of things, No Me Sigas combines found footage scares with screenlife recordings and traditional filmmaking, with the film constantly jumping from in-world camera sources and smartphone screens to surprisingly atmospheric cinematography.

This unusual mix of styles is likely to divide audiences, as the hybrid format is something of a controversial choice among fans of found footage cinema. Personally, I’m of the opinion that the most important aspect of found footage is viewer immersion, with this immersion often becoming diluted when filmmakers add non-diegetic recordings to the mix (as the combination tends to remind audiences that they’re watching a fictional movie and not a real source of scares caught on tape). And even I have to admit that the Lecuona duo makes the most of this unorthodox blend of techniques when crafting jump-scares that feel like they were lifted straight out of an especially terrifying YouTube compilation of “Real Ghost Sightings”.

It’s really the film’s style that won me over in this regard, with the directors making the most of dilapidated urban environments and moody lighting to make the haunted apartment feel like a living, breathing space regardless of the filming style. The textures are so grimy and the rooms so lived-in that it’s often hard to tell exactly what was crafted by the art department and what was the result of a fortunately gloomy location.

The scares themselves are also pretty memorable, and I especially enjoyed the use of hidden figures in the background of pictures and videos that could only be seen when our main character messed with the image settings after the fact. While some of these scares are ultimately sabotaged by an unfortunate lack of subtlety, the “ghost” appearances are consistently frightening and always make sense within the story.

It’s also during these moments that you really understand why the Lecuonas opted to include found footage elements here in the first place, as the added grit and believability of low-fi video and POV angles add a lot to the scare-factor while also fitting with the subject matter. That being said, I still think it would have been possible (and maybe preferable) to tell this same story as a completely diegetic found footage movie, especially since the flick boasts such a strong lead with a clear motivation for filming.

In fact, Karla Coronado’s performance holds the entire movie together, with her believable take on a flawed yet fascinating influencer grounding the ghosts and goblins in something palpable. You may not always agree with Carla’s obsessive methods or the way she deals with her influencer best friend Sam (charmingly played by Julia Maqueo), but she’s compelling enough of a protagonist that it’s easy to sympathize with her deteriorating mental state even when she tells a story about killing small animals in a microwave.

While genre movies tend to get a bit heavy-handed with their depictions of online culture and characters obsessed with likes and followers, I’d argue that No Me Sigas offers a refreshingly grounded take on the paranormal side of YouTube that won’t make younger viewers groan at any blatant inaccuracies or cringeworthy dialogue.

My only real gripe with the experience is that the Lovecraftian spin on the story (which is mostly explored during the final act) could have benefited from further build-up earlier in the movie. That’s not to say that the twist is ineffective, but the story ideas presented here are so interesting that it’s a shame the film doesn’t explore them further before that gut-wrenching finale.

No Me Sigas may not completely reinvent the haunted house wheel, with the film suffering from its fair share of familiar tropes and the occasional missed narrative opportunity, but there’s enough creativity here to keep even veteran horror hounds entertained. So if you’re in the mood for an urban ghost story with plenty of atmosphere and a charismatic lead, Blumhouse’s first foray into Mexican-based productions should definitely be on your radar!

No Me Sigas is currently available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu.

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Told from the perspective of police body cameras, the found footage horror thriller will stream on March 13 on Shudder and AMC+.

When two police officers show up to investigate a domestic dispute, a startling escalation leads to a tragic accident. Not wanting to be crucified by the public, the officers attempt to cover it up — only to reveal that their body cameras aren’t the only things watching them.

Brandon Christensen (Night of the Reaper, Z) directs from a script he co-wrote with brother Ryan Christensen (Night of the Reaper).

Jaime Callica (Wayward Pines), Sean Rogerson (Grave Encounters), Catherine Lough Haggquist (“Supernatural”), Angel Prater (The Puppetman), and Keegan Connor Tracy (Final Destination 2) star.

Brandon Christensen, Chris Ball, and Kurtis David Harder produce, with Kerry Cooper, Ty Sivertsen, Andy Thompson, James Norrie, and Nina Kolokouri serving as executive producers.

