Found footage (film technique)
Found footage is a cinematic technique and film genre in which all or a substantial part of the work is presented as if it were film or video recordings recorded by characters in the story, and later "found" and presented to the audience. The events on screen are typically seen through the camera of one or more of the characters involved, often accompanied by their real-time off-camera commentary. For added realism, the cinematography may be done by the actors themselves as they perform, and shaky camera work, improvisation and naturalistic acting are routinely employed. The footage may be presented as if it were "raw" and complete or as if it had been edited into a narrative by those who "found" it.
The most common use of the technique is in horror films such as The Blair Witch Project, The Last Broadcast, Cannibal Holocaust, Paranormal Activity, Diary of the Dead, Rec, Cloverfield, Trollhunter, V/H/S, ''Incantation, Be My Cat: A Film for Anne, As Above, So Below, Lake Mungo or Late Night with the Devil, in which the footage is purported to be the only surviving record of the events, with the participants now missing or dead. It has also been used in science fiction such as Chronicle, Project Almanac or Europa Report, drama such as Zero Day and Exhibit A, comedy such as Project X, crime mockumentary such as Trailer Park Boys, family such as Earth to Echo, experimental arthouse such as The Connection, The Outwaters or Masking Threshold and war films such as 84C MoPic.
Some pseudo-documentary films such as Lake Mungo or Noroi: The Curse, most screenlife films such as Unfriended, its sequel Dark Web, Profile or Searching, a few POV films such as Hardcore Henry or Presence, most livestream and "live TV" films such as Ghostwatch, as well as films where the footage is presented as originating from surveillance or dashboard cameras such as Taxi or Spree'', are also often considered to fall under the found footage umbrella, despite the fact that technically the footage is not presented as "lost and found", but only as long as the camera is implied to be a part of the film and not a fourth wall the way it is in traditional films.
History
As a storytelling technique, found footage has precedents in literature, particularly in the trope of found manuscript, as well as epistolary novel, which typically consists of either correspondence or diary entries, purportedly written by a character central to the events. Like found footage, the epistolary technique has often been employed in horror fiction: both Dracula and Frankenstein are epistolary novels, as is The Call of Cthulhu by H. P. Lovecraft.File:Ruggero Deodato 2008.jpg|thumb|upright|Italian director Ruggero Deodato revolutionized the found footage style of narrative filmmaking with Cannibal Holocaust, the first horror film using this technique.
In filmmaking, the 1980 cult horror feature Cannibal Holocaust is often claimed to be the first example of found footage. However, Shirley Clarke's arthouse film The Connection and the Orson Welles directed The Other Side of the Wind, a found footage movie shot in the early 1970s but released in 2018, predate Cannibal Holocaust. , segment titled “The Ferguson Case” has recently surfaced to be seen as one of the first examples to feature the found-footage style in a horror setting. Specifically its use of the footage being found in a scenario where the people who have shot it have gone missing from the circumstances at hand. This style predating films The Blair Witch Project and The Last Broadcast who popularized the genre style by nearly a decade.America's Deadliest Home Video, remains a potent use of the format as well as an unsung groundbreaker in the found-footage field - an ahead-of-its-time application of the vérité-video form to the horror/crime genre. The device was popularised by The Blair Witch Project. Found footage has since been used in other commercially successful films, including Paranormal Activity, Rec, Cloverfield, Chronicle, Sinister, Creep and Late Night with the Devil. Reviewing V/H/S for The A.V. Club, Scott Tobias notes that the genre "has since become to the '00s and '10s what slasher movies were to the '80s."
The genre appeals to some film producers because of its lower cost, as it is believed the illusion of amateur documentary style allows lower production values than would be accepted on a conventional film. Other filmmakers choose it for creative reasons.
Writer-director Christopher B. Landon, who has made several found footage horror films, as well as filmmaker Adrian Țofei in his found footage manifesto, posit that the genre is likely to successfully extend outside horror in the future.
Analysis
Found-footage films typically employ one or more of six cinematic techniques—first-person perspective, pseudo-documentary, mockumentary, news footage, surveillance footage, or screenlife—according to an analysis of 500 found-footage films conducted by Found Footage Critic.The film magazine Variety has used the term "faux found-footage" to describe the technique. Film scholar David Bordwell criticizes the usage, arguing that it sows confusion, and instead prefers the term "discovered footage" for the narrative gimmick.
