Subgenres
Camera formatsBodycamCamcorderComputer ScreenDocumentaryHead CameraHome VideoLivestreamNews CameraNight VisionSecurity CameraTV Show FootageWebcam
Subgenres
Camera formatsBodycamCamcorderComputer ScreenDocumentaryHead CameraHome VideoLivestreamNews CameraNight VisionSecurity CameraTV Show FootageWebcam
← All listsCurated list · 17 films
Found Footage Beyond Horror: Sci-Fi, War, Comedy and Thrillers
When people hear found footage, they think of shaky cameras in dark woods. But the format works for almost any genre: superhero stories, sci-fi adventures, war dramas, teen comedies, fake news broadcasts and screen-based thrillers.
These films prove it. They are listed in release order.
- 01
David Holzman's Diary (1967)
A young man films his own life in 1967 New York until the camera takes over. A low-budget experiment made decades before the found footage boom.
View film - 02
Special Bulletin (1983)
A hostage crisis with a homemade atomic bomb, told entirely as a live news broadcast. A 1983 TV movie from Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz.
View film - 04
Without Warning (1994)
Meteor fragments hit three places on Earth at once, covered live through the night by real news anchors. A fake breaking-news broadcast from 1994.
View film - 08
The Dinosaur Project (2012)
A British expedition is stranded in the Congo jungle while searching for a legendary creature. An adventure-movie take on the format.
View film - 11
Europa Report (2013)
Six astronauts on the first crewed mission to Jupiter's moon Europa. Calm, realistic sci-fi told through the ship's cameras.
View film - 12
Earth to Echo (2014)
Three friends follow strange maps on their phones and find a small robotic alien. A family adventure filmed on the kids' cameras.
View film - 13
Project Almanac (2015)
Teenagers build a time machine from plans left behind by a late father. Sci-fi fun produced by Michael Bay.
View film - 14
Operation Avalanche (2016)
Two CIA agents go undercover at NASA in 1967 - and end up with a risky plan around the Apollo 11 moon landing. A conspiracy thriller in 1960s documentary style.
View film
More lists
15 filmsFound Footage for BeginnersNew to found footage? Start here: 15 essential films, from Ghostwatch and The Blair Witch Project to Host and Incantation, that fans and critics rank highest again and again.
12 filmsBest of the 2020sOur picks for the best found footage films of the 2020s so far, from a séance on a video call to lost tapes in the desert and a talk show gone to hell.
19 filmsAround the WorldFound footage isn't just American: haunted asylums in South Korea, curses in Japan and Taiwan, trolls in Norway and lost tapes from Spain to Chile.
16 filmsScreenlife MoviesFilms that play out entirely on computer and phone screens: video calls, livestreams, chats and webcams. From The Collingswood Story and Unfriended to Searching and Host.20 filmsThe 20 ScariestThe scariest found footage movies, ranked by how often they appear across 14 critics' and fan rankings - from The Blair Witch Project and Lake Mungo to [REC], Noroi and Host.
17 filmsAlien Found FootageThe best found footage movies about aliens and UFOs: alien abductions, strange lights in the sky, close encounters and missions into space - from The McPherson Tape to Phoenix Forgotten.
18 filmsGhost HuntingFound footage movies about ghost hunters, paranormal TV crews and livestreamers who spend the night in haunted places - from Ghostwatch and Grave Encounters to Gonjiam and Deadstream.
14 filmsMonsters and CryptidsFound footage monster movies: Bigfoot, trolls, cryptids and creatures caught on camera - from Cloverfield and Trollhunter to Willow Creek, Exists and Frogman.
15 filmsInspired by True EventsFound footage movies inspired by real events and real places: the Dyatlov Pass incident, the Phoenix Lights, the Cecil Hotel, the Rendlesham UFO sighting and more.
14 filmsLost in the WoodsFound footage horror set in the woods: camping trips, cabins and forests where something is watching - from The Blair Witch Project to Willow Creek, Exists and Crone Wood.