12 Underrated Found-Footage Horror Movies

Horror is a genre that will get you one of two reactions when you admit your passion for it. The first is a hearty "I love horror too!", but the other is a weird glance, a sense of tension and maybe some awkward shuffling away. It's safe to say that the medium is not everyone's cup of tea.

Many people see scary movies as a lesser form of filmmaking, designed not to tell a good story but to provide cheap scares and tasteless entertainment. One sub-genre of horror that really suffers from this is found-footage.

It's easy to think of the found-footage medium as a lazy way to make a movie, as the budgets tend to be lower than a teen's chance of survival in a slasher, and the cinematography is often very simple - with handheld cameras and blurry visuals galore. However, there are plenty of found-footage movies out there that prove the haters wrong. Sadly, not all of them get their due.

The following 12 films are great examples of this. Some got harsher receptions than they deserved, whereas others got great critical responses but very little mainstream exposure. Whatever the reason, they are all underrated and deserve more attention.

There's a reason conspiracy theories are so fascinating. People either dedicate their whole life to them or sneer and giggle at people shouting about them in the street. Either way, it's a great source of entertainment (or paranoia, depending on who you ask). Still, this found-footage mockumentary is no laughing matter, as it's an intense thriller with some creepy implications.

The film follows two documentary filmmakers trying to produce a movie about a conspiracy theorist named Terrence. At first, Terrence seems like a typical nutjob, but after his disappearance, the filmmakers get dragged into a powerful organisation's secretive and dangerous grasp.

The faux-realism in this flick is highly believable. Although the plot gets rather far-fetched, you can remain invested in the ever-increasing stakes and circumstances thanks to its lengths to make everything seem authentic. You'll be rewarded if you do, as it leads to a thrilling climax that puts the protagonists in grave danger and presents a terrifying glance into the machinations of the upper crust.

It's a creative use of the found-footage genre that has sadly fallen into obscurity. So, drag it out of the dust and give it a go.