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'Project X': 4 other well-known found-footage movies

'Project X' is the newest movie in the found-footage genre that kicked off with 'The Blair Witch Project' in 1999. 'Blair' may not have been the first movie to be made as if it was amateur footage taken by participants in the story – there were several other films made before it that pioneered the style. But when 'Blair' convinced some moviegoers that the movie was an actual documentary, then performed far better than expected financially, Hollywood began paying attention, and the film style is now popping up in everything from other scary movies to superhero films, becoming recognized for its shaky-cam style and unknown actors. Here are 5 of the most well-known of the found-footage movies from over the years.

1. 'The Blair Witch Project'

  • By Molly Driscoll

The 1999 film about students who try to film a documentary about the legend of the Blair Witch did so well at the box office that it has been cited as the movie that kicked off the found-footage craze. The process of making the movie was unusual, to say the least – the three stars of the movie were told where to go next by messages that were put in milk crates that were left for them. The two directors, Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, said the production team gave the actors limited food and made eerie noises at night to keep them awake. "We broke about every SAG rule possible," Myrick told Rolling Stone.

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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