According to filmmaker Adrian Țofei in his found footage manifesto, a found footage film is technically a pseudo-documentary or fake documentary film, in which all or a substantial part of the picture is presented as being composed of recordings of real life events, seen through cameras that are part of the events. He defines found footage as a "filmmaking concept" with the goal of giving audiences the illusion that they're not watching a movie made by filmmakers and actors, but genuine life events recorded by people like them who were part of the events, which would allow audiences to be fully immersed in the movie experience.
In a 2016 article for Cinema Journal, Cecilia Sayad explores the relationship between the found footage genre and reality. She asserts that the genre’s metaphorical framing, convincing audiences that films contain true unscripted footage, and its technical framing, mimicking amateur home videos and security footage, are key to what creates fear in the audience, dissolving the traditional boundaries between what is part of the film and real life.
Sayad highlights how the found footage genre invites the audience to “to anxiously scan the image for threatening presences”, blurring the boundary between what is on screen and what is real. For example, The Paranormal Activity series’ inclusion of the timestamps on each clip of footage “empowers the audience”, encouraging watchers to analyze evidence in real time. Typical found footage techniques, like shaky handheld sequences and sudden zooms, create the illusion that the camera frame is unable to contain the evil of any film’s antagonist to the screen. The selective choice to not center major action sequences on camera, like during the climax of the Paranormal Activity, also contributes to this effect. Sayad notes that “the sense of lurking danger is enhanced as much by our fear about seeing things as by our anxiety about what we do not see”.
Importantly, Sayad notes that there is an important distinction between found footage horror films and other “self-aware” horror films, like 1996’s Scream. She writes,
“Scream is pastiche of classics packages the film as artifice, keeping the relationship between movies and reality safely locked in the realm of fiction. The found-footage movie, in contrast, presents itself as real, whereas its characteristically unstable camera work suggests that the film can neither lock things in nor keep them out.
Examples
Films
The following entries are notable films in the found footage genre, though some were only partially made in that style.| Title | Release year | Director | Production company | |
| The Connection | 1961 | Shirley Clarke | The Connection Company | |
| Coming Apart | 1969 | Milton Moses Ginsberg | Kaleidoscope Films | |
| Cannibal Holocaust | 1980 | Ruggero Deodato | F.D. Cinematografica | |
| Special Bulletin | 1983 | Edward Zwick | Ohlmeyer Communications Company | |
| Guinea Pig: Devil's Experiment | 1985 | Satoru Ogura | Sai Enterprise | |
| UFO Abduction | 1989 | Dean Alioto | IndieSyndicate Productions | |
| 84C MoPic | 1989 | Patrick Sheane Duncan | New Century Vista Film Company | |
| Man Bites Dog | 1993 | Rémy Belvaux André Bonzel Benoît Poelvoorde | Les Artistes Anonymes | |
| Forgotten Silver | 1995 | Peter Jackson | WingNut Films | |
| Little Sister | 1995 | Robert Jan Westdijk | Grote Broer Filmwerken CV | |
| Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County | 1998 | Dean Alioto | Dick Clark Productions | |
| The Last Broadcast | 1998 | Stefan Avalos Lance Weiler | FFM Productions | |
| The Blair Witch Project | 1999 | Daniel Myrick Eduardo Sánchez | Haxan Films | |