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The Canadian indie will be released on Digital February 24 via Filmhub. The line between reality and fiction blurs in the trailer below.

The story follows a group of friends who travel for a weekend away to an isolated cabin in the woods to shoot an experimental horror movie. Slowly the film begins to unravel, and we see the true monster appear from the shadows.

Antonia Thomas (“Misfits”), Jeremy Schuetze (Jennifer’s Body), Matt Visser (“Fellow Travelers”), and Jesse Stanley (“Van Helsing”) star.

Schuetze makes his feature directorial debut from a script he co-wrote with Visser. Thomas and Stanley produce, with Visser serving as executive producer.

Anacoreta screened at the Heartland International Film Festival, where it was awarded Best Horror, and the Manchester Film Festival, where it won Best International Feature.

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The indie film will premiere at the Unnamed Footage Festival in San Francisco next month before streaming exclusively on Found TV beginning April 7.

It follows Cole Harrington, the host of a popular outdoor series, who sets out to track down the predator responsible for a series of cattle attacks in rural Nevada. The mystery deepens when he uncovers footage depicting the final moments of two missing university employees.

Dillon Brown (Tahoe Joe) writes and directs. He also appears in the movie alongside Blake Hyer, Maxwell Golden, Dustin Tamplen, and Michael Rock.

Shot in the Nevada high desert, the production was as intense behind the camera as the story depicted on screen. The shoot was plagued by real-world hazards, including treacherous terrain, extreme conditions, and an on-set accident that resulted in Brown suffered multiple broken bones.

“I’ve always had a love for ‘fun’ horror movies, and that’s why I’ve injected humor into a lot of my previous efforts,” explained Brown. “But with Primal Darkness, I really wanted to tackle a darker subject matter and play it serious, which has resulted in filming my most intense and scary scenes I’ve ever crafted as a filmmaker.”

“Found was built for filmmakers like Dillon,” added Found TV CEO Louie La Vella. “Bringing Primal Darkness to Found as an Original and celebrating his wider creative circle is exactly the kind of partnership we want to keep building.”

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That’s why I was curious about Sam Freeman’s experimental debut feature Don’t Look in the Dark, as the marketing behind this micro-budget horror picture promised to deliver a new kind of genre experience even more understated than the original Blair Witch Project. You see, unlike most found footage movies where the recordings are intentional, Don’t Look in the Dark presents us with footage from ordinary cellphones that began recording on their own during a camping trip in New Jersey – complete with black screens and extended moments of eerie ambient sound.

In the finished film, which was envisioned as a scare-driven Rorschach test where no two viewings are the same, we accompany a loving couple on an ill-fated trek through New Jersey’s Pinelands National Reserve (also known as the infamous Pine Barrens). When Maya (Rebi Paganini) sees a mysterious child in the woods, she and Golan (Dennis Puglisi) end up caught in a possibly supernatural web of terror orchestrated by an entity that wants to be seen.

Of course, the story here is little more than an excuse to conduct Freeman’s aesthetic experiment. If you think about it, real found footage tends to be full of holes and unintelligible images/sounds. Most people don’t really focus on filming things as cinematically as possible while under duress, so it makes sense that recordings of a real horrific event would be messy and incomplete.

Unfortunately, while other found footage films have found ways to incorporate different sources of scattered evidence into a larger narrative whole (such as Savageland or even Lake Mungo), Don’t Look in the Dark ultimately falls victim to its own minimalist gimmick.

Despite being marketed as a novel experience, the film doesn’t actually invent anything new. What Freeman is really doing is recontextualizing the existing format of an audio drama as something that can be experienced in theaters, accompanied by the occasional snippets of freaky imagery containing exposition and subliminal scares. While this works to an extent, as we’re immersed in an event that feels like it really happened (at least during the first half of the film), the gimmick simply can’t sustain itself throughout a feature-length story that you’ve seen before in countless other found footage movies. The presentation here may be unusual, but the core of the movie is no different from your garden-variety retread of The Blair Witch Project, to the point where you start to wonder why the filmmakers didn’t also resort to borrowing the mockumentary format in order to further flesh out the story and characters.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some legitimately thrilling moments scattered throughout the film (with many of them owing to the location’s naturally eerie vibes), but it’s hard to justify paying for a ticket to see something with so little effort behind it. That’s why I keep thinking about how much better this footage would have been as part of a larger mockumentary, as this format would have allowed us to really get to know Maya and Golan as people while also skipping the unbearably repetitive segments where the couple despairs about being lost in the woods. Hell, you could even expand on the existing recordings with instant replays and zoom-ins as experts dissect specific frames, Noroi-style.

