Why Is Found Footage So Scary?

Posted on Thursday September 9, 2010, 18:00 by Ali Plumb in Empire States

The Last Exorcism is the latest in an increasingly long line of ‘found footage’ horror films, a film fad kicked off (in its modern form) by The Blair Witch Project and kept alive by the likes of Romero’s Diary Of The Dead, the excellent Spanish zombie series [REC] and more recently the bed-shaking Paranormal Activity, the ooglie-booglie Cloverfield and the little green men-filled ‘documentary’ The Fourth Kind.

But what is it exactly that makes the found footage phenomenon so damn scary, even now? For a fad, it’s been around for a good while, and with the success of The Last Exorcism ($33 million plus so far in the US), it’s definitely still got legs. So what is it about it that still makes us shake in our seats? And though I’m no Kim Newman (and I’m really, really not), here are my two cents. Ready? Here goes:

1. Lack of horror sign posting. By-the-book horrors can be read like a map – you just know when the blood will hit the windscreen, when the trap door will burst open, when the supporting character’s bitchy girlfriend will get decapitated. With found footage, nothing is safe, anything could happen, and the audience knows it.

2. A genuine suspension of disbelief. Becoming fully immersed in a movie is next to impossible now – perhaps we’re just too cynical, or maybe we’ve just watched too many movies (or both), but there’s always a clear distance between the viewer and the film. The fact that the footage was ‘found’, that the characters use equipment you could get your hands on, as well as the less forced, more natural dialogue… all these rough edges make it all the more ‘real’ and all the scarier.

3. The first person aspect. Almost like a first person shooter, you see just what their eyes can see (for the most part, anyway). [REC] 2 even uses multiple head-cams to great effect, and because of this acknowledgement of the cameras instead of pretending they don’t exist, the audience lives in, and through the camera. Its footage, its sound, that’s all you’ve got. The atmosphere becomes electric, the camcorder sacrosanct, almost.  The Last Exorcism even uses it as a weapon, making you complicit in the act – and after that, how can you not be involved with the story?

4. Unknown actors. The unknown names not only add to the believability of the whole horrific ordeal, but also a certain refreshing intimacy. These are just… people. Not Johnny Depp (who is a God, of course) – but people. You know, you. [REC], Blair Witch, Paranormal Activity and use this very well, Cloverfield less so as many actors were more recognisable – but, most importantly, not too recognisable. In Psycho and Scream, the lead draw was killed in the first 20 minutes. Now, there are no lead draws – and anyone could die, at any time.

5. Darkness and light. Cloverfield and [REC] play around with the green-tastic night-vision brilliantly – the monster fleas in the subway and the famous final shot of the original [REC] prove that beyond a shadow of a doubt – but more than just night vision, the fact that Blair Witch made us all wet ourselves using a bit of paint, some twigs and the cover of night shows that a careful use of atmospherics, well-built up tension, and the sound of heavy breathing (and crying) can make a completely black screen the scariest thing in the world.

What draws us out of this found footage love-in, for my part, is not only the gimmicky nature of the tricks discussed, but the music. The scariest thing in a good horror movie is well-timed, well-written music at a climactic moment, all sharp strings and booming drums. It builds up the pressure and shocks those hiding behind their hands to sit up and have the crap scared out of them.

But with found footage horrors, when this happens – as it does in The Last Exorcism – this extra-diegetic music clangs a bit, and undoes the good work that the film’s been doing getting you involved with the story. Instead of thinking “Aiiiiiiiiiiiiii!” you end up thinking “Where’s that racket coming from? There’s a girl covered in blood clinging to the ceiling and someone’s practising their violin.” Or something along those lines, anyway.

Then there’s the whole ‘how do they / we find this footage anyway’ conundrum. Cloverfield makes this apparent from the start (though it does imply that everyone you get to know will die, annoyingly), and Paranormal Activity, The Fourth Kind and the like are pretty self-explanatory but [REC] – well, who went into the building full of zombies to pick that tape up, then? To be honest, though it’s a tiny thing, it can niggle at you throughout the movie – unless, of course, the sequel clears that all up nicely.

But what have I missed? What are the other found footage tropes that still have legs? And do we want another found footage spooking, or is the more traditional format still king? Go forth and comment. Immediately.