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* Ultimately averted in the 1975 movie ''Film/{{Bug|1975}}''. Parmiter makes an audio log of his study of the hybrid bugs, but they deliberately destroy it, so his findings can never be discovered.
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* Ultimately averted in the 1975 movie ''Film/{{Bug|1975}}''.''Film/Bug1975''. Parmiter makes an audio log of his study of the hybrid bugs, but they deliberately destroy it, so his findings can never be discovered.
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* In ''Film/{{Serenity}}'', the crew of the eponymous ship head to the planet of Miranda and come across a lot of dead folks who had apparently lain down and died with no explanation. When they come across a video log from a rescue mission, they find out what happened to the planet: [[spoiler:the Alliance had seeded the planet's air with an experimental drug called the Pax, which was intended to curb violent tendencies. [[GoneHorriblyRight It worked too well]], resulting in nearly everyone on the planet laying down and dying. Even worse, the drug had the opposite effect upon a small portion of Miranda's population, turning them insane and psychopathically violent, resulting in the creation of the Reavers that we know and fear]]. The crew also see what happened to the rescuers. [[GoryDiscretionShot We don't see]], [[SoundOnlyDeath but they do]].
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* In ''Film/{{Serenity}}'', ''Film/Serenity2005'', the crew of the eponymous ship head to the planet of Miranda and come across a lot of dead folks who had apparently lain down and died with no explanation. When they come across a video log from a rescue mission, they find out what happened to the planet: [[spoiler:the Alliance had seeded the planet's air with an experimental drug called the Pax, which was intended to curb violent tendencies. [[GoneHorriblyRight It worked too well]], resulting in nearly everyone on the planet laying down and dying. Even worse, the drug had the opposite effect upon a small portion of Miranda's population, turning them insane and psychopathically violent, resulting in the creation of the Reavers that we know and fear]]. The crew also see what happened to the rescuers. [[GoryDiscretionShot We don't see]], [[SoundOnlyDeath but they do]].
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%%* Both the ''Film/TheZombieDiaries'', and ''Film/DiaryOfTheDead'' have this for the ZombieApocalypse.
* The style of ''Film/TwentyEightDaysLater'' is meant to evoke found footage, even though the film itself doesn't fit the category. Aside from shooting on relatively inexpensive DV cameras and using odd angles to mimic a "found footage" look, several scenes were deliberately staged to resemble photographs from the genocide and war in Bosnia.
* ''Film/TheAgeOfStupid'' is a 2009 pseudo-documentary that is created as one. The various clips we see are old recordings from our time, viewed by a sole archivist played by the late Pete Postlethwaite, living in an arctic repository in the mid-21st century where damage from climate change has driven humanity to extinction. The man attempts to create a film showing why humanity didn't save itself when it had the chance. [[{{Anvilicious}} It takes a certain view of climate change]].
* ''Film/AlienAbductionIncidentInLakeCounty'' (a remake of ''UFO Abduction'' a.k.a. ''The [=McPherson=] Tape'') predates ''The Blair Witch Project'' and involves a family celebrating Thanksgiving in a secluded cabin when the power goes out. When searching for the source of the outage, the family stumbles on a UFO and a group of aliens who start terrorizing the family. Besides the typical "shaky cam" effect, suspense is added by the fact that the aliens are never shown in detail, as their very presence somehow causes the camera to pixelize. The aliens also possess some sort of PsychicPowers, allowing them to mind control the family. There are two endings: one involves the family members disappearing one-by-one, with the boy holding the camera finally dropping it when coming face-to-face with one of the aliens; the other has the aliens simply walk into the dining room, the family marches out under mind control, and an alien switches off the camera. The director's original intent was to make it as realistic as possible, ending the video abruptly. However, ExecutiveMeddling has resulted in ending credits being added, dispelling the mystery by showing who played the aliens.
* The titular journal in ''Film/AntarcticJournal'' clearly wants to be an Apocalyptic Log, but since the guys who find it don't really read much of it, and the pictures are vague, it fails in its attempt.
* ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' starts with Tony Stark using a helmet of his to record a log, which given the ship's AlmostOutOfOxygen and with supplies depleted, he intends for it to be his final message. Luckily, he ends up saved soon after.
* Some of the footage used in ''Film/TheBay'' is this, like the videos left by Dr. Abrams, head doctor who must deal with the outbreak at the local hospital, and Jennifer, a young girl who records the progress of her infection via a Skype/[=YouTube=]-like web app.
* ''Film/BlackWake'': The whole movie in a nutshell is presented as a series of video logs chronicling people being attacked either by strange individuals, and/or becoming hosts for a parasite.
* ''Film/TheBlairWitchProject'' (1999) [[TropeCodifier brought the found footage genre into the mainstream]]. It comprises footage shot by an ill-fated documentary film crew researching the Blair Witch urban legend. The film was marketed as real found footage, causing some confusion amongst more gullible viewers.
* ''Film/BloodBags'': Petra finds some notes in an upstairs room of the mansion detailing how a family's baby has been diagnosed with [[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7376977/ Gunther disease]].
* Ultimately averted in the 1975 movie ''Film/{{Bug|1975}}''. Parmiter makes an audio log of his study of the hybrid bugs, but they deliberately destroy it, so his findings can never be discovered.
* The infamous exploitation film ''Film/CannibalHolocaust'' is split into halves, the first being the recovery of an ApocalypticLog filmed by a documentary crew observing Amazonian tribes, and the second being the log itself. Because the film was made way back in 1980, this makes the found footage genre OlderThanTheyThink.
* ''Film/{{Cloverfield}}'' is a "worm's eye view" of a {{Kaiju}} film in which a man records himself and a group of survivors struggling through New York City during a monster attack. Bumpers added to the footage identify it as from a tape discovered by later investigators.
* ''Film/ClownMotel'': One of the girls finds a journal in their hotel room that belonged to a police officer named "Jane Doe". She details how her partner disappeared after going beyond the cemetery, and how she found a mine, [[HopeSpot which gives the group hope they can use it to escape]]. [[spoiler:It just goes right back to the motel.]]
* ''Film/ColorOutOfSpace2020'': Local hermit Ezra leaves a rather haunting one in the form of his audio logs, which continue playing in his hut after he's evidently died from the titular BrownNoteBeing[='s=] effects, broadcasting his thoughts and speculations about the Color.
* Subverted in ''Film/TheCore'': Zimsky records his thoughts on his impending death... until he realizes the tape recorder's going to die with him and bursts out laughing. His final words are "What the fuck am I doing?"
* ''[[Film/{{Creep2014}} Creep]]'' plays with this. The setup is that the filming starts off as a video log to be passed to the unborn child of the terminally-ill subject, but as the movie goes on we learn there's something terribly off about him, the tables turn, and it becomes a chronicle of the cameraman's final days.
* ''Film/DawnOfTheDead2004'':
** The DVD extras have a video log of Andy's last days right up until he became a zombie. The log also had a short clip of what appears to be his family, which he partially recorded over.
** Another DVD extra is an in-universe news broadcast about the opening stages of the ZombieApocalypse, starting with initial reports about riots in the Midwest, continuing through clips and reports of the spreading zombie outbreak and various responses to it in both the US and abroad, and ending with the news anchor in an increasingly abandoned studio telling his wife that he's coming home as he walks out and the station goes to emergency broadcasting.
* The pseudo-remake of ''Film/DayOfTheDead2008