10 Movie Crazes You Forgot Were A Thing

It proved to be a stroke of genius when the crew of 1999's The Blair Witch project made the decision to shoot the entire feature on a handheld device - speaking to the camera and bringing a documentary style feeling to mainstream horror that added a much desired layer of realism to the flick. Also, the idea of the footage being 'found' suggests that actual loss had occurred.

In an age where it's near universal to carry round a recording device, Paranormal Activity and Cloverfield used the footage captured on these devices to incite honest dread and panic. The ability to move the camera with pace and frenetic energy, whilst also incorporating our ever changing technological advances (Xbox's Kinect being a staple of the fourth Paranormal film) made for must see viewing for the late 2000's.

Then the wheels fell off. As touched upon earlier, Paranormal squeezed out three sequels and a few spin offs whilst Cloverfield sensed the end was nye and leaned into the thriller and Sci-Fi elements of their material instead of the found footage. The truth is, now we are fully aware that these 'real' people being shot are actors, that element of realism has taken a catastrophic hit and the fact that Paranormal's The Ghost Dimension was released in 2015 to little fanfare, spells the end for this trope.