Alas, the film we ultimately got is much less interested in telling a scary story than setting up a spooky atmosphere. I’m not totally against this style of filmmaking, but it’s hard to endure a feature-length presentation when there’s barely anything onscreen and most of the dialogue can be summed up as our main characters screaming each other’s names.

Ultimately, Don’t Look in the Dark didn’t really work for me, but I’ll concede that I watched the movie at home by myself rather than inside a packed theater filled with horror fans willing to engage with its minimalist gimmick. While I still doubt that the theatrical experience would have added more narrative value to the flick, which was ultimately my biggest gripe, it could be that this is one of those movies that needs to be seen (and heard) on the big screen in order to be properly understood.

So if you happen to be a fan of cinematic Rorschach tests fueled by moments of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it terror, you might enjoy Freeman’s daring debut. However, fans of story-focused found footage productions should probably take the film’s advice and steer clear of the dark while they still can.

Don’t Look in the Dark screened at the New Jersey Film Fest. Release info TBA.

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But Hollingsworth’s film is about much more than capturing a mood. Yes, the analog horror fans out there will immediately come out to play with this one, and they’ll be satisfied, but the longer you watch this 75-minute found footage nightmare, the more you see both a haunting parable about America and one of the most chilling psychological dramas of the year.

It starts as so many horror films do, with a babysitter arriving at a secluded home for a night of work. The babysitter’s name is Amna (Amna Vegha), and she’s been hired for an overnight stay with Monroe (Betsy Sligh), a 16-year-old girl who, due to her brother’s violent death a decade earlier, suffers from certain post-traumatic tendencies. Monroe keeps mostly to her room, doesn’t trust newcomers, and has developed a routine with her parents, Taylor and Wilson (Erin O’Meara and Winston Haynes), in which they say “Dooba Dooba” when moving through the house, just as a password to let the girl know trusted people are there.

Monroe’s issues are also the reason for the security cameras peppering the home, mounted everywhere from ceilings to the dining room table. Though Monroe’s parents explain that it’s a security blanket for their daughter, on a closed-circuit system, the cameras only add to Amna’s stress. She’s unsettled by this odd house and the somewhat standoffish way the parents interact with her, but she also wants to be a good babysitter, and she wants to honor Monroe’s particular needs in the best way possible. So, when Monroe’s parents leave, Amna makes an effort to reach out to the girl, only to find something much stranger and more frightening lurking in the house.

Going with an analog horror style – the film takes place in 2022, but the security cameras were clearly installed in the house well before that – adds an instant visual identifier to the film, but as with all the best analog horror, it’s more than an aesthetic choice. Yes, Hollingsworth’s cameras pick things up at strange angles, giving us partial faces, deeply unsettling compositions bordering on the abstract expressive, and uncanny close-ups, but that’s not the entire point. As with so much found footage, the goal is also to add a layer of verisimilitude to the proceedings, backed up by the often deliberately awkward dialogue between characters. We are meant to feel stuck in this uncomfortable situation, just as Amna is, and Dooba Dooba achieves that almost immediately through its camera placement and its often never-jangling sound design.

Every room’s tone is different in this house, and together they build into a symphony of buzzes and hums and clicks that keep the viewer constantly on edge. It doesn’t just feel like a stylized choice made by a filmmaker. It feels like we’re watching something forbidden, something that belongs in an evidence locker rather than on a movie screen.

Dooba Dooba is the kind of film that benefits from going in somewhat blind, so I won’t spill too much about the plot. What I will tell you is that it’s no accident that Amna is a woman of color, and Monroe’s family is a trio of white people all named for US presidents. What begins as a chilling tale about a strange family and the secrets they hide soon turns into a piece of jaw-dropping social horror, as Dooba Dooba explores the right that racist conquerors believe they have to the bodies of others.

