Found footage films are among the most popular sub-genres of horror movies. That's because found footage movies found the key ingredient to hooking their audience in right away. The movies do this by playing on a fear commonly shared by many people.

The style of film found a somewhat resurgence with 1999's The Blair Witch Project. The movie's marketing campaign was executed so skillfully that many audience members went in thinking it was a true story. Because of that, The Blair Witch Project managed to completely immerse its audience within its grounded and contained story. Watching the movie makes one feel as if they are trapped within the confines of the forest alongside the documentary crew.

Related: Why 2016's Blair Witch Won't Get A Sequel (& Where The Movies Can Go Next)

The Blair Witch Project caught lightning in a bottle. While no other movie could recreate the same marketing strategy that Blair Witch pulled off, subsequent found footage horror films found success by hitting on those same beats. The genre works simply because its narrative style immerses the audience so far into the story that it puts the audience directly in the shoes of the people experiencing the horror. That fear envelopes the audience, mimicking the effect of claustrophobia.

found footage horror films

The trick to making a solid found footage horror movie film likely came by accident. One of the reasons this genre has such a strong footing in the horror genre is because they're relatively cheap to make. As they're supposed to be shot by the characters themselves, the camera work is intentionally amateurish. Found footage films tend to be limited to one or few settings, so the crew won't have to shell out for extravagant locations. But it's that feeling of watching a normal person document their lives that manages to so deeply immerse the audience.

The Blair Witch Project paved the way for recent found footage films to masterfully carry out this strategy as well. 2008's Cloverfield pulled its audience in through a love story. Protagonist Rob was separated from Beth when the monster attacked New York City. As he had harbored feelings for Beth for a long time, he stopped at nothing to ensure they'd be reunited, but the unknown danger of the monster was constantly closing in on Rob and his friends. Because of that, the metaphorical walls close in on the audience, surrounding them with an unfamiliar threat facing the characters on the screen. The monster is figuratively breathing down the necks of the New Yorkers in Cloverfield with no way for them to escape it.

The Paranormal Activity franchise is a peculiar example of movies that both exceed and fail at executing a successfully scary found footage horror movie. Just like Cloverfield and The Blair Witch Project, the first few Paranormal Activity movies are strong examples of contained horror. The characters are being tormented by demons in their own homes. The malevolent spirits close in on them before the characters must succumb to their hold — it's one of the clearest metaphors for claustrophobia one can find on screen. As the series progresses, however, the Paranormal Activity universe gets too big. The lore behind the hauntings becomes too expansive, causing the movies to lose their focus. Found footage horror movies work when their laser focus creates an immersive feeling of claustrophobia. Without that, they become lost in the shuffle.

More: How Found Footage Horror Movies Have Evolved Since The Blair Witch Project