| The St. Francisville Experiment | 2000 | Ted Nicolaou | The Kushner-Locke Company | |
| Gang Tapes | 2001 | Adam Ripp | Lionsgate | |
| August Underground | 2001 | Fred Vogel | Absu Films Toetag Pictures | |
| The Collingswood Story | 2002 | Mike Costanza | Cinerebel Media | |
| August Underground's Mordum | 2003 | Fred Vogel Killjoy Cristie Whiles Jerami Cruise Michael T. Schneider | Toetag Pictures | |
| The Great American Snuff Film | 2003 | Sean Tretta | Ominous Productions | |
| The Last Horror Movie | 2003 | Julian Richards | Prolific Films Snakehair Productions | |
| Zero Day | 2003 | Ben Coccio | Professor Bright Films | |
| Incident at Loch Ness | 2004 | Zak Penn | Eden Rock Media | |
| September Tapes | 2004 | Christian Johnston | Complex Films Raz Productions Raz Entertainment Persistent Entertainment | |
| LolliLove | 2004 | Jenna Fischer | LolliLove Productions | |
| Noroi: The Curse | 2005 | Kōji Shiraishi | Xanadeux Company | |
| Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon | 2006 | Scott Glosserman | GlenEcho Entertainment Code Entertainment | |
| Alone with Her | 2006 | Eric Nicholas | Pin Hole Productions LLC The Weinstein Company | |
| The Zombie Diaries | 2006 | Kevin Gates Michael Bartlett | Off World Films Bleeding Edge Films | |
| State's Evidence | 2006 | Benjamin Louis | Terra Entertainment | |
| The Hunt | 2007 | Fritz Kiersch | Graymark Productions Azisa Pictures | |
| Welcome to the Jungle | 2007 | Jonathan Hensleigh | Steelbridge Film Works Bauer Martinez Studios Valhalla Motion Pictures | |
| The Poughkeepsie Tapes | 2007 | John Erick Dowdle | Brothers Dowdle Productions Poughkeepsie Films | |
| August Underground's Penance | 2007 | Fred Vogel | Toetag Pictures | |
| Redacted | 2007 | Brian De Palma | Magnolia Pictures | |
| Long Pigs | 2007 | Chris Power | Clowns After Midnight Productions Jordan Entertainment Chris Bridges Effects Studio | |
| Head Case | 2007 | Anthony Spadaccini | Fleet Street Films B.P.A. Productions Group, Inc. | |
| Exhibit A | 2007 | Dom Rotheroe | Warp Films | |
| Paranormal Activity | 2007 | Oren Peli | Blumhouse Productions | |
| Death of a Ghost Hunter | 2007 | Sean Tretta | Ominous Productions | |
| Live! | 2007 | Bill Guttentag | Atlas Entertainment | |
| Rec | 2007 | Jaume Balagueró Paco Plaza | Castelao Producciones Filmax | |
| Look | 2007 | Adam Rifkin | Captured Films | |
| Surf's Up | 2007 | Ash Brannon Chris Buck | Sony Pictures Animation | |
| Monster | 2008 | Erik Estenberg | The Asylum | |
| Cloverfield | 2008 | Matt Reeves | Bad Robot | |
| Diary of the Dead | 2008 | George A. Romero | Artfire Films Romero-Grunwald Productions | |
| Lake Mungo | 2008 | Joel Anderson | Screen Australia | |
| Home Movie | 2008 | Christopher Denham | Modernciné | |
| Bryan Loves You | 2008 | Seth Landau | Seth Landau | |
| Quarantine | 2008 | John Erick Dowdle | Vertigo Entertainment Andale Pictures Filmax Entertainment | |
| Occult | 2009 | Kōji Shiraishi | Image Rings Creative Axa Company Ltd. | |
| Evil Things | 2009 | Dominic Perez | Go Show Media | |
| District 9 | 2009 | Neill Blomkamp | QED International WingNut Films | |
| The Ritual | 2009 | Anthony Spadaccini | Fleet Street Films B.P.A. Productions Group, Inc. | |
| Trash Humpers | 2009 | Harmony Korine | Alcove Entertainment Warp Films O' Salvation | |
| Rec 2 | 2009 | Jaume Balagueró Paco Plaza | Castelao Producciones Filmax | |
| Murder Collection V.1 | 2009 | Fred Vogel | Toetag Pictures | |
| Paranormal Entity | 2009 | Shane Van Dyke | The Asylum | |
| Bachiatari Bōryoku Ningen | 2010 | Kōji Shiraishi | Creative AXA | |
