From its earliest usage in films including The Last Broadcast, The McPherson Tape, and The Blair Witch Project, to the subgenre’s big time revival with the Paranormal Activity franchise, the found footage approach has time and time again proven itself to be an effective way to tell a horror story, and the found footage film has also endured and evolved in the decades since the original Blair Witch fooled audiences into thinking the terrifying footage was the real deal.
With a brand new installment in the Paranormal Activity franchise headed our way next year, and early pseudo found footage cult classic Faces of Death getting a brand new remake this year, it would seem found footage is once again having a bit of a moment. In fact, there are AT LEAST thirteen new found footage nightmares headed our way here in 2026 and beyond.
Here are 13 upcoming found footage horror movies we’re looking forward to.
Rabisu: Curse of the Demon – Releasing April 3
In December ’25, a group of ghost hunters entered a warehouse in Salt Lake City. They were searching for views, but what they found was an ancient evil from Mesopotamian mythology.
That footage is now being released. Found footage horror film Rabisu: Curse of the Demon will be available on VOD outlets at home on April 3 via DeskPop Entertainment.
The horror film follows a rising paranormal investigation team that acts on an anonymous tip, leading them to a remote warehouse rumored to contain the sealed remains of an ancient Assyrian djinn. Once inside, the group encounters a labyrinth of curated mannequins, toys, and costumes — until the lights fail.
When power returns, one member begins exhibiting signs of possession, revealing the entity’s chilling ability to manipulate minds and incite violence. With exits sealed and the building itself seemingly shifting, the team uncovers remnants of a failed prior investigation and races to contain the demon before it destroys them from within.
Hunter King (“The Young and the Restless”), Chase Ramsey (Horizon: An American Saga), Austin Archer (Horizon: An American Saga), Lindsay Foster (Horizon: An American Saga), Tariq Brown, and Wes Brown (“True Blood”) star in Rabisu: Curse of the Demon. Writer-director Chris Copier makes his feature debut on the project.
“Rabisu: Curse of the Demon taps into a very old mythology while delivering the kind of relentless, pressure-cooker experience that plays incredibly well on streaming,” said DeskPop president Steve Bulzoni. He calls the film “intense, unsettling, and deeply atmospheric.”
Watch the official trailer for Rabisu: Curse of the Demon below.
Hunting Matthew Nichols – Releasing April 10
Set on Halloween 2001, Hunting Matthew Nichols is one of the rare found footage horror movies that will actually debut in theaters. It’s releasing April 10, and tickets are on sale now.
Here’s the synopsis: “On Halloween 2001, Matthew Nichols and Jordan Reimer went into the forests of northern Vancouver Island near Port Rupert with a VHS camcorder — and vanished without a trace. Their camera was later recovered, but the boys were never found. Two decades later, Matthew’s sister, Tara, has hired a film crew to document her search for answers.”
Markian Tarasiuk makes his directorial debut on the Canadian indie horror film. He also stars alongside Miranda MacDougall and Ryan Alexander McDonald.
“A sneaky, simmering take on the true crime folk horror genre that boils over and becomes truly unnerving,” praised Steven Soderbergh (Contagion, Ocean’s Eleven). “Given the shocks, I would bet audience participation is guaranteed. And stay for the credits.”
Watch the official trailer for Hunting Matthew Nichols below.
Loner – Releasing April 24
An ancient force haunts a survival vlogger in Loner, an upcoming character-driven found footage film that blends folk horror and psychological tension with a dash of dark humor.
Loner will stream for free April 24 exclusively on Found TV.
The found footage film follows aspiring vlogger Angus Mattock, who ventures to a remote wilderness retreat to create nature and survival videos. His idyllic getaway descends into a nightmarish fight for his life as he is held captive by a mysterious, natural force.
Charlie Robb and Douglas Tawn co-direct in their feature debut.
Loner has won several awards, including Best Feature at the British Horror Film Festival, Best Film and Best Actor at the Black Sunday Film Festival, and Best Director at Nòt Film Fest.
Watch the trailer for found footage movie Loner below.
A Sea of Trees – Coming Soon
What happened to Elliott Cornell in the summer of 2007? We’ll find out in A Sea of Trees, a true crime-inspired found footage film directed by Scott Lyus (Walking Against the Rain).
The upcoming horror movie follows a documentary crew into England’s Epping Forest as they try to uncover the mysterious disappearance of a vlogger almost two decades ago.
“I want to create a film that feels disturbingly real, a story that taps into our collective obsession with missing-person cases and the addictive pull of viral true crime,” said Lyus. “This film dives headfirst into that phenomenon, exploring the volatile collision of grief, spectacle, and belief, asking what happens when the camera stops observing and starts influencing events.”
