Spine-chilling controversial mockumentary Late Night With The Devil is in cinemas now boasting a 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating and the Stephen King stamp of approval.
It follows The Dark Knight star David Dastmalchian in the role of Jack Delroy, whose late-night talk show Night Owls is on the decline, with everything hanging on one 1977 Halloween special that descends into chaos.
Following the release of 1980 Video Nasty hit Cannibal Holocaust and 1999 lanndmark horror The Blair Witch Project, found footage films have experienced a boom in popularity.
Found footage films are among the most popular sub-genres of horror movies, gripping audiences with ‘true story’ marketing and horrifying visuals that you want to look away from, but can’t.
Home security footage, documentary crews, and even streaming websites carry the central plot lines, making them relatable to everyday audiences.
And right now, there’s plenty you can enjoy with some popcorn and a pillow to hide behind on streaming services.
Here are 20 found footage horror films you can watch right now, if you dare…
Netflix
Incantation
This found footage offering on Netflix terrified TikTok users in 2023 and even inspired its own challenge where people try and watch the film without looking away or hitting pause.
Incantation is a Taiwanese supernatural found footage film that follows a mother who is determined to protect her child from a mysterious curse she has experienced firsthand.
Despite only being released in March last year, the highest-grossing Taiwanese horror film, making NT$170million (£4.76million).
Creep
Inspired by director Patrick Brice’s experiences on Craigslist and the movies My Dinner with Andre, Misery, and Fatal Attraction, Creep sees Brice portray videographer Aaron assigned to record an eccentric client, Josef.
Josef, played by writer Mark Duplass, quickly reveals that his intentions may not be as innocent as they may seem, and Aaron quickly finds himself in the middle of a nightmare.
A sequel to the film, Creep 2, was released in 2017 and is also available to stream on Netflix.
Cam
The rise of social media has seen a rise in found footage films that utilise technology such as streaming, as seen in the 2018 psychological thriller Cam.
When her account is stolen by a look-alike, a cam girl sets out to get her identity back and unmask the mysterious woman and her intentions.
The story is partially drawn from writer Isa Mazzei’s own experience working as a camgirl and received positive reviews following its premiere at Fantasia International Film Festival.
Amazon Prime
Paranormal Activity
Back when Paranormal Activity was released in 2007, it reignited the found footage genre and led to a boom of new films.
It inspired a whole franchise including eight films, and the series as a whole has grossed over 30times the overall budget.
The original film sees couple Katie and Micah who become increasingly disturbed by a nightly demonic presence after moving into their suburban home.
Phoenix Forgotten
Often compared to The Blair Witch Project, 2017 science fiction horror Phoenix Forgotten was produced by Alien’s Ridley Scott among others – and it’s available right now on Freevee via Amazon Prime Video.
Two decades after three teenagers disappeared after mysterious lights appeared above Phoenix, Arizona, unseen footage from that night has been discovered, revealing the trio’s final hours.
The film is based on the true story of Based on the Phoenix Lights of Phoenix, Arizona, a supposed UFO sighting witnessed by thousands on March 13, 1997.
Devil’s Pass
Also based on a real-life event and available via Freevee, Devil’s Pass is based on the Dyatlov Pass Incident in which nine Soviet trekkers died in the northern Ural Mountains in 1959 under mysterious circumstances.
The film is a mockumentary that sees a group of American filmmakers investigate the Dyatlov Pass incident.
As the secrets of the tragedy begin to unravel, the team become engrossed in their own ‘real-life’ horror movie.
Willow Creek
Yet another Freevee pick, Willow Creek blends real-life mysterious phenomena and found footage horror to tackle the legend of Bigfoot.
Set in Humboldt County, California, Jim, a firm believer in Bigfoot, and his girlfriend Kelly, who doubts the creature’s existence, travel to Six Rivers National Forest in Northern California, to film their own evidence.
But deep in the woods and isolated from society, neither are prepared for what they experience when the camera starts rolling.
The Lost Coast Tapes
There’s not just one, but two Bigfoot found footage films available to stream right now.
Released in 2012, The Lost Coast Tapes begins with a Bigfoot Hunter claiming to possess the body of a dead Sasquatch.
A disgraced investigative journalist stakes his comeback on proving the find to be a hoax.
