For many horror fans, the chills hit when the lines between reality and fiction blur. Horror is a genre that pushes the envelope of shock, gore, suspense, violence, and tension. Many horror junkies say they’re addicted to the adrenaline rush of a good scare, so they keep coming back for scarier films. Like any addiction, eventually, the feeling will wear off, which means horror movies have had to innovate to keep surprising and frightening devotees of the genre. Many filmmakers have chosen to make their horror fiction seem real since, as we all know, sometimes real life is more horrifying than fiction.

Throughout the years, many scary movies have left audiences with an unsettling question: was what I just watched real? This can take on a few different forms. Sometimes audiences see that a film is based on a true story and wonder if these horrific happenings are true to life or an enormous exaggeration. Other times, a horror movie gets presented as a documentary with low-quality or analog footage that makes the experience seem all too real. Genius marketing tactics shroud some horror films in secrecy, so audiences have difficulty searching up the background story. There have been a few films so suspect that the filmmakers were investigated to find out how they shot the footage and to ensure everyone on set was safe! For better or worse, these films scared audiences to their bones and left them questioning whether they were watching something real.

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19 Cannibal Holocaust

     United Artists Entertainment

In the 1980s, Italian horror captivated audiences worldwide. Still, nothing was quite as shocking as Cannibal Holocaust, believed to be the first film with the premise that it used “found footage” to tell the story. Cannibal Holocaust may not have used real found footage, but the film was mired in controversy all the same. The film depicts a group of people that have a run-in with a jungle-dwelling tribe that performs ritual sacrifice of people and animals.

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The depictions of animal sacrifice were authentic and required the deaths of two monkeys and a turtle. This shocking display would violate today’s animal cruelty laws. After a French magazine claimed that some of the on-screen murders were real, director Ruggero Deodato had to testify in court and even explain how he achieved some of the violent effects that got the film banned in multiple countries.

18 The Blair Witch Project

     Haxan Films

In the 90s, The Blair Witch Project brought found footage films into the mainstream with the help of a burgeoning social media culture. This low-budget film started a phenomenon using clever filming techniques and even more intelligent marketing tactics. The team was able to present the film as a factual documentary online, so the Internet could help spread the rumors.

Filmmakers also produced missing posters of the actors and handed them out at screenings. This added to the audience’s impression of an actual film about the demise of some friends in the Maryland woods at the hands of a supernatural force. There’s no doubt this film gave horror fans a hunger for more found footage films while terrifying audiences in new ways.

17 Snuff

     Horrornews.net

A snuff film refers to footage of an actual murder. They depict a heinous crime and are illegal to produce and distribute, but in the 1970s, many people had never heard of one. Enter Snuff, originally titled The Slaughter. The directors, Roberta and Michael Findlay, decided to capitalize on the horrific real-life Manson family murders and created a film with a similar story and a lot of gore for the standards of the time.

The film didn’t gain traction and was shelved until distributor Allan Shackleton decided to re-release and rebrand the movie under the name Snuff after he heard rumors that such films were made in South America. Shackleton had no qualms about claiming that the film’s final murder really happened. The film attracted much more attention this time around. Curious movie-goers were left shocked, and this taboo form of “art scandalized newspapers.” It didn’t take long for the film’s “realness” to get debunked, but it did fool plenty of people and left even more with the troubling question of whether real snuff films existed.

16 Quarantine

     Screen Gems

Before everyone got burned out on “shakey-cam” footage, the film Quarantine made a splash in the horror scene using this technique. The film follows a reporter tasked with creating a story about an LA fire department. But after the crew is called out on an emergency call to an apartment building, they’re sealed in by the CDC, and the carnage begins. While the movie isn’t considered a horror masterclass, it did leave many people to wonder whether it was based on a true story, primarily because of the “it could happen” premise and the footage shot in the style of a news story gone wrong.

