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The rise and fall of found footage horror

Photo edited by Kyle St. JohnFrom the slasher films of the ʼ80s and ʼ90s to the atmospheric and thoughtful horror films of today, horror as a genre will always change and adapt to the times without being afraid to cash in on popular, tried-and-true trends.

One of the most lucrative, influential and never-before-seen concepts of the genre’s modern era was the concept of the found footage horror film.

This style of horror filmmaking focuses on showing a “real life” story through the lens of mysterious leftover footage found after the fact, usually showing a tragic and terrifying (sometimes otherworldly) event that our main characters are faced with.

The genre was rarely considered before the blockbuster success of “The Blair Witch Project” in 1999, which made over $240 million off of a budget of only $500,000. The success of that film introduced a new wave of horror films attempting to recreate the found footage magic that it had perfected, with films like “The Poughkeepsie Tapes” (2007) and “REC” (2007) evolving the subgenre with interesting twists.

However, found footage horror truly found its footing in the mainstream with the massive success of “Paranormal Activity,” which also made over $200 million at the box office but with only $230,000 — less than half the budget of “The Blair Witch Project”. The success of the film was the catalyst for producer Jason Blum and his studio, Blumhouse Productions, to become the face of modern horror in the 2010s.

The success of “Paranormal Activity” and its further continuation as a franchise brought in another new wave of studios creating low-budget horror with the hopes of reaching similar box office success.

The astronomical amount of found footage horror created from 2010 to 2015 cannot be understated, with studios and filmmakers finding whatever clever way they can to find success in the subgenre.

From kidnappings (“Megan is Missing,” 2011) to exorcisms (“The Devil Inside,” 2012) to underground exploration (“As Above, So Below,” 2014) to space (“Apollo 18,” 2011) to anthologies (“V/H/S” franchise) to even digital technology (“Unfriended,” 2015) — the subgenre was pushed to its absolute breaking point, with the complete oversaturation of the genre resulting in less and less profits year after year.

The genre ended its control of the market in 2015-16, when the “Blair Witch” creators released a reboot and the “Paranormal Activity” franchise concluded with what was marketed as its final chapter, “The Ghost Dimension.” Both films struggled to even make $80 million, with increased budgets of over $5 and $10 million. While most definitely still successful, it was a sign that the genre had lost its novelty in the eyes of the public, mostly fading away soon thereafter.

There were some attempts to create new found footage films after 2016, with a key example being the “Unfriended” sequel, “Unfriended: Dark Web” (2018), but found footage horror would disappear as a subgenre soon after, with no such horror movies being released during the Halloween season of 2018 or the entirety of 2019.

While found footage horror has decreased in prevalence, some studios are making attempts to possibly bring back the genre for a new, streaming service-based audience, with the horror-based service Shudder containing new releases such as “Host” (2020) and even a new installment of the “V/H/S” franchise — “V/H/S/94” (2021).

Even more than that, after a six-year gap since the last installment, “Paranormal Activity” has a new installment — a reboot subtitled “Next of Kin” — releasing on Oct. 29 as a Paramount+ original film. While the genre may never find the level of success it had in the 2010s, the rise of streaming services provides a bright future for the sub-genre to return once more.

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