Exhibit A
Where many found footage horror films delve into the supernatural, Exhibit A bucks the trends and instead focuses on the frightening sides of the human psyche.
Filmed on location in Yorkshire and Suffolk, the 2007 film is shot on central character Judith King’s new camera as she captures footage of her family, including dad Andy, mother Sheila, and her brother Joe.
As the family faces mounting financial pressure, cracks begin to show within the home and tensions mount, culminating in some brutal scenes.
M.O.M.: Mothers of Monsters
M.O.M.: Mothers of Monsters is the debut film from long-standing TV showrunner Tucia Lyman and, much like Exhibit A, deals with a very real horror at the centre of its plot.
A mother suspects her teenage son is plotting a school shooting and is forced to take matters into her own hands when authorities don’t take the warning signs he presents seriously.
She installs a system of spy cameras in their home, capturing a series of disturbing videos that seem to confirm her worst fears, leading her to find an online community of other ‘mothers of monsters’.
The Conspiracy
Conspiracy theories have experienced a boom in mainstream media in recent years, and this 2012 film explores the theme with a horrific twist.
The Conspiracy tells the story of two documentary filmmakers who set out to create a film about a conspiracy theorist named Terrance G who disappears during the making of the film.
The duo then find themselves in the world of a dangerous and ancient secret community.
Shudder
Host
Jed Shepherd terrified us right to the core in 2020 when he released fiendish pandemic horror Host.
Shot entirely on a Zoom video call, it follows a group of friends who take part in an online seance for a bit of lighthearted fun during lockdown – as you do.
Unfortunately, they find themselves preyed upon by a malevolent force that threatens to tear them apart both metaphorically and physically as they race against time to send it back to the spirit realm.
V/H/S
If you can’t pick one found footage horror to watch, why not sample a few with anthology horror film V/H/S.
The 2012 film features six different found footage horror short films, featuring everything from ghostly children to stalkers, digital serial killers, and a violent exorcism.
The film spawned three sequels, spin-off, Siren, and miniseries V/H/S: Video Horror Shorts on Snapchat’s Snap Originals platform.
Grave Encounters
Canadian film Grave Encounters garnered a cult-like following after going viral online ahead of its release in 2011.
Produced by the Vicious Brothers, the success of Grave Encounters led to a sequel being released in 2012 which can also be streamed on Shudder.
For their ghost-hunting reality show, a production crew locks themselves inside an abandoned mental hospital that’s supposedly haunted, quickly realising that the rumours they do not believe may be true.
REC
REC is often cited as one of the best films in the found footage horror genre making numerous top horror lists and spawning a whole film franchise.
The Spanish horror follows the unfolding of a breaking news story followed by reporter Angela Vidal as emergency workers descend on an apartment building.
They are quickly confronted by the true horror within – something is spreading between the residents, and it is turning them into monsters.
Lake Mungo
Horror films that deal with the inner-workings of family life, grief, and mental health have risen in recent years with the popularity of The Babadook, Hereditary, and Midsommar.
Similarly, 2008 Australian psychological horror Lake Mungo focuses on a family as they come to terms with the drowning of their daughter.
The mockumentary features interviews with the family as they come to terms with their loss, and the supernatural events they seem to face in the aftermath.
Hell House LLC
Scare attractions and haunted houses are a staple of Halloween entertainment with thousands of people lining up for the fright of their life.
Hell House LLC tells the story of a documentary crew investigating the death of 15 people on the opening night of a Halloween haunted house tour five years after it happened.
As they explore the attraction, they soon realise that the unexplained malfunction the tragedy was blamed on may not have been strictly true, and the deaths may have been caused by a much more insidious source.
Afflicted
Travel blogs are commonplace on social media showcasing some of the most glorious locations and adventure-filled trips people enjoy.
In Canadian offering Afflicted, two friends’ travel plans turn sour as one begins to experience strange side effects after contracting a mysterious illness.
Stranded in a foreign land, the pair desperately search for the cause of the ailment and its source to eradicate it for good.
The Medium
The Medium tells the story of a Thai documentary team as they film the daily life of a local medium, Nim, who is said to be possessed by the spirit of Bayan, an ancestral deity that has been possessing women in Nim’s family for generations.
It was selected as the Thai entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards but was not nominated.
However, it enjoyed positive reviews and became the sixth highest-grossing Korean film of 2021.
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