Don't Stop Filming @ Horror One

Gary Robertson 🎥 serves up the first dish in a diet of horror.

A much maligned and often overlooked horror genre is the "found footage" movie. Shaky cameras, bad acting, awful scripts and generally terrible movies abound within these metaphorical walls. However there are some gems: a few diamonds in the rough that will, given the chance, truly unnerve you and leave you scared of the dark.

My aim here is to try and give you, dear reader, an insight into these movies - to list 20 of my favourites. Hopefully, you'll watch a few and perhaps more become a fan. I will for the purposes of this piece be avoiding blockbusters i.e. Paranormal Activity, The Blair Witch project etc. and introduce you to a few relativity easy to find but lesser known titles.

Start the camera rolling ...

I'll start with a movie that is in my opinion a very difficult watch and that is Megan Is Missing. Released in 2011 and directed by Michael Goi the movie is centred around the disappearance of a young teenage girl and the ensuing events. This movie is hard hitting and as a parent I would definitely not let my child watch this. Believe me, there are horrific scenes where even I as a hardened horror fan found myself looking away from the screen. The ending of this movie will haunt you for a very long time.

The first time I saw this, I personally asked myself "WTF have I just seen?" This is not a movie for those who fear the sadistic twisted world we live in.

Next we have ...

Aliens: Zone Of Silence. A 2017 movie directed by Andy Fowler, this movie centres around a young girl who ventures into Mexico's Zona Del Silencio (zone of silence) to try and find her missing brother and his friend who went there to document the strange happenings which take place in this area.

The movie itself is a slow burner and, whilst the scares are few and far between, the plot is very well done and the acting believable. Obviously, from its title one can tell it's an aliens movie but in my opinion although there are many of this kind, Zone of Silence (along with one other I'll mention later) stand head and shoulders above the rest and well worth an hour or so of your time.

Followed By ...

Real Cases Of Shadow People - The Sarah McCormick Story. An eagerly awaited movie at least by me that was released in 2018 and produced by Joseph Mazzaferro and Joseph Thomas. This movie when first viewed caused uproar in the FF community. For some it was the greatest thing ever and to others nothing more than a Blair Witch rip off. The story itself centres around Sarah and her crew who go off to investigate the phenomenon of shadow people, interviewing witnesses and travelling across America. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and whilst yes I get the Blair Witch vibe, this gem can stand on its own two feet with again believable acting. And if there was one - you'll need to watch it - a well rehearsed script: also stunning views of American scenery along with a fitting soundtrack (even row your boat works). This is definitely not one to miss.

And Then ...

Cannibal Holocaust. Likely to be one of the most graphic and controversial movies you are ever likely to encounter. Released in 1980 and banned almost immediately, the director of this masterpiece is an Italian, Ruggero Deodato, who himself landed in court charged with murder and had to produce an actor from this stomach churning blood-hate-rape-violence fest to prove he hadn't actually killed them onscreen. Again, not for the easily offended, the plot involves a small team who go looking in the jungles of South America for a missing team who went before them. A warning - there are actual scenes of real animals being killed in this movie so I strongly advise only the most ardent horror fan wrap their arms round this one

Finally for part one ...

Cloverfield - yes it's a monster pic Godzilla, style but it's fun. It's scary in parts and it's hard not to feel so sorry for the characters and their journey fruitlessly attempting to escape a giant monster that is destroying New York (sound familiar?) Directed by Matt Reeves and released in 2008 this movie is one of those I find myself returning to over and over when there's "nothing to watch" on TV. I've pretty much already given the plot away but let me just say the monster scenes in this movie are pretty damn good in my opinion. Realism is necessary with these movies - they need to suck you in and keep you watching while they keep rolling, and in my opinion this is one of the better found footage monster movies made.

Happy viewing and I'll see you all in Part Two.

⏩ Gary Robertson is a patron of TPQ.