"You had to be there."

I don't know how many music fans are reading this, but found-footage horror seems to have the same trajectory as trap music. Both, while having an ambiguous start in the early-2000s, found unprecedented success in the 2010s. And both, while neither inherently bad, have had the reputation for watering down their genre.

So just what separates the good from the bad in this subgenre of horror? What makes The Blair Witch Project so much better than Paranormal Activity..what are they at now? 14? And on that note, is the Blair Witch Project even any fucking good? There's a lot to look back on when analyzing this horror niche turned formula for blockbuster success, but there has to be some good ideas in the idea itself, right?

You may think that found-footage horror is limited to an on-screen median and yes, you smart ass, that is technically correct. But, the genre is more about sharing the feeling of horror, whatever that is to someone, through a realistic, personal perspective. In my opinion, one that admittedly has a tendency to reach, I believe that this style can be found in literature as well—most notably in "The Events at Poroth Farm" by H.E.D. Klein.

Considering that I have no idea if this blog will be read by strangers or my English class specifically, I will give a very brief synopsis to the confused. An English professor recounts a bunch of surreal horror through journals, while also referencing other horror works. In sum, the horror was in this "slice of life" you seemed to get from our protagonist, Jeremy, during his highly fictional and theatrical stay at a farm at some place. Honestly forgot. Doesn't matter. Point is, you feel as if you are with the character in their horror, with the only separation from the story being the text you have to read or the play button that you have to press.

And while I have never considered books to be scary, truly because of its median (like, my dumbass need a visual), I still appreciate what the genre is, especially in this "found footage" style. For those that have seen Robbert Eggers' recent horror-hybrid masterpiece, "The Lighthouse," you know that the movie is scary because it truly feels like you recovered footage of two guys in 1890 going insane on a lighthouse together. That is what found footage horror is. Its realism, and thats what makes The Lighthouse and The Events at Poroth Farm so captivating.

The redundant Hollywood found footage films seem lazy in the sense that being with the character is enough to make it scary. While it may help, you have to make the actual movie scary. Come on, Hollywood.

I would love to keep on about this subgenre of shit and its endangered status in theaters, but I want some devil's advocates, as I also really don't think the style itself is the problem. Rather, its the corporate clusterfuck that gives us the movies that they tend to give us.

But sound off! What found footage horror film do you like? Is found footage horror similar to first person narration in novels? Make it interesting as you begrudgingly respond to blogs on Sunday, and most importantly, have fun.