15 Paranormal Activity

     Paramount Pictures

When the movie Paranormal Activity was released, many people said it was the scariest film they’d ever seen. It’s shot in the vein of a first-person POV film or a found footage movie, but instead, it presents as footage gathered for a paranormal investigation, filmed in murky night vision. Imagine the show Ghost Hunters, but with way more jump scares. Because the viewer watches the protagonists sleep for a while before getting woken by paranormal terror, it feels like watching actual footage. It feels voyeuristic and a little too real.

Great marketing shot this low-budget film up the charts as trailers included footage of terrified audience members cowering behind their hands. It also made people question whether this movie was based on a true story since many people can relate to strange noises and events interrupting their peaceful sleep.

14 Open Water

     Lionsgate

While many films like to mislead audiences into thinking it’s based on a true story, Open Water has a hefty dose of truth. The film follows two divers abandoned in the open water while diving at a reef in Queensland, Australia. This premise is based on the disappearance of Tom and Eileen Lonergan. The couple was experienced divers, but on day three of their trip to the reefs, the boat mistakenly went to shore without the couple. The diving company realized their mistake days after their disappearance, and a search began. The Longergan’s bodies were never discovered though much of their gear was found, and even a chilling note from Tom begging for rescue before they died.

The disappearances are shrouded in mystery, and filmmaker Chris Kentis decided few things are more terrifying than getting abandoned in open water. He based the film on this story, leaving audiences questioning how much of what they saw was true. In reality, he didn’t want the movie to hurt surviving Lonergan family members, and he didn’t intend for his characters to represent the unfortunate couple.

13 Ghostwatch

     BBC

This BBC mockumentary aired on Halloween night of 1992. Ghostwatch showed paranormal investigators exploring “the most haunted house in Britain,” including footage of a poltergeist named Pipes. The special was cleverly made to resemble a BBC live broadcast. They even asked viewers to phone in with their ghost-sighting stories, and the calls overwhelmed the five operators. Imaginations ran wild over this special, and many people complained to the BBC, saying the film was far too scary and shocking.

12 Guinea Pig 2: Flower of Flesh and Blood

     Psycho Drive In 

This Japanese horror film is one of a series of scary movies based on a manga about a samurai that drugs women, then kidnaps and dismembers them. Many people considered the film too realistic, and reportedly, even Charlie Sheen was fooled into thinking he had watched an actual snuff film before reporting Guinea Pig 2 to the FBI. The film’s most damning quality is that it’s said to have inspired real-life serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki, who went on to commit similar crimes.

11 A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin

     American International Pictures 

In the ’70s, a booming sub-genre of Italian films called “giallo” referred to mysteries that featured lots of horror and sex. As giallo films caught on, they kept pushing the envelope and releasing more shocking titles until Lucio Fulci’s A Lizard in Woman’s Skin eventually became the first film that forced its special effects artist to testify in court. A shocking moment shows a series of disemboweled dogs that many believed were real animals. Luckily, the poor canines are just the work of a talented effects artist.

10 Faces of Death

     Aquarius Releasing

Faces of Death is a rare example of a film that does include genuine grisly footage. The movie follows a pathologist fascinated with the line between life and death and the transition to the other side. He has collected footage of death in its many forms to help him further his studies. While some of the deaths were faked for the sake of the story, other footage was gathered from news reports. For example, the film includes footage collected from a news network depicting a terrible accident where the viewers can see the shattered remains of a cyclist under a semi-truck. This graphic footage led to the film getting banned in several countries.

9 New Terminal Hotel

     Screamfest

This film is a revenge murder story following a man seeking vengeance for the death of his girlfriend. New Terminal Hotel was later re-titled to Do Not Disturb, referencing the hotel setting. Much of the film was shot in the George Washington Hotel in Pennsylvania. While the film received mixed reviews and didn’t necessarily fool audiences, police and hotel-goers were tricked. The director had left the set untouched in case of potential re-shoots. When firemen responded to a call at the George Washington Hotel, they stumbled on a gruesome scene in room 405 and called in the police to investigate. The police had even declared the room “the most gruesome crime scene” before they discovered it was a film set left in limbo.

