May I present Part 2 of my Obscure Horror movies suggestions series:
Found Footage and
Mocumentaries
Found footage movies are such a polarizing sub genre of horror that many moviegoers have written it off entirely. Most critics treat it like a gimmick rendering their verdict before sitting through an entire flick. Some of these movies don’t even bother maintaining the effect throughout, resorting to floating cameras and mood music.
Produced on shoestring budgets, found footage movies always earn a modest profit. This guarantees annual Paranormal Activity entries. The abundance of these movies has devalued the format. Three found footage possession movies premiered this October.
Still, I’m a sucker for the few films that make the technique work. Here’s my list of obscure entries worth watching.
If you’d rather watch something that’s more cerebral check out Part 2 of this collection:
Reality Warping Reels and
Romance from the Twilight Zone
If you’re brave enough to explore the spicier side of horror check out Part 1:
Real World Horror and
Supernatural Horror
Found Footage
A terminal cancer patient tours Europe, only to contract Vampirism on the way. For a found footage movie, this feels more like Chronicle than Paranormal Activity.
Who will love this: People who want to see Red Bull sponsor a Vampire with a GoPro.
Who will loathe this: People put off by fleeting instances of gore, should steer clear.
A documentary crew set out to chronicle the exploits of a raving 9/11 truther, only to find themselves at the mercy of a fraternal order.
If you’re like me, you’re skeptical of conspiracy theories, and you’re not interested in buying into anyone’s narrow ideology. Don’t worry, this isn’t that movie. It plays with these concepts just to tell a scary story.
Who will love this: Anyone obsessed with secret societies. Fans of alternative reality games will enjoy pausing the movie to check out the websites the filmmakers put up to add credibility to their story.
Who will loathe this: Sincere conspiracy theorists might be offended.
Ask yourself, do I want to witness the last days of the People’s Temple, when Jim Jones instructed his followers to kill themselves? How about a modern retelling with a VICE camera crew thrown into the mix?
Who will love this: People with a morbid curiosity, eager to learn why anyone would join a cult, could actually find some insight here.
Who will loathe this: Although the cult in the movie is not the People’s Temple, the resemblance is uncanny. Viewers aware of the history of Jonestown might find this movie obscene, even though it tries to humanize the victims.
A team of skeptical Vatican investigators meet their first real demon.
Who will love this: People who like slowly unfolding hauntings. What the movie lacks in jump scare it makes up for with looming dread.
Who will loathe this: If you’re tired of the twin punch combo of exorcism and found footage movies you might want to pass.
Mocumentaries
A local news crew follows a pair of paranormal investigators into the site of a grizzly murder. It’s not the setup that earned this film a spot on my list, it’s the fact that they dressed it up to look like a VHS from the 80s, with mock commercials and zany newscasters.
Fans of BBC’s infamous Ghostwatch should check out this American approach to the material.
Who will love this: People who grew up in the eighties who are feeling nostalgic. Gen-Xers who enjoyed the video game Gone Home have to watch this.
Who will loathe this: People who hate commercial breaks, even mock-commercial breaks. Viewers looking for hardcore horror. There is violence, but it’s fleeting.
A documentary about a fake cult, a made up missing person, and a real phenomenon.10,000 people searched the streets of San Francisco for clues in an elaborate mind game. This is not a horror movie, but a clever reality bending mystery.
Who will love this: People who’d rather be mystified than terrified. Fans of sci fi art from the 60s. Anyone looking to be on the cutting edge of marketing should take notes from the Jejune Institute.
Who will loathe this: People who hate hipsters so much they’re prone to mislabeling anyone a hipster on first a glance. This is very kitschy.
Last Minute Mentions
These last minute Mentions would’ve fit better on my other lists, but I just watched them.
A horror comedy, about a girl sentenced to house arrest after attempting to rob an ATM. Trapped in her parent’s house she soon discovers that she is not alone. With the help of a ghost hunting parole officer, she sets out the find the source of the disturbances.
Who will love this: Fans of droll humor. Required viewing for Shawn of the Dead fans.
Who will loathe this: People who’d prefer their laughs and their scares to be more overt.
A widower tries to prove the ghost that haunts his house also killed his wife.
Who will love this: Fans of classical ghost stories with nightmarish dream sequences.
Who will loathe this: If you’re the type of person who can’t appreciate a movie when you can see the twist coming, you might want to pass, but if you do you’ll miss out on some very surreal visuals.
The Town that Dreaded Sundown 2014
A town trying to shake the horrific past that inspired a trashy slasher flick, is hit with another series of gruesome murders.
It feels like a Scream movie if the subject matter was taken much more seriously.
Who will love this: People hungry for a slasher film that doesn’t just have brutal kills, but also a compelling protagonist and deep world building.
Who will loathe this: People who can’t stomach violence should steer clear.