Whether it's VHS tapes or Zoom video calls, found footage horror movies have utilized whatever digital format is at their disposal to create some of the most terrifying stories, but '90s technology tends to evoke more fear than contemporary media. While Ruggero Deodato's Cannibal Holocaust is considered the first of its kind, found footage was popularized by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez's The Blair Witch Project. Since then, creators in the sub-genre have used it as a means of crafting realistic horrors. Despite the mid-2000s ushering in the era of video chats and webcam conferences, found footage horror continues to have an affinity for '90s technology, and for good reason.

The Blair Witch Project is considered one of the best markers of the shifts that found footage horror movies have undergone. Cannibal Holocaust enticed viewers with the promise of witnessing snuff-like perversions, but Myrick and Sánchez's flick offered audiences a front seat to what seemed to be real events. With shaky cam and POV shots, they single-handedly set-up the future of found footage while laying the groundwork for a tried and true media - '90s video cassette recorders. There was a certain draw to them that felt familiar and hyper-real. During the sub-genre's inception, it was common that home videos were captured of VHS tapes, television programs were recorded using VCRs to ensure not a single moment was missed, and people flocked to video rental stores to pick out a Friday night flick without having to go to theaters. In short, VHS tapes were the most common form of at-home media, which allowed horror directors to manipulate them into objects that could be feared instead of relished.

Related: Why Cannibal Holocaust Was So Controversial

With the new millennium came DVDs, digital recording devices, webcams, chatrooms, social media, and more. Rather than found footage VHS tapes, the 2010s honed in on what would happen if everything went wrong during a friendly video chat. The Ring's video tape seemed less scary now that it was highly unlikely to encounter a strange VHS tape and have a VCR nearby to play it. The 2010s introduced the fear of webcam hackers like Black Mirror's "Shut Up And Dance", and movies like Unfriended delved into how the internet could be haunted by malevolent spirits. Even with the progression of found footage formats, directors tend to continually return to VHS tapes due to nostalgia and, most importantly, because they've proven to work time and time again.

How Modern & Retro Technology Have Impacted Found Footage Movies

Samara covered in the ring by the well in The Ring remake of 2002

Instead of VHS tapes, found footage set its sights on more personal technologies. For instance, Shudder's Host, regarded as the best horror movie of 2020, utilized Zoom chatrooms as a means of evoking its horrors. When the COVID-19 pandemic swept through the nation, stay at home orders were issued and Zoom became the dominant means of communicating, teaching, and more. Director Rob Savage took this opportunity to make a highly relevant found footage movie with an all too familiar form of media. In the 2020s, well-done movies in the subgenre are very uncommon. There was a boom in the 2010s due to the popularity of Blumhouse Productions' Paranormal Activitybut they reverted back to the classic handheld camera recordings that put The Blair Witch Project in such high ranks.

As found footage has grown and changed, it has been forced to become reliant on a specific circumstance. While classic hauntings can be wildly successful, as proven with Host, they must be done right or they're doomed to fail. Despite valuable attempts to use video chatrooms for found footage, movies such as V/H/S, As Above, So Below, and Quarantine prove that the personal touch of a handheld device over a webcam are far more preferable. Thus, adding to the argument that '90s and '00s technologies are scarier when employed in the subgenre, as nearly every single one of them shares some aspect familiar to camcorders and personal video recordings.

Why '90s & '00s Technology Is Scarier

The Poughkeepsie Tapes

There are countless reasons that make '90s and '00s technologies scarier than most. Primarily, it is their familiarity to some as home or family videos. VHS tapes have the capability to be recorded and rerecorded over for as many times as the tape allows for before it finally snaps, meaning anyone can put anything on them. There is an air of mystery to VHS tapes, unlike any other form of media. For example, when Samara's video in The Ring is discovered, it only has the words "watch me" on it; there is nothing indicating what could possibly be recorded on the tape.

Related: The Poughkeepsie Tapes True Story: How Much Of The Movie Is Actually Real

Furthermore, The Poughkeepsie Tapes encompasses the discovery of dozens of VHS tapes from a supposed serial killer who recorded all of his killings and titled them after the incident or the date they took place. When they're first found, no one knows what's on them, which requires them to be viewed. The found footage sub-genre has also allowed for such recordings to become haunted objects, like Samara's tape that, when watched, triggers her ghost to call and warn the viewer that they'll die by the end of the week. As of this writing, there's never been a horror movie that has attempted to make a DVD a haunted object or a webcam mysterious. These elements are unique to retro technology.

Retro Technology Is Scary In Modern Horror Movies Too

Rent-A-Pal Ending Explainer

In recent years, the 1980s and 1990s have become a popular setting and source of material for new horror movies. Filmmakers have returned to franchises that made the genre so great, like Blumhouse's reboot of John Carpenter's Halloween. While many are taking inspiration from classic slashers, others - such as Rent-A-Pal - are drawing from the technology that defined the found footage sub-genre. They've become even more nuanced with their uses as well. Rent-A-Pal delves into the loneliness and solitude of a man who turns to video dating services to meet his match. As it progresses, his mental stability wavers as a result of becoming hopelessly devoted to his VHS tape best friend.

Even with inventive storylines, found footage movies featuring VHS tapes from the 2010s and 2000s have re-entered popularity. The video sharing app TikTok largely popularized The Poughkeepsie Tapes in 2020 by stating it was one of the most disturbing movies ever created. A portion of the app - known as #horrorTok -  even created the Megan is Missing challenge, which is another found footage-esque flick. The perception of these movies as being the most disturbing or unsettling is due to the fact that they seem real because they use '90s technologies. Given the fact that these technologies have become long since obsolete - especially to younger generations - viewings lead to further speculation that the horror depicted on screen is real. While found footage horror movies will inevitably progress and apply contemporary forms of media, the tried and true method of VHS and handheld recording devices continue to dominate the sub-genre for good reason.

More: Found Footage Horror Movies Work For One Simple Reason