Scariest found footage film: ‘Paranormal Activity’ or ‘The Blair Witch Project’? | The Tylt

The budget used to produce the first “Paranormal Activity” was $15,000. Know how much it made? $193 million. You can understand, then, why it spawned several more films, thus creating one of the most terrifying franchises in movie history. 

Everything about the movie is simple. The plot surrounds the story of young couple, Katie (Katie Featherston) and Micah (Micah Sloat), who set up a camera system all over their home to capture the weird paranormal activity (get it?) that’s been plaguing Katie since childhood. Unfortunately for them, there’s a ton of activity to capture, which, unfortunately, puts a strain on what seemed to be an otherwise cute and solid relationship. 

Even though “Paranormal Activity” wasn’t the first of the found footage variety, it certainly could be deemed the most realistic. There’s barely (if any) CGI involved when supernatural happenings occur onscreen, and both actors have a super relatable vibe to them. Hell, they both even share the same name as their characters. Are we sure this movie wasn’t actually found footage? 

Again, “The Blair Witch Project” wasn’t the first-ever found footage horror film out there (that title goes to “Cannibal Holocaust”). However, it arguably put the genre on the map. The story finds three amateur film students (Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, Michael C. Williams) who decide to investigate a local legend, the Blair Witch. They go from bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to stressed and snot-streaked very, very quickly.    

The film uses zero CGI, which is practically unfathomable today. In fact, the audience doesn’t see any supernatural events happen onscreen at all; the only hint of the terror they get is from the characters’ reactions and various sounds, leaving it all up to the individual's imagination. And nothing’s more terrifying than the imagination. 

“The Blair Witch Project” also doesn’t bother to change the names of their actors for the film (Heather’s character is Heather, Josh is Josh, Mike is Mike), making their interactions with each other incredibly organic. It makes the end (which is certainly one of the greatest finales in horror movie history) all the more terrifying—it’s as if the three are watching their real friends get tortured. Seriously, are we sure this isn’t, you know…real?