◆ Trending: Five must-see found footage horror films and where to stream them
They've become a lazy trope in the horror genre - but a new release has shown there's still life in the found footage film.
Blair Witch Project: The film that launched a thousand dreadful immitators, the fake documentary about three student filmmakers hiking into remote woods to investigate the titular myth was filmed for around $30,000 and went to to earn around $250 million. Whether any cinemagoers actually thought it was real is debatable - but it made for great publicity.
Creep: Mumblecore meets horror in this film about a struggling videographer who takes a job to film a man with terminal brain cancer for eight hours to provide his unborn son with a virtual memory of him. It all takes place in a remote cabin. Of course it does. Mark Duplass' involvement as co-writer and co-star ensures it's as funny as it is scary.
Rec: Excellent found footage films are as rare as excellent zombie films - and Spanish horror Rec is both. A reporter rides along for the night with a fire crew only to find herself sealed up in a quarantined building struck by a quicklyspreading infection. None of the inevitable sequels or pointless English language remakes can match the original.
Paranormal Activity: The most profitable film of all time (surpassing The Blair Witch Project), has a plot as simple as it is effective - a young couple set up a camera to try and catch what they believe to be a supernatural presence inside their home.
Troll Hunter: With a grounding in Norwegian folklore, this unlikely Scandi horror sees (another) group of students with a video camera set out to make a documentary - this time about a suspected bear poacher. They find a set of strange animal prints. . .
7.00 Indian Hill Railways.* The lives and loves of workers on the Nilgiri Mountain Railway, a steampowered line that runs through the south Indian jungle up to a hill station once known as Snooty Ooty.
8.00 To The Manor Born.* Richard is reprimanded.
8.30 To The Manor Born.* Audrey organises a protest rally. 7.00 Hollyoaks.* Things are looking up for Marie as a heartfelt conversation leads to a family reconciliation. Feeling rejected, one resident puts an end to a blossoming relationship.
7.30 Married At First Sight Australia.* After an intense Commitment Ceremony last night, one bride can’t find her husband, and Lucinda and Timothy wake up in separate apartments.