He continues, “Set within the shadowed depths of Epping Forest, a landscape rich with folklore, disappearances, and centuries of whispered history, the film uses its very real atmosphere to anchor an escalating supernatural mystery. By fusing the immediacy of documentary storytelling with creeping paranormal dread, A Sea of Trees blurs the boundary between fact and myth.”
“This is a story designed to grip true crime devotees, thrill horror fans, and immerse viewers in an experience that feels less like watching a film and more like uncovering something they were never meant to see,” Lyus further previews in an official statement.
Stay tuned for the official trailer for A Sea of Trees.
Looky-loo: Part II – Coming Soon
Director Jason Zink and writer Nolan Mihail return for the sequel to their found footage film Looky-loo, and Looky-loo: Part II debuted this week at Unnamed Footage Festival.
Continuing where the first film left off, the looky-loo killer’s newfound infamy encourages him to push his crimes to further extremes as he documents his sadistic ventures in the upcoming found footage sequel, adding a new metatextual element to the film.
“Expanding his world while ensuring Part II stands firmly on its own, Zink welcomes newcomers into a nightmare of voyeurism, obsession, and the commodification of human suffering,” Unnamed Footage Festival previews. “Looky-loo: Part II doesn’t simply ask you to watch. It asks what it means that you want to.”
Julie Kashmanian, Kansas Bowling (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), Kali Malia Michaels (Never Hike Alone 2), and Jessa Flux (Murdercise) star in the horror sequel.
Stay tuned for the Looky-loo: Part 2 official trailer.
Night Terror – Coming Soon
An estimated 30% of people experience at least one sleep paralysis episode within their lifetime. Most resolve themselves over time. Upcoming found footage horror movie Night Terror, however, documents a case that continues to worsen — until it’s too late.
The upcoming found footage horror film is co-directed by Joshua Brucker (The Fairfield County Four) and Hunter Nino from a script by Joshua Brucker.
Night Terror follows Shelly, a young woman plagued by sleep paralysis and night terrors who becomes the subject of a documentary after her call for help catches the attention of two college students. Things take a dark turn, prompting Shelly to seek the help of a team of paranormal investigators to help stop the malevolent force that has consumed her.
Marleigh Arnold, Madelynn Wierda, Berkeley Slightom, and Samuel J. Howard star.
Filmed in the small town of Watseka, Illinois, Night Terror captures the rural feel Brucker grew up with. “When I was a child, my family and I lived on a farm, no neighbors for miles,” Brucker said. “The isolation can be very terrifying, so my goal was to capture that feeling. No one can hear you, no one is going to rescue you if something goes wrong. You’re on your own.”
Watch the trailer for found footage film Night Terror below.
The Last Footprint – Coming Soon
A found footage take on Bigfoot that’s based on purportedly true encounters, The Last Footprint aims to make you think twice before ever heading out into the woods again.
A documentary crew investigates a wave of animal attacks and missing persons in South Carolina. Teaming up with a local hunting party, they soon discover that some legends are true.
“I’ve always loved cryptids, especially the Wendigo and Bigfoot,” writer-director T.J. Robinson tells Bloody Disgusting. “I’ve grown tired of seeing Bigfoot movies treating him as a joke. There are a few exceptions, but I wanted to make Bigfoot scary again.”
Christiaan Voldstad, T.J. Campbell, Hunter Redfern, Daniel John Kearney, Lucas Dunaway, Brandon O’Hanley, and Jon Vira Mundo star in The Last Footprint.
Watch the trailer for Bigfoot movie The Last Footprint below.
Primal Darkness – Coming Soon
A found footage creature feature described as The Blair Witch Project meets Bone Tomahawk, Primal Darkness is expected to be released sometime in Spring 2026.
The film follows Cole Harrington, the host of a popular outdoor series, who sets out to track down the predator responsible for a series of cattle attacks in Nevada. The mystery deepens when he uncovers footage depicting the final moments of two missing university employees.
“With this film, I wanted to push myself into uncomfortable places,” says writer-director Dillon Brown (Tahoe Joe). “Primal Darkness is meant to unsettle you.”
Blake Hyer, Maxwell Golden, Dustin Tamplen, and Michael Rock star.
Watch the trailer for Primal Darkness below.
Heritage – Coming Soon
Heritage has the unique distinction of being the first horror feature from Corsica, an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France.
Also of note, the upcoming found footage folk horror film was shot on a early-2000s camcorder with the goal of immersing viewers in realistic archival material.
Made independently for under €5,000 ($5,800), it was shot in five days with small cast and a six-person crew led by writer-director Baptist Agostini-Croce in his feature debut.