| Lunopolis | 2010 | Matthew Avant | Media Savant | |
| Love Sex aur Dhokha | 2010 | Dibakar Banerjee | Freshwater Films | |
| Eyes in the Dark | 2010 | Bjorn Anderson | Emerald City Pictures | |
| Hotel Hollywood | 2010 | Param Gill | G S Productions | |
| Shirome | 2010 | Kōji Shiraishi | Stardust Promotion Shirome Project Partners | |
| The Last Exorcism | 2010 | Daniel Stamm | Strike Entertainment StudioCanal Arcade Pictures | |
| Undocumented | 2010 | Chris Peckover | Sheperd Glen Productions | |
| The Virginity Hit | 2010 | Huck Botko Andrew Gurland | Gary Sanchez Productions | |
| 8213: Gacy House | 2010 | Anthony Fankhauser | The Asylum | |
| Atrocious | 2010 | Fernando Barreda Luna | Nabu Films Silencio Rodamos Programa Ibermedia | |
| Paranormal Activity 2 | 2010 | Tod Williams | Blumhouse Productions | |
| Trollhunter | 2010 | André Øvredal | Filmkameratene A/S Film Fund FUZZ | |
| Unaware | 2010 | Sean Bardin Robert Cooley | Cooley Productions | |
| Paranormal Activity 2: Tokyo Night | 2010 | Toshikazu Nagae | Presidio Corporation | |
| Anneliese: The Exorcist Tapes | 2011 | Jude Gerard Prest | The Asylum | |
| The Tunnel | 2011 | Carlo Ledesma | DLSHS Film Distracted Media Zapruder's Other Films | |
| Megan Is Missing | 2011 | Michael Goi | Trio Pictures | |
| Grave Encounters | 2011 | The Vicious Brothers | Twin Engine Films | |
| World of the Dead: The Zombie Diaries 2 | 2011 | Kevin Gates Michael Bartlett | Off World Films Bleeding Edge Films Straightwire Entertainment Group | |
| Hollow | 2011 | Michael Axelgaard | Hollow Pictures Tribeca Film | |
| Untitled | 2011 | Shaun Troke | Shaunywa Films | |
| Apollo 18 | 2011 | Gonzalo López-Gallego | Bazelevs | |
| The Tapes | 2011 | Scott Bates Lee Alliston | Darkside Pictures Pure Film Productions | - |
| Paranormal Activity 3 | 2011 | Henry Joost Ariel Schulman | Blumhouse | |
| The Amityville Haunting | 2011 | Geoff Meed | The Asylum Taut Productions | |
| Chō Akunin | 2011 | Kōji Shiraishi | Tokyo Raiders | |
| The Devil Inside | 2012 | William Brent Bell | Insurge Pictures | |
| V/H/S | 2012 | Ti West Joe Swanberg David Buckner Adam Wingard Glenn McQuaid | Radio Silence Productions The Collective Bloody Disgusting | |
| Area 407 | 2012 | Dale Fabrigar Everette Wallin | Suzanne DeLaurentiis Productions Cloud Nine Pictures Entertainment Factory | |
| Chronicle | 2012 | Josh Trank | Davis Entertainment | |
| Project X | 2012 | Nima Nourizadeh | Silver Pictures Green Hat Films | |
| Evidence | 2012 | Howie Askins | RynoRyder Productions | |
| Hate Crime | 2012 | James Cullen Bressack | Psykik Junky Pictures | |
| Apartment 143 | 2012 | Carles Torrens | Werc Werk Works Kasdan Pictures Likely Story | |
| 100 Ghost Street: The Return of Richard Speck | 2012 | Martin Anderson | The Asylum | |
| The Dinosaur Project | 2012 | Sid Bennett | Moonlighting Films | |
| Shopping Tour | 2012 | Michael Brashinsky | Duty-Free Productions | |
| A Night in the Woods | 2012 | Richard Parry | Vertigo Films | |
| End of Watch | 2012 | David Ayer | StudioCanal | |
| The Conspiracy | 2012 | Christopher MacBride | Resolute Films and Entertainment | |
| Grave Encounters 2 | 2012 | John Poliquin | Arclight Films | |
| Paranormal Activity 4 | 2012 | Henry Joost Ariel Schulman | Room 101 | |
| The Bay | 2012 | Barry Levinson | Lionsgate | |
| A Haunted House | 2013 | Michael Tiddes | Open Road Films | |
| The Upper Footage | 2013 | Justin Cole | ||
| Dabbe: Curse of the Jinn | 2013 | Hasan Karacadağ | Hasan Karacadağ | |
| Devil's Pass | 2013 | Renny Harlin | Aldamisa Entertainment Non-Stop Productions Midnight Sun Pictures K. Jam Media | |
