Found footage is a subgenre that never went away after its breakout moment with The Blair Witch Project in 1999. However, it is definitely having a resurgence in the mainstream. The Creep Tapes is entering its third season this month on Shudder. The found footage exclusive streaming platform Found TV celebrating its second year of service in October. Even two powerhouse IPs, The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity, are set to have new installments in 2027. So, it is safe to say found footage is “back.”
International independent genre film festival, GenreBlast, is doing their part in keeping the found footage momentum going too. GenreBlast takes place this Labor Day Weekend, September 3 – 6, 2026. Over this four day event, there will be 14 features shown, and the found footage subgenre is showing out.
The Footage We Found
The Black Hills Night Hike is a horror anthology based on the myths and legends of Maryland. In the segment titled “The Snallygaster,” written and directed by Nikolas Jackson, we follow the host of a 90’s cable access television show as they do a piece on the lore of the local legendary monster known as The Snallygaster. This segment has the exact retro feel you are looking for from 90’s cable access TV, and I need more ideas like this in the genre.
Demonetize, directed by Alexander Boyd Watson, is a hybrid found footage film filled with laughs, gore, scares, and the scariest thing of all…influencers. Demonetize follows two ghost hunters who are trying to revive their careers, so they enlist the help of social media influencers to help them boost ratings, prove ghosts are real, and get their jobs back as they spend the night in a haunted house. Adding influencers to a haunted house story is just another fun way to get some found footage in your movie. While it is a hybrid, meaning it also follows a narrative format, the found footage elements are plenty and absolutely necessary, which adds to the scares and laughs of Demonetize.
Look What We Have Here
For fans of the brutal home invasion found footage film, Looky-Loo, GenreBlast is showing the sequel, Looky-Loo Part II. Continuing where the first film left off, we follow the Looky-Loo killer’s rise to fame after he posts his snuff film online and pushes his crimes even further. Director Jason Zink really pushes the boundaries with Looky-Loo Part II. It feels even more grimy, brutal, and extreme than the first.
Sean Nichols Lynch follows up his found footage film The Ceremony Is About to Begin with This House is Totally Haunted. I’m a sucker for a movie that can play up the laughs and deliver a solid scare or two. That is what we get in This House is Totally Haunted. A team of ghost hunters collides with a cult survivor and his strange manservant at a possibly haunted cabin in the woods. If you are familiar with Sean’s previous work, you will love the references made in this movie.
Having its world premiere at GenreBlast is the lo-fi analog anthology series, Final Transmissions. Analog horror is having its moment in the sun off the back of the success of The Backrooms, and it will keep having its moments with a series like Final Transmissions. Using analog technology and VHS tapes, Final Transmissions offers up scares in a 90s television aesthetic. I am excited to see what the next three episodes are giving. I know the first three had me on the edge of my seat.
Keep The Tapes Rolling
Found footage is never going to go away because we have streaming services like FoundTV and film festivals like GenreBlast brave enough to take a chance on a subgenre that many look down upon in the horror world. So, found footage filmmakers, keep making the movies, pushing the boundaries, and most importantly, sharing those tapes.
