10 Reasons Why The Found Footage Film Genre Sucks

By David Braga / October 16, 2012

3. Main Characters Almost Always Die

The footage has to be found somehow, right? Usually that means that whoever we€™re following for the bulk of the film is gonna be dead by the end of it. This isn€™t a problem that€™s exclusive to found footage films, but it does seem to be more prevalent here than in other horror movies. More than that, the audience is oftentimes alerted before the film The issue isn€™t killing off your main characters. That€™s been happening more and more in American horror over the years. No one gets away safe anymore. The issue with found footage movies is that we know the main characters are going to die before the film begins. Rather then creating suspense in the films final act, wondering not only whats going to happen but also how the characters might escape it, we€™re left with a sort of countdown until they are inevitably exterminated. Granted, that still leaves plenty of room for some surprises and scares, but it misses a crucial opportunity to make us sweat out whether they€™re going to live or die.