| The Frankenstein Theory | 2013 | Andrew Weiner | Rocket Inner Station Therapy Content Arctic Film Group | |
| Cult | 2013 | Kōji Shiraishi | ||
| Willow Creek | 2013 | Bobcat Goldthwait | Jerkschool Productions | |
| V/H/S/2 | 2013 | Simon Barrett Jason Eisener Gareth Evans Gregg Hale Eduardo Sánchez Timo Tjahjanto Adam Wingard | The Collective Bloody Disgusting 8383 Productions Snoot Entertainment Haxan Films Yer Dead Productions | |
| Europa Report | 2013 | Sebastián Cordero | Wayfare Entertainment Ventures | |
| The Borderlands | 2013 | Elliot Goldner | Metrodome Distribution | |
| The Paranormal Diaries: Clophill | 2013 | Kevin Gates Michael Bartlett | Second Sight Films | |
| Head Cases: Serial Killers in the Delaware Valley | 2013 | Anthony Spadaccini | Fleet Street Films B.P.A. Productions Group, Inc. | |
| The Dirties | 2013 | Matt Johnson | SModcast Pictures | |
| Frankenstein's Army | 2013 | Richard Raaphorst | Dark Sky Films Pellicola XYZ Films | |
| Sx Tape | 2013 | Bernard Rose | Aeroplano La.Lune Entertainment | |
| Hooked Up | 2013 | Pablo Larcuen | Uncork'd Entertainment | |
| WNUF Halloween Special | 2013 | Chris LaMartina James Branscome Shawn Jones Scott Maccubbin Lonnie Martin Matthew Menter Andy Schoeb | Midnight Crew Studios | |
| Skinwalker Ranch | 2013 | Devin McGinn Steve Berg | DeepStudios | |
| 6-5=2 | 2013 | KS Ashoka | Swarnalatha Production | |
| Best Night Ever | 2013 | Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer | Magnet Releasing | |
| What We Do in the Shadows | 2014 | Jemaine Clement Taika Waititi | Resnick Interactive Development Unison Films Defender Films New Zealand Film Commission | |
| Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones | 2014 | Christopher Landon | Paramount Pictures | |
| Devil's Due | 2014 | Matt Bettinelli-Olpin Tyler Gillett | Davis Entertainment Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | |
| Black Water Vampire | 2014 | Evan Tramel | BWV Productions Ruthless Pictures | |
| Exists | 2014 | Eduardo Sánchez | Lionsgate Haxan Films Court Five | |
| The Den | 2014 | Zachary Donohue | Cliffbrook Films Onset Films | |
| Mr. Jones | 2014 | Karl Mueller | Preferred Content Preferred Film & TV | |
| Open Windows | 2014 | Nacho Vigalondo | Antena 3 Films Apaches Entertainment Spiderwood Studios Wild Bunch SpectreVision | |
| The Den | 2014 | Zachary Donohue | Cliffbrook Films Onset Films | |
| Afflicted | 2014 | Derek Lee Clif Prowse | Automatik Entertainment Téléfilm Canada | |
| Babysitting | 2014 | Nicolas Benamou Philippe Lacheau | Axel Films Madame Films Cinéfrance 1888 Good Lap Production | |
| A Haunted House 2 | 2014 | Michael Tiddes | IM Global Octane Wayans Bros. Entertainment Baby Way Productions | |
| The Sacrament | 2014 | Ti West | Worldview Entertainment Arcade Pictures | |
| Alien Abduction | 2014 | Matty Beckerman | Exclusive Media Group Big Picture Next Entertainment Lawrence Bender Productions Mob Scene Creative Productions | |
| Inner Demons | 2014 | Seth Grossman | Schorr Pictures | |
| Earth to Echo | 2014 | Dave Green | Relativity Media | |
| Into the Storm | 2014 | Steven Quale | New Line Cinema Village Roadshow Pictures | |
| The Possession of Michael King | 2014 | David Jung | Gold Circle Films Quickfire Films | |
| As Above, So Below | 2014 | John Erick Dowdle | Universal Pictures Legendary Pictures | |
| The Hunted | 2014 | Josh Stewart | Fortress Features Allegheny Image Factory | |
| The Houses October Built | 2014 | Bobby Roe | Room 101 Foreboding Films | |
| Gore, Quebec | 2014 | Jean Benoit Lauzon | Green Lake Films | |
| The Taking of Deborah Logan | 2014 | Adam Robitel | Eagle Films Millennium Entertainment | |
