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← All listsCurated list · 20 films
The 20 Scariest Found Footage Movies of All Time
Which found footage films are actually the scariest? Instead of relying on one opinion, we compared 14 rankings: horror and film sites like /Film, Paste, Fangoria, Looper, the BFI, Dread Central, Dexerto and Slasher Shack, plus six of the most popular fan rankings on Letterboxd.
Each film is ranked by how many of those lists it appears on. When two films tie, the older one comes first.
- 01In 11 of 14 rankings
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Three students, a camera and the woods. Decades later it still tops almost every list - the less you see, the worse it gets.
View film - 02In 11 of 14 rankings
Lake Mungo (2008)
A quiet Australian ghost story told as a documentary about a family's grief. It never shouts, and it stays with you for days.
View film - 04In 9 of 14 rankings
Noroi: The Curse (2005)
A missing journalist's last documentary slowly connects strange incidents to an ancient curse. Japanese dread at its most patient.
View film - 06In 9 of 14 rankings
The Borderlands (2013)
A Vatican team rigs a remote English church with cameras to investigate a reported miracle. Slow, unsettling and hard to shake.
View film - 07In 9 of 14 rankings
The Taking of Deborah Logan (2014)
A documentary about an elderly woman with Alzheimer's turns into something far worse. One of the genre's most frightening possession films.
View film - 08In 9 of 14 rankings
As Above, So Below (2014)
A young scholar takes a documentary crew into the catacombs beneath Paris in search of the philosopher's stone. Pure claustrophobia.
View film - 09In 9 of 14 rankings
Hell House LLC (2015)
The footage behind a Halloween haunted-house attraction in an abandoned hotel - and the opening night that ended in tragedy.
View film - 11In 8 of 14 rankings
Paranormal Activity (2007)
A couple, a bedroom and a camera on a tripod. Night after night, something gets bolder.
View film - 13In 7 of 14 rankings
The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007)
A true-crime documentary built around a serial killer's own tapes. Deeply disturbing rather than jumpy - not for everyone.
View film - 14In 7 of 14 rankings
Grave Encounters (2011)
A ghost-hunting TV crew locked overnight in an abandoned asylum, where the hallways stop making sense.
View film - 15In 6 of 14 rankings
Cloverfield (2008)
A monster attack on New York, seen through one handheld camera from street level.
View film - 17In 6 of 14 rankings
Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum (2018)
A horror web series livestreams from a real abandoned asylum in South Korea - and room 402 should have stayed shut.
View film - 18In 6 of 14 rankings
Incantation (2022)
A mother who broke a religious taboo asks you, the viewer, to chant a blessing with her. The Taiwanese Netflix hit.
View film - 19In 5 of 14 rankings
Ghostwatch (1992)
The fake live BBC broadcast from a haunted house that caused a national uproar on Halloween 1992.
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.
17 filmsBeyond HorrorFound footage isn't only horror. Superpowers, moon landings, wild parties, war dramas and screen thrillers - the best non-horror films told through cameras inside the story.
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.
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.