The Best Found Footage Movies You Can Stream Right Now
Found footage might be harder to come by since its heyday in the 2010s, but there’s still plenty of remarkable found footage horror being released that is absolutely worth checking out. In the words of Mary Beth McAndrews, this year’s Frogman is “cryptid found footage done right,” and last year’s The Outwaters was a cosmic descent into hell unlike any other. Plus, nothing has come as close to sending my coulrophobia into overdrive quite like Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor. Please, I can’t handle any more clowns.
So, while plenty of great stuff is still coming out, you might be interested in catching up on what you’ve missed. Here, we’ll be taking a look at the best found footage movies you can stream right now. There’s a mix of more recognizable fare and some hidden gems that might have slipped past you, but no matter the direction you choose, you’ll find some footage worth watching.
Incantation (Netflix)
You can catch Incantation now on Netflix. When it was released, I had a lot to say about how Incantation might be the future of found footage, and I maintain that to be the case two years out. This chilling tale of religious curses and cryptic rituals is as unpredictable as it is unrelenting. It’s one of the best Netflix releases in years, and if you missed it when it premiered, I urge you to shatter some taboos and stream it as soon as you can.
The Medium (Shudder)
Like Incantation, The Medium demonstrates how Asian horror just hits differently. This Thai-Korean collaboration has some additional horror bonafides to boot with The Wailing’s Na Hong-jin credited as a co-writer on the film’s screenplay. While longer and more patient than most, The Medium is a tale of possession unlike any other. The Medium is now streaming on Shudder.
Final Prayer (Tubi)
If we’re talking about the best found footage movies you can stream right now, we have to be talking about Elliot Goldner’s Final Prayer (also known as The Borderlands). A conventional slow burn leads to one of the subgenre’s most terrifying final moments in this religious horror shocker. While it might be narratively slight, the scare ratio is positively unmatched.
The Den (AMC Plus)
The Den doesn’t work for me quite as well as it does some found footage aficionados, but it nonetheless remains one of the best found footage movies of our time. It gets extra points for driving home how irresponsible it was for so many millennials (myself included) to have been video chatting with random strangers on the internet via Chatroulette. It never got as terrifying as it did in The Den, but as privacy erodes and digital access swells, The Den becomes even more frightening in hindsight.
He’s Watching (Tubi)
One of the newest entries on this list, He’s Watching is found footage for the Skinamarink crowd. It’s liminal, it’s strange, it’s chock full of haunting imagery and gangbusters scares. When I reviewed it in 2022, I wrote it was “haunting and terrifying found footage,” and I wasn’t lying.
The Sacrament (Crackle)
Ti West has had an interesting filmmaking career. While he is currently reaching new heights with his X trilogy for A24, with the final chapter MaXXXine set to be released this summer, his early career remains a favorite among throwback horror fans. Both The House of the Devil and The Innkeepers were classically frightening, though The Sacrament is certainly not what fans at the time were expecting. It’s basically a fictional retelling of the Jonestown Massacre with mumblecore sensibilities, and if that sounds as appealing to you as it does to me, it’s worth filling in what might be a Ti West blindspot.
The Conspiracy (Screambox)
The less I say about The Conspiracy, the better, but trust it’ll knock you straight out of your socks. A conspiracy documentary takes a dangerous turn as two documentarians find themselves embroiled in the machinations of a secret cabal. Go in as blind as possible.
The Tunnel (Tubi)
Train tunnels! Putting a bunch of dopes in an abandoned location and sending something after sounds like a good time to me. And, luckily, Carlo Ledesma’s The Tunnel does just that. A sensation upon release—seriously, everyone was talking about this movie in 2011—it might not hold up quite as well without the hype, but The Tunnel remains a diamond hidden among the best found footage movies.
Butterfly Kisses (Freevee)
Local legends are the best. In Butterfly Kisses, two students working on a project about a local horror legend end up finding there’s more truth to their story than they originally believed. It’s no different than a dozen other found footage movies, but Butterfly Kisses treads convention so well, you won’t care by the time it reaches its terrifying conclusion.
Home Movie (AMC PLUS)
Home Movie is a bit of a downer, but credit must be given to director Christopher Denham for trying something different. Taking the creepy kid formula and applying a found footage lens doesn’t happen as regularly as you might think—it seems like such an obvious pairing—and Home Movie makes the case it should happen more. Two children start to exhibit creepy behavior as their parents assemble a veritable collection of, you guessed it, home movies. If creepy kids do you in, Home Movie features two of the spookiest you’ll see this century.
The Devil’s Doorway (AMC Plus)
The Devil’s Doorway would make a great double bill alongside Final Prayer. The religious horror trappings might be slight—and The Devil’s Doorway additionally treads into historical territory about it doesn’t have much to say—but it can be forgiven when the movie is this unrelentingly scary. Sure, its best scares are of the jump variety, but sometimes there’s nothing better than dimming the lights, turning the volume way up, and letting some creepy nuns scare the pants off you.
What do you think the best found footage movie is? Which of these have you seen? Any other hidden gems I missed? Let me know over on Twitter @Chadiscollins.
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