| Hangar 10 | 2014 | Daniel Simpson | Newscope Films | |
| V/H/S: Viral | 2014 | Nacho Vigalondo Marcel Sarmiento Gregg Bishop Justin Benson Todd Lincoln | Bloody Disgusting The Collective Haxan Films | |
| The Pyramid | 2014 | Grégory Levasseur | Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | |
| The Atticus Institute | 2015 | Chris Sparling | SND Groupe M6 | |
| Project Almanac | 2015 | Dean Israelite | Insurge Pictures Platinum Dunes MTV Films | |
| Ratter | 2015 | Branden Kramer | Start Motion Pictures | |
| Digging Up the Marrow | 2015 | Adam Green | Ariescope Pictures | |
| Creep | 2015 | Patrick Brice | Blumhouse Productions | |
| Nightlight | 2015 | Scott Beck Bryan Woods | Herrick Entertainment | |
| The Final Project | 2015 | Taylor Ri'chard | Cavu Pictures | |
| Unfriended | 2015 | Levan Gabriadze | Universal Studios Blumhouse Productions | |
| Always Watching: A Marble Hornets Story | 2015 | James Moran | Mosaic Good Universe GraceSam LLC | |
| Area 51 | 2015 | Oren Peli | Paramount Pictures | |
| The Phoenix Incident | 2015 | Keith Arem | PCB Productions | |
| The Cutting Room | 2015 | Warren Dudley | Itchy Fish Film | |
| The Gallows | 2015 | Travis Cluff Chris Lofing | New Line Cinema Blumhouse Productions Management 360 Tremendum Pictures | |
| JeruZalem | 2015 | Doron Paz Yoav Paz | Universal Pictures | |
| The Visit | 2015 | M. Night Shyamalan | Blinding Edge Pictures Blumhouse Productions Universal Pictures | |
| Hell House LLC | 2015 | Stephen Cognetti | Cognetti Films | |
| Savageland | 2015 | Phil Guidry Simon Herbert David Whelan | The Massive Film Company | |
| Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension | 2015 | Gregory Plotkin | Paramount Pictures | |
| Be My Cat: A Film for Anne | 2015 | Adrian Țofei | Adrian Țofei | |
| Unlisted Owner | 2016 | Jed Brian | Lawford County Productions | |
| Aksbandh | 2016 | Emran Hussain | Cinematic Media | |
| Population Zero | 2016 | Adam Levins | A71 Entertainment | |
| Operation Avalanche | 2016 | Matt Johnson | Vice Films | |
| Blair Witch | 2016 | Adam Wingard | Lionsgate Pictures | |
| Capture Kill Release | 2016 | Nick McAnulty Brian Allan Stewart | ||
| The Dark Tapes | 2017 | Michael McQuown | Epic Pictures Group | |
| Phoenix Forgotten | 2017 | Justin Barber | Cinelou Films Scott Free Productions | |
| The Houses October Built 2 | 2017 | Bobby Roe | Foreboding Films | |
| #FromJennifer | 2017 | Frank Merle | Lone Morsel Productions | |
| Found Footage 3D | 2017 | Steven DeGennaro | The Ubiquitous Studio 42 | |
| Creep 2 | 2017 | Patrick Brice | Blumhouse Productions Netflix | |
| One Cut of the Dead | 2017 | Shin'ichirō Ueda | Enbu Seminar | |
| Unfriended: Dark Web | 2018 | Stephen Susco | BH Productions Universal Studios | |
| Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum | 2018 | Jung Bum-shik | Hive Mediacorp | |
| The Devil's Doorway | 2018 | Aislinn Clarke | 23ten | |
| The Other Side of the Wind | 2018 | Orson Welles | Royal Road Entertainment | |
| Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel | 2018 | Stephen Cognetti | Terror Films Cognetti Films | |
| Butterfly Kisses | 2018 | Erik Kristopher Myers | Four-Fingered Films Cyfuno Ventures | |
| Death of a Vlogger | 2019 | Graham Hughes | ||
| Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire | 2019 | Stephen Cognetti | Terror Films Cognetti Films | |
| Insanity | 2020 | Miska Kajanus | Piilo Productions Black Lion Pictures | |
| Hacksaw | 2020 | Anthony Leone | Leone Films | |
| Host | 2020 | Rob Savage | Shadowhouse Films Shudder | |
| Human Hibachi | 2020 | Mario Cerrito | ||
