The Visit is the Last Trip to Grandma & Grandpa’s You’ll Ever Take

The Visit. 2015. Directed & Written by M. Night Shyamalan. Starring Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan, Peter McRobbie, and Kathryn Hahn. Blinding Edge Pictures/Blumhouse Productions. Rated 14A. 94 minutes. Horror/Thriller ★★★★1/2 Any time M. Night Shyamalan puts out a film these days, it's met with all sorts of opinions from those who can't stand …

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Paranormal Activity’s Modern Hauntings

Paranormal Activity. 2007. Directed & Written by Oren Peli. Starring Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, Mark Fredrichs, Amber Armstrong, and Ashley Palmer. Solana Films/Blumhouse Productions. Rated 14A. 86 minutes. Horror ★★★★ When done correctly, I am a huge fan of found footage. Whether it's using the thriller style, as I recently enjoyed in the film 419, or …

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The Last Horror Movie: Genuinely Chilling Found Footage Horror

The Last Horror Movie. 2003. Directed by Julian Richards; screenplay by James Handel from an idea by Julian Richards. Starring Kevin Howarth, Mark Stevenson, Antonia Beamish, Christabel Muir, Jonathan Coote, Rita Davies, Joe Hurley, Jamie Langthorne, John Berlyne, and Mandy Gordon. Prolific Films/Snakehair Productions. Rated R. 75 minutes. Horror/Thriller ★★★★1/2 I've talked a lot in …

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Area 51: Oren Peli’s Extraterrestrial Blunder

Area 51. 2015. Directed by Oren Peli. Screenplay by Christopher Denham & Oren Peli. Starring Reid Warner, Darrin Bragg, Ben Rovner, Jelena Nik, Roy Abramsohn, Frank Novak, and Glenn Campbell. Aramid Entertainment Fund/Blumhouse Productions/IM Global/Incentive Filmed Entertainment/Room 101. Rated R. 91 minutes. Horror/Sci-Fi/Thriller ★★ Right back to the supposed McPherson Tape, later given a bigger budget …

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Chronicle: Teenage Found Footage Superheroes

Chronicle. 2012. Directed by Josh Trank. Screenplay by Max Landis. Starring Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, Michael B. Jordan, Michael Kelly, Ashley Hinshaw, Bo Petersen, and Anna Wood. Twentieth Century Fox. Rated 14A. 84 minutes. Drama/Sci-Fi/Thriller ★★★★1/2 I'm always a defender of found footage. There are plenty of instances of bad found footage films, but who …

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Cannibal Holocaust: A Documentary of Hell on Earth

Cannibal Holocaust. 1980. Directed by Ruggero Deodato. Story by Gianfranco Clerici. Starring Robert Kerman, Francesca Ciardi, Perry Pirkanen, Luca Barbareschi, Salvatore Basile, Ricardo Fuentes, and Carl Gabriel Yorke. F.D Cinematografica. Rated R. 95 minutes. Adventure/Horror ★★★★ (Film) ★★★★★ (Grindhouse Releasing DVD) Nearly two decades before The Blair Witch Project horrified audiences with its low budget realistic …

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The Gallows: Wasted Opportunity & Wasted Youth

The Gallows. 2015. Directed & Written by Travis Cluff/Chris Lofing. Starring Reese Mishler, Pfeifer Brown, Ryan Shoos, Cassidy Gifford, Travis Cluff, Price T. Morgan, Theo Burkhardt, David Herrera, Gannon Del Fierro, Mackie Burt, and Adrian Salas. Blumhouse Productions. Rated 14A. 81 minutes. Horror/Thriller ★★ Found footage is a sub-genre I do enjoy, honestly. That being …

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The Conspiracy is the Eeriest PG Film Out There

The Conspiracy. 2012. Directed & Written by Christopher MacBride. Starring Aaron Poole, James Gilbert, Alan C. Peterson, Ian Anderson, Peter Apostolopoulos, Roger Beck, Angela Besharah, Bruce Clayton, Julian Richings, Laura de Carteret, Gavin Fox, and Ron Kennell. Resolute Films and Entertainment. Rated PG. 84 minutes. Horror/Thriller ★★★★  Often times I usually think anything PG-13 is …

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