[Editorial] Found Footage Folklore From Around The World

Folklore is a ripe breeding ground for horror stories and cautionary tales. Across the globe, folklore shapes and is shaped by the culture it comes from. Rumors are started, stories are passed on, fears become urban legends.

And in the age of the Internet, when we can all share our fears worldwide, folklore can travel and mutate. Folklore goes hand-in-hand with found footage, since much of folklore is presented as happening to someone you might know. Below are six recommendations for found footage style horror movies that highlight folklore from around the world. 

The lore of an abandoned hospital: Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum (2018) - South Korea 

Content creators are under pressure to get loads of engagement! But how far should they go to increase their views? Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum follows the creators of an Internet horror show looking to boost their ratings. They set up near an abandoned asylum and livestream their exploration of the hospital and grounds. While the foundation of this story may seem familiar to horror fans, the visuals, sound, and found-footage style scares make this film feel fresh. South Korea knows how to bring the ghost horror. I won’t spoil too much, so check it out!

The psychic pull of a place: Occult (2009) - Japan

In the year 2005, several strangers dream that something good will happen if they go to a landmark called Myogasaki. Tourists filming the scenery capture footage of a man stabbing bystanders, seemingly at random. Two people are killed, and a third is wounded with a strange symbol carved into his back, before the attacker jumps into the water, his body never to be found. Occult tells the story of documentary filmmakers following the surviving victim of the stabbing, Shohei Eno (Shôhei Uno). He claims to have experienced frequent paranormal occurrences, including UFO sightings and disembodied voices, since the incident. The audience is along for the ride with the documentary crew as they try to determine exactly what’s happening with Eno. If you’re up for something strange and surprising, give Occult a watch.

“It happened to a friend of a friend…” Butterfly Kisses (2018) - United States 

Butterfly Kisses is a mockumentary-style film about found footage. Filmmaker Gavin (Seth Adam Kallick) hires a documentary crew to help him investigate some mysterious tapes he found in his in-laws’ house. The tapes were made by students documenting the urban legend of Peeping Tom. Legend has it that if you stare down a tunnel for a full hour without blinking, Peeping Tom will slowly creep closer to you, until he is close enough to kill you. As Gavin and the hired documentary crew learn more about Peeping Tom and the students in the tapes, Gavin’s life starts to unravel. Is he desperate to make a film? Or is Peeping Tom after him? You have to watch to find out!

Conspiracy theories are the new folklore: The Conspiracy (2012) - Canada

Have you ever stayed up too late diving deep into a conspiracy rabbit hole? And when you look around, you don’t remember how you got there? What if you couldn’t get out? These questions are investigated by two documentary filmmakers who plan to create a film about a conspiracy theorist named "Terrance G" (A.C. Peterson). However, Terrance disappears during filming, and the documentarians feel a sense of responsibility to find out what happened to him. This is a modern look at how folklore can be created and spread by the Internet, and the trouble that can cause. 

“Whatever happened to that girl?” Webcast (2018) - United Kingdom 

Students Chloe (Samantha Redford) and Ed (Joseph Tremain) are making a film about Chloe’s Aunt Amelia (Nicole Griggs) who went missing when she was a young woman. Chloe wonders why no one in her small town ever talks about Amelia and what may have happened to her. But Chloe’s persistent digging is upsetting some of her neighbors, and she starts to find answers she may never have wanted. Chloe livestreams most of her videos, so Webcast shocks the audience with the mystery unfolding in real time, rather than after the footage has been found. Folk horror, body horror, and found footage make this a unique, under-watched gem.

“The old religion says…” Land of Blue Lakes (2021) - Latvia 

A group of friends embark on a kayaking and camping trip, exploring small islands that are usually deserted. Along the way, they have some encounters that are hard to explain, and one friend keeps leaning on Paganism for interpretation. Is the “old religion” to blame? Or is a new brand of folklore emerging? While much of the movie is just watching these friends hang out, they are likable and fun to watch. The scares are sparse, but very worth it. Hardcore found footage fans, seek this out!

As old as Paganism, as new as live-streaming, there will never be a shortage of folklore tales to spin into scary stories. Fans of found footage, or those looking to become fans, will always have a treasure trove to choose from. 

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