| M.O.M. Mothers of Monsters | 2020 | Tucia Lyman | ||
| Spree | 2020 | Eugene Kotlyarenko | RLJE Films | |
| Scary Stories: Dark Web | 2020 | Bryan Renaud | Random Acts | |
| The Widow | 2020 | Ivan Minin | QS Films | |
| Horror in the High Desert | 2021 | Dutch Marich | Luminol Entertainment Maya Aerials | |
| Curse of Aurore | 2021 | Mehran C. Torgoley | Cult Cinema Productions | |
| The Medium | 2021 | Banjong Pisanthanakun | GDH 559 Showbox | |
| Vazhiye | 2021 | Nirmal Baby Varghese | Casablanca Film Factory | |
| Untitled Horror Movie | 2021 | Nick Simon | Bronwyn Cornelius Productions Spectrum Studios Anarchy Post | |
| Fresh Hell | 2021 | Ryan Imhoff Matt Neal | Purr Boy Productions | |
| V/H/S/94 | 2021 | Jennifer Reeder Chloe Okuno Simon Barrett Timo Tjahjanto Ryan Prows | Radio Silence Productions Bloody Disgusting Films Shudder Original Films Cinepocalypse Productions Studio71 Raven Banner Entertainment | |
| Dwellers | 2021 | Drew Fortier | Ellefson Films | |
| Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin | 2021 | William Eubank | Paramount Pictures | |
| Dashcam | 2021 | Rob Savage | Blumhouse Productions | |
| Masking Threshold | 2021 | Johannes Grenzfurthner | Monochrom | |
| Incantation | 2022 | Kevin Ko | ||
| The Outwaters | 2022 | Robbie Banfitch | 5100 Films Fathom Film Company | |
| LOLA | 2022 | Andrew Legge | Cowtown Pictures | |
| Everybody Dies by the End | 2022 | Ian Tripp Ryan Schafer | Children of Celluoid | |
| Razzennest | 2022 | Johannes Grenzfurthner | Monochrom | |
| Deadstream | 2022 | Joseph Hunter | Winterspectre Entertainment Cook Filmworks Stonehaven Entertainment | |
| V/H/S/99 | 2022 | Johannes Roberts Vanessa & Joseph Winter Maggie Levin Tyler MacIntyre Flying Lotus | Bloody Disgusting Soapbox Films Cinepocalypse Productions Radio Silence Productions Studio71 Shudder Original Films | |
| Vazhiye | 2022 | Nirmal Baby Varghese | Casablanca Film Factory | |
| Late Night with the Devil | 2023 | Colin Cairnes Cameron Cairnes | Image Nation Abu Dhabi VicScreen AGC Studios Cinetic Media Good Fiend Films Future Pictures Spooky Pictures | |
| Blue Hour: The Disappearance of Nick Brandreth | 2023 | Dan Bowhers | Glass House Distribution | |
| Livescreamers | 2023 | Michelle Iannantuono | Octopunk Media | |
| V/H/S/85 | 2023 | David Bruckner Scott Derrickson Gigi Saul Guerrero Natasha Kermani Mike P. Nelson | Bloody Disgusting Cinepocalypse Productions Radio Silence Productions Studio71 Shudder Original Films | |
| Invoking Yell | 2023 | Patricio Valladares | Welcome Villain | |
| Hostile Dimensions | 2023 | Graham Hughes | Enlightened Monster | |
| Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor | 2023 | Stephen Cognetti | Cognetti Films Marylous' Boys | |
| Solvent | 2024 | Johannes Grenzfurthner | Monochrom | |
| V/H/S/Beyond | 2024 | Jordan Downey Christian Long Justin Long Justin Martinez Virat Pal Kate Siegel Jay Cheel | Bloody Disgusting Cinepocalypse Productions Radio Silence Productions Studio71 Shudder Original Films | |
| Footage | 2024 | Saiju Sreedharan | Bineesh Chandran Saiju Sreedharan | |
| Hunting Matthew Nichols | 2024 | Markian Tarasiuk | Dropshock Pictures | |
| Strange Harvest | 2024 | Stuart Ortiz | ||
| Strange Frequencies: Taiwan Killer Hospital | 2024 | Kerwin Go | Reality MM Studios Creative Leaders Group 8 | |
| Bloat | 2025 | Pablo Absento | Bazelevs Company Flag Overland Pictures Pulsar Content XYZ Films | |
| V/H/S/Halloween | 2025 | Bryan M. Ferguson Casper Kelly Micheline Pitt-Norman & R.H. Norman Alex Ross Perry Paco Plaza Anna Zlokovic | Bloody Disgusting Radio Silence Productions Shudder Original Films |