MovieChat Forums > The Dyatlov Pass Incident (2013) Discussion > To The Found Footage Haters

To The Found Footage Haters

posted 7 years ago by eyesmalloy
2 replies | jump to latest

I have read so many reviews in which people criticize and denounce found footage films as though they're somehow a blight on the entire film industry. They are not. Following the success of movies like The Blair Witch Project, [Rec], Paranormal Activity, and Cloverfield, found footage became an official horror sub-genre. Like all genres and sub-genres, some are good and some aren't. If there weren't a pretty large percentage of horror fans willing to spend money at the box office to see them, every one would tank and eventually the studios would stop making them. So far, all systems are go. If you don't like them, you don't have to watch them. There are plenty of us who will.

Strangely enough, there seem to be a whole lot of horror nuts who claim to hate found footage flicks yet sit through them anyway just so they can tear them down in reviews and message boards. It's ridiculous. Look, folks. If you like horror but not found footage, there's something you can do to keep from losing any more of those precious hours of your life you so pitifully whine about never getting back. WATCH THE TRAILERS! Trailers can be seen for free all over the Internet including IMDb, YouTube, and Google Videos, not to mention...the film's website! Trailers have a reputation for giving away too much of the movie anyway so why don't you use that to your advantage for once? Or you can go on limiting yourself to the synopsis and insure your utter devastation when you discover the awful truth.

Do as you please. Just do the rest of us a favor and quit whining. It's most unbecoming.

[–] AceRoccola 7 years ago

Way to be wrong about things. The reason this subgenre is so popular with studios is not that "a large percentage" of horror fans flock to theaters for them and have a blast. It's a popular subgenre with studios because it costs so little to produce one that they don't NEED a large percentage. Profits on these films are almost a guarantee, given the incredibly small budget that most found footage films work with.

A "real" horror film from a studio might cost 15-30 million dollars. For a film like that to be successful, it needs to make a lot more than just 30 million at the box office. One of the more successful horror films to hit theaters in the last few years was the remake of the Evil Dead. It was made for 17 million, and took in about 100 million at the box office (a little more than five times the budget). Not many horror films do that these days (hit 100m), and it was noted by publications at the time. But that's nothing compared to the profit ratio of even a mildly successful found footage film.

For example, The Blair Witch reboot/sequel thing made around 50 million at the box office. But it was shot for 5 million (rather high for a film in this style). That makes for a box office roughly 10 times the budget of the film. It may have only pulled in half the money, but that's okay when your movie costs so little to create. Other found footage films cost far less (the original Blair Witch Project cost a mere 60 thousand). Even a FF film made for a few million or more only needs to bring in a modest sum to be profitable. A take that would kill a "real" horror film could kickstart an entire FF franchise, especially if it's made for thousands instead of millions.

Love the genre or hate it, I don't care. But don't pretend it's a thing because everyone loves it. That isn't true. It's a thing because everyone doesn't have to; it's profitable anyway.

[–] eyesmalloy 7 years ago

Way to be condescending. My post was addressed to haters and it sure looks like I found one! Yes, the studios crank out found footage films because they're cheap to make and therefore profitable. Absolutely true. But my post wasn't about why studios make found footage films. Besides, I think that's apparent to most people so why would I choose to include it? I guess my very simple points went right over your head.

To summarize my post:

1) Found footage films found an audience following the success of films like the original Blair Witch Project.

2) It's pathetic how people who claim to dislike found footage films in the first place insist on watching them anyway just to have something (anything) to complain about.

3) If they want to save themselves the trouble of sitting through a found footage film, watch the trailers first.

That was it. Three simple points. Hardly difficult to grasp.

You could have offered your information as an addendum to mine, which would have been cool and respectable. Clearly you're neither. Your only motive was to correct me. The tone of your reply was the same as the people I referred to in my post...which makes sense. You read my post and it struck a nerve. You're a hater so the impulse came over you to do what haters do. You're just another boring combative loser who acts nasty to others and picks apart what they say in order to feel superior.

All you did was Google some budgets and profits you could ramble off in a vain attempt to sound like an industry expert when really, as I said, the only information you provided was already so obvious it didn't even need to be said. Everyone knows why the studios make found footage films! It's the same reason they make every other kind of film!

A LARGE PERCENTAGE of horror buffs like found footage films and they do go to them and they do have a blast. I didn't say that before, but you made me realize it's true. I also never said that was the only reason the studios made them. I also never said the studios NEEDED to make a large profit on them. I also never said that everyone loves them. You see what you want to see, huh? You just generalize everything so you have something to criticize and correct, huh? Stop trying to sound smart...Ace. It's definitely not your bag.