8 The Strangers

     Rogue Pictures

This film opened with the infamous “based on a true story” that has haunted many of these features. The film presented the film’s exposition like a news report and concluded that the full details of the brutal situation are unknown. This was a total fabrication that was part of the film’s script, but the filmmakers achieved their goal of scaring nervous audiences into researching how much of The Strangers was true.

7 The Collingswood Story

     Anchor Bay Entertainment

The Collingswood Story was another film from the heyday of found-footage horror movies. The story follows a couple through their long-distance relationship, and the viewers watch the movie through the lens of these chat files and emailed videos. When the main character chats with a psychic online, she warns her of the dark forces in her home, and we watch the horrors unfold via webcam. The format of Internet-based horror was new at the time, enough to make audiences question if there could be a note of truth to the footage in this film.

6 As Above, So Below

The Internet contains very real and creepy footage taken inside the Paris Catacombs. These bone-lined tunnels beneath the city’s streets form a 150-mile maze, not all of which is safe or open to the public. That doesn’t stop explorers and enthusiasts from exploring their depths. Over the years, several people have gotten lost in the catacombs, and a few have even died. A legend that may or may not be reality states that in the 90s, a group of explorers found a discarded video camera in the catacombs, which showed chilling footage of a lost man wandering the catacombs muttering to himself as his panic grew. It’s said that this legend is the basis for the film As Above, So Below, which was filmed in the catacombs and mimics this found footage. The movie successfully rekindled interest in the Paris Catacombs and those lost there.

5 [REC]

Above, we mentioned the film Quarantine, and interestingly, that film was an American re-make of a Spanish horror film, [REC]. The film followed Quarantine’s plot but took place in Paco Plaza apartments. The film was a massive smash in Europe and increased interest in the found footage genre. Many fans think its American counterpart was unnecessary and didn’t live up to the Spanish original.

4 The Poughkeepsie Tapes

This found footage movie uses a combination of police reports and snuff films created by a serial killer in Poughkeepsie, New York. The film is described by many as graphic and disturbing as it shows extensive torture and dismemberment by a killer who is careful not to show his face on camera. This film claimed it was based on a true story, but there are only slight hints of truth to this disturbing tale. The most comparable event is the ten murders committed in Poughkeepsie by Kendall Francois. All the same urban legend surrounded The Poughkeepsie Tapes, with many believing that hundreds of snuff films were really found in a Poughkeepsie basement.

3 Poltergeist

     Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

This Spielberg-produced film paved the way for a modern horror stereotype: the happy family moves into a new house where strange things happen until they’re trapped in a supernatural terror. These tropes seem tired now, but at the time, Poltergeist was a new concept and horrified audiences with a scene of terror that they felt could happen in their homes. As if the film wasn’t creepy enough, it was inspired by the Hermann family of Long Island, who reported around 70 incidents of paranormal activity in their home, which the paranormal research department of Duke University investigated. Poltergeist greatly exaggerated these events in its story, but audiences still questioned how much of the events could happen in their own home.

2 The Exorcist

     Warner Bros.

Exorcism is still an actual practice performed by the Catholic Church. The horror classic, The Exorcist, is based on a book inspired by a real event. The film’s protagonist, Regan, is inspired by a known as Roland Doe, who was exorcised in 1949 after using an Ouija board that allegedly possessed him. The film terrified audiences and stoked a renewed interest in the practice of exorcism and what sort of cases these exorcists might have encountered. The novel’s author claimed the book was meant to scare people back to church. Some might say he succeeded.

1 August Underground

     IMDB

This is the first film in a series that many dub as the most disturbing films ever made. August Underground is another found footage film, but it’s much more gory, visceral, and disgusting than its predecessors. It’s presented as footage of serial killers found on the dark web. The film adds to the horror and seeming reality of the movie by interspersing the horrific images with mundane everyday acts like the killer going to the store to pick up some milk. The film’s grainy images, paired with utterly over-the-top and gratuitous violence, have made the film hard to get ahold of and banned in some areas. The film was allegedly confiscated at Canadian customs because it was mistaken for actual footage. No doubt these films are challenging and made to push the viewer’s limit of how much they can watch. Think carefully before seeking this film out.