In Heritage, Marie and Daniel return to Corsica to visit their elderly grandfather 15 years after leaving the island. Looking to capture the reunion, they film their trip with the family’s old video camera — but what they uncover is far from what they expected.
Marie Bolbenes, Daniel Di Grazia, Luca Lavallette, and Philippe Ambrosini star. The actors were given significant freedom, helping to reinforce verisimilitude.
Watch the trailer for found footage movie Heritage below.
Frogman Returns – Coming Soon
The legend of the Frogman continues in the upcoming found footage sequel Frogman Returns, once again being directed by Anthony Cousins. In the sequel to 2023’s Frogman, there’s unfinished business in Loveland. Dallas, Amy, and Frogman are back to settle the score.
Nathan Tymoshuk, Chelsey Grant, Natalie Tran and Alexis Alotta star.
In the original Frogman, 12-year-old Dallas captured footage of the mythical Frogman in the summer of 1999, but no one believed it was real. 20 years later, Dallas returns to Loveland, Ohio with his friends, determined to obtain irrefutable proof that the creature exists.
Frogman Returns will continue leaping through the festival circuit here in 2026, while director Anthony Cousins plans to expand the universe with other cryptids in the coming years.
Stay tuned for the Frogman Returns trailer, expected soon.
Dooba Dooba – Coming Soon
Buzzy found footage horror film Dooba Dooba was originally scheduled for release back in January, but Bloody Disgusting exclusively told you that its release had been pushed back.
A new release date has not yet been set, but distributor Dark Sky Films assures us the delay is “for a good reason” that will be announced soon. Stay tuned for more on Dooba Dooba.
Told through in-home security camera footage, Dooba Dooba is rooted in the analog horror aesthetic popularized by YouTube creators. Here’s the official plot synopsis:
Nearly a decade after her brother’s murder, 16-year-old Monroe still needs a babysitter. Amna comes to babysit Monroe and learns that not only is she being watched by security cameras, but she needs to say ‘dooba dooba’ whenever she moves throughout the house to let Monroe know that it’s her. Amna becomes increasingly unnerved and Monroe increasingly attached.
Amna Vegha, Betsy Sligh, Winston Haynes, Erin O’Meara, and Billy Hulsey star. Ehrland Hollingsworth writes and directs in addition to producing.
Dooba Dooba won Best Feature at Nightmares Film Festival and Best Horror Film at Midwest WeirdFest, with additional honors from Panic Fest, Unnamed Footage Festival, Another Hole in the Head, and Central Florida Film Festival. “The final act of this film is one of the more upsetting things I’ve seen in years,” Matthew Jackson wrote in his review. “This is one of the year’s must-see indie horror releases, a skin-crawling watch that’ll leave you squirming.”
Watch the Dooba Dooba official trailer below.
The Willowbrook Tapes – Coming Soon
You might have come across a mysterious found footage project titled The Willowbrook Tapes in your travels around your social media feeds the past year, but what exactly is it?
From director Michael Costa, The Willowbrook Tapes is an upcoming found footage horror movie that was filmed on both VHS and Digital, and it’s coming soon.
Most know Willowbrook, Staten Island, as a haunt for restless youth and the rotting shell of Seaview Hospital—fewer speak of what lies beneath.
The silence is shattered by fragments of vanished lives stitched together with panic, ritual, and the shadow of something older than fear…
Erica Crawford, Devin Bonomo, Elyse Robin and Dagmara Bragiel star.
“Honestly, I just wanted to create the kind of horror I was craving—something that really got under my skin in the best way,” director Michael Costa tells Bloody Disgusting. “The stuff hitting theaters wasn’t quite tapping into that strange corner of my brain that loves to be disturbed, surprised, and a little haunted. So I figured—why not make it myself?”
Watch the teaser trailer for The Willowbrook Tapes below.
Paranormal Activity 8 – In Theaters May 21, 2027
‘Paranormal Activity’ (2007)
The most high profile upcoming found footage horror movie is of course Paranormal Activity 8, the next installment in the biggest found footage franchise of them all.
Ian Tuason (Undertone) will direct the eighth installment in the Paranormal Activity film franchise, and the new footage will be unleashed in theaters on May 21, 2027.
The new installment comes from Paramount and Blumhouse, with James Wan on board to produce alongside Jason Blum and franchise creator/original director Oren Peli.
“I’ve been a huge admirer of Paranormal Activity since the brilliant first movie, with its creeping slow burn and subtle ability to make the unseen terrifying. I’m looking forward to expanding on its legacy and helping shape the next evolution of this scary found-footage franchise,” James Wan told THR when the news recently broke about his involvement.
Stay tuned for much more on Paranormal Activity 8.
Which of these found footage movies are you excited for?
Comment below and let’s talk!
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