The final act of this film is one of the more upsetting things I’ve seen in years, for that reason. It starts as House of the Devil and, by the end, morphs into something more akin to Get Out, all within a wonderfully creepy analog aesthetic. This is one of the year’s must-see indie horror releases, a skin-crawling watch that’ll leave you squirming.

Dooba Dooba hits theaters and VOD January 23. 

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The kicker? The 36-minute short film is presented as found footage.

Sanity and reality itself are tested during the interrogation of a murderer with ties to an ancient cult in the trailer below.

Tracking a kidnapper and murderer from France to Louisiana, a young woman and her adopted brother team up with local police and set out into the swamps north of New Orleans. Here the group uncovers much more than they expected, barely succeeding in capturing the fugitive before being forced to flee.

The only surviving record of the event, Dreams of a Dead God is the recovered film recording of the rushed interrogation that occurred shortly after.

“Inspired by the authors appearing in Weird Tales magazine such as Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, and Robert Bloch, Dreams of a Dead God represents my own contribution to the cosmic horror mythos,” said writer-director Jim Weter.

Cameron Crawford, Chris Steinmetz, Larshay Watson, Ryan Gilliam, and Jerry Kimble star.

Dreams of a Dead God will have its world premiere at the Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival in Lafayette, LA, on January 24.

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Could it be the next found footage breakout? Find out when the film hits select theaters and Digital on January 23.

Nearly a decade after her brother’s murder, 16-year-old Monroe still needs a babysitter. Amna comes to babysit Monroe and learns that not only is she being watched by security cameras, but she needs to say ‘dooba dooba’ whenever she moves throughout the house to let Monroe know that it’s her.

The night goes on, and Amna becomes increasingly unnerved and Monroe increasingly attached.

Amna Vegha, Betsy Sligh, Winston Haynes, Erin O’Meara, and Billy Hulsey star.

Ehrland Hollingsworth writes and directs in addition to producing alongside Vegha, Sligh, and Josh Harris.

Dooba Dooba won Best Feature at Nightmares Film Festival and Best Horror Film at Midwest WeirdFest, with additional honors from Panic Fest, Unnamed Footage Festival, Another Hole in the Head, and Central Florida Film Festival.

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Shot entirely on in-home security cameras, the found footage horror film opens in select theaters and on Digital January 23 via Dark Sky Films.

Nearly a decade after her brother’s murder, 16-year-old Monroe still needs a babysitter. Amna comes to babysit Monroe and learns that not only is she being watched by security cameras, but she needs to say ‘dooba dooba’ whenever she moves throughout the house to let Monroe know that it’s her.

The night goes on, and Amna becomes increasingly unnerved and Monroe increasingly attached.

Amna Vegha, Betsy Sligh, Winston Haynes, Erin O’Meara, and Billy Hulsey star.

Ehrland Hollingsworth writes and directs in addition to producing alongside Sligh, Vegha, and Josh Harris.

Dooba Dooba won Best Overall Feature at Nightmares Film Festival and Best Horror Film at Midwest WeirdFest, with additional honors from Panic Fest, Unnamed Footage Festival, Another Hole in the Head, and Central Florida Film Festival.

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Dark Sky Films releases Dooba Dooba on January 23, 2026.

The found footage horror movie follows “Amna as she arrives for what she assumes will be a typical babysitting gig. She realizes she’s very mistaken when she learns that Monroe, the girl she’s babysitting, is not only sixteen, but suffers from severe anxiety after having watched her brother get murdered when she was a child. Monroe’s behavior becomes increasingly unbearable until Amna questions whether she wants to stay, not realizing she has no choice.”

Ehrland Hollingsworth writes and directs. 

Amna Vegha, Betsy Sligh, Winston Haynes, Erin O’Meara, and Billy Hulsey star. Producers include Michelle Sligh, Amna Vegha, Hollingsworth, and Josh Harris.

Dooba Dooba was shot entirely on an in-home security camera and draws on elements of analog horror popularized on YouTube.

Check out the new teaser below.

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