[REC] 1 is one of my favoite horror flicks for the sheer intensity of the conclusion.  Looking forward to Genesis.

Quoted from BoinTN [REC] 1 is one of my favoite horror flicks for the sheer intensity of the conclusion.  Looking forward to Genesis.

Definitely prefer this to the domestic remake, "Quarantine".
Even though the ex Mrs. Dexter is pretty hawt running around and screaming lots.

E.D.

Very, but I think [REC] works so well because it is foreign-language, too.  That somehow added to the realism for me.  Maybe it's just harder to tell if a line reading was a little false or something, anything that may remove oneself from the immersive experience that a found footage movie is shooting for.

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films A particuar favourite of mine is a Japenese film called Noroi: The Curse...which is surprisingly complicated for one of these types of films.

Rick,

I watched this tonight, it's quite the intricate tale.
Despite devolving into a scream fest at the end, I was impressed with its ambition.
It's more focused on telling a story than manufacturing scares.
The litter critters reminded me of the forest spirits in "Mononoke no Hime".

Thanks for the recommend.

Regards,
E.D.

Speaking of found footage films, I got this recently and will probably watch it tonight.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1191111/
"A drug dealer becomes interested in death and re-incarnation after reading "The Tibetan Book of the Dead". Suddenly dead, his soul floats though Tokyo observing the dramas of his friends and foes. An oath determines his next step 'as a soul'."
It's called Enter the Void if you guys can't be bothered to click the link

Half of the movie is in POV form while the other half is the camera looking over the shoulder of the characters. It seemed like a nice artsy type film to watch so I got it. It's nearly three hours long so hopefully it keeps me interested.

Quoted from nawazm11 Speaking of found footage films, I got this recently and will probably watch it tonight. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1191111/ "A drug dealer becomes interested in death and re-incarnation after reading "The Tibetan Book of the Dead". Suddenly dead, his soul floats though Tokyo observing the dramas of his friends and foes. An oath determines his next step 'as a soul'." It's called Enter the Void if you guys can't be bothered to click the link Half of the movie is in POV form while the other half is the camera looking over the shoulder of the characters. It seemed like a nice artsy type film to watch so I got it. It's nearly three hours long so hopefully it keeps me interested.

Enter the Void is a tough watch but worth it IMO. I've seen it twice including once on the big screen. Definitely a unique experience.

As for found footage in general, I'm wouldn't say I'm a fan.

I don't think there's anything wrong with it, per se, but it tends to only be dumb directors who think it's cool. To me, they've always felt like cousins to ghost hunting reality shows, which are super lame and appeal to equally lame sensibilities. Even when they're pulled off right, the majority of non-found footage horror movies are still better.

The best found footage films IMO are Cannibal Holocaust, The Blair Witch Project and REC. I probably enjoyed REC the most.

The second wave of found footage films has done little for me though. The Poughkeepsie Tapes, in particular, has got to be one of the most overrated horror movies in a long time. I thought it was utterly flippant and stupid, despite being based on some interesting ideas. It kinda made me angry, to be honest.

Megan is Missing is probably the best of the newer ones but even that had some major issues. I'd be wary of recommending it to anyone.

Nevertheless, I'm open to better films from the genre. But I've yet to see one that's really outstanding.

Quoted from nawazm11 Speaking of found footage films, I got this recently and will probably watch it tonight. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1191111/ "A drug dealer becomes interested in death and re-incarnation after reading "The Tibetan Book of the Dead". Suddenly dead, his soul floats though Tokyo observing the dramas of his friends and foes. An oath determines his next step 'as a soul'." It's called Enter the Void if you guys can't be bothered to click the link Half of the movie is in POV form while the other half is the camera looking over the shoulder of the characters. It seemed like a nice artsy type film to watch so I got it. It's nearly three hours long so hopefully it keeps me interested.

I never thought of Enter the Void as a found footage film.
But I can see enough of your point to go along for the ride.
Noe's film is like, The Blair Witch Project of the mind!
Make sure your tray table is in the upright position, it's gonna be a bumpy ride!

I also found a fair amount to enjoy in this New England mystery thriller:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1398428/

"Yellowbrickroad" forsakes manufactured shocks for dread soaked storytelling.

Regards,
E.D.

I was very disappointed with Yellowbrick Road.  It had a few moments, and also potential, but for me, it was very dull, uneventful, and poorly executed.

Just finished Enter the Void and wow-oh-wow, was that a freaky ride. I loved all the neon colours and the crazy direction. This definitely reached my top 50 . I think you got it spot on, James. A very unique experience indeed.

E.D.

It's not really found footage but I like to think that any type of POV in movies should go into the same category.

As for YellowBrickRoad, I can't say I can watch anything from IMDB that's less than 5 . If you liked it though, I will try and find this somewhere. It doesn't seem like a popular movie so hopefully a local video store has it

Mo, Yellowbrick Road is streaming on Netflix.  If you don't have Netflix, get it.  If you enjoy watching movies, and spend money renting movies at a video store, you'll fall in love with Netflix and save yourself a shitload of cash in the process.

Yeah, Yellowbrickroad had a very compelling build to one of the least satisfying pay-offs in recent memory.  Still, there are moments in that of genuine creepiness and the sense of "We have to keep going" for some inexplicable reason I found to be a fun device.

Quoted from nawazm11 As for YellowBrickRoad, I can't say I can watch anything from IMDB that's less than 5 . If you liked it though, I will try and find this somewhere. It doesn't seem like a popular movie so hopefully a local video store has it

I'm not a big fan of the film, but it did keep me watching until the end.
That's more than I can say for most entries of the sub genre.

Regards,
E.D.

It just occurred to me that I did see Trollhunter last year. I thought it was pretty goo and surprisingly unproblematic. The mythos and Norse geography made for a relatively fun ride. This, not Megan is Missing, is the best of the found footage genre I've seen lately. I think the fact that I forgot about it just goes to show the state of the subgenre at this point.

You're a harsh man James!

That particular genre is at it's highest ever point at the moment!

Does that mean we've been inundated with classics? No...but it's only really been going since Blair Witch...as a separate, standard genre.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Found_footage_(genre)

EDIT: Click the link to the foound footage..genre page...won't direct link for some reason.

Man Bites Dog from 1992 is probably the only "classic" the genre has ever had.

It's largely bound to be a low standard genre, all things considered, because people turn to it when they've got no money to make a standard film.