Shake and Fake: Blair Witch and the Found-Footage Horror Boom (1998-2008)

Mind Over Splatter

An exploration of the ideas, people, and films behind the found-footage horror boom - including Paranormal Activity and Lake Mungo - with Dylan, Sheldon, and Sean O'Rourke. Featuring a deep-dive into the origins of The Blair Witch Project, with detours into "mysterious phenomena" TV shows, Sundance and the American indie movie renaissance, the rise of the multiplex, the birth of viral marketing, and what made 1999 possibly the greatest year ever for American film. Plus, an interview with Professor Margarida Medeiros about Victorian ghost photography, and how our relationship with cameras has long influenced debates about fact and fiction. And, of course, we argue over the different movies under discussion, and rank them all at the end of our shaky, nausea-inducing journey through the deep woods of this unsettling sub-genre.