Footage Horror Obsession Earns a Rotten Tomatoes Score Higher Than ‘The Blair Witch Project’

Found-footage horror movies are a relatively new sub-genre, with the controversial 1980 movie Cannibal Holocaust regularly cited as the first of its kind. Ever since, the likes of Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez‘s genre-defining The Blair Witch Project and Chris Stuckmann’s recent Shelby Oaks have kept viewers clinging to the edge of their seats as a visceral exploration of horror races hearts and infects nightmares. Now, your next found footage obsession is about to debut in limited theaters and on demand, and critics are making it seem unmissable.

Festival darling Man Finds Tape, written and directed by Peter Hall and Paul Gandersman, has officially earned an impressive 88% critics’ score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes ahead of its Friday, December 5, debut. Incredibly, this score is 2% higher than The Blair Witch Project’s, no doubt a film that has had a heavy influence on the making of Man Finds Tape. Starring Kelsey Pribilski (Landman) and William Magnuson (Inbetween Girl) alongside John Gholson (Bad Thoughts), Brian Villalobos (Last Girl Standing), and Nell Kessler (Givertaker), the movie is being marketed as found-footage meets mockumentary, with many critics praising its originality and ability to turn a seemingly small budget into a breathless viewing experience. A synopsis for the movie reads:

“After receiving a cryptic call, documentarian Lynn Page returns to her small Texas hometown to investigate haunting footage of events no one can remember taking place. But her brother Lucas’ controversial past with a viral web series called ‘Man Finds Tape’ forces Lynn to question if he, or anyone in their town, can be trusted. And the arrival of a stranger with chaotic intentions forces Lynn to confront her family’s involvement with the deadly monster preying on Larkin, TX.”

Audiences Aren’t as Fond of ‘The Blair Witch Project’

There is no doubting the groundbreaking impact The Blair Witch Project had on the found-footage genre and horror cinema in general. Turning a minuscule $600,000 budget into almost $250 million at the box office, 413.8 times its investment, the film opened the door for many more filmmakers with clever ideas and little funding to make their name.

However, despite critics gushing over the film, The Blair Witch Project only has an audience score of 57% on Rotten Tomatoes, with some suggesting the film is both boring and lacks a big enough fear factor. Critics, of course, disagree, with the consensus on the site reading, “Full of creepy campfire scares, mock-doc The Blair Witch Project keeps audiences in the dark about its titular villain, proving once more that imagination can be as scary as anything onscreen.”

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