6. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
The Blair Witch Project is a film that continues to be influential almost 15 years after its release. The Blair Witch Project was one of the first feature films to be shot primarily with a consumer video camera (in this case, analog 8mm) and it was also one of the very first films to generate buzz through internet marketing and social media. It is also one of the trailblazing films in the now over saturated "Found Footage" market of low budget horror films that generate one of hell of a profit return (reportedly produced for $25,000, it saw box office receipts of nearly $250 million). The Blair Witch Project also carries the pedigree of having one of the most haunting final images ever caught on film. The final shot is foreshadowed early in the film during an interview about how children were told to stand in a corner facing the wall, while the mythical Blair Witch ordered a hermit to murder children in the basement of his woodland home one by one. That image alone during the interview makes the skin crawl, so during the film's final frenzied moments we are horrified to see it unfold before our eyes. Film-makers Michael (Micheal Williams) and Heather (Heather Donahue) lost in the woods for days while making a documentary about the Blair Witch, come across an abandoned house in the woods. They explore and soon come to realize that something from the basement is calling them. As Michael goes first, a disoriented and panicked Heather follows, with her 16mm film camera on her shoulder. As she descends into the ominous basement she sees Michael, standing in the corner facing the wall, she lets out a blood curdling scream, drops the camera and the film cuts to black. An image that left more to the imagination than some wanted as this final shot led to many sleepless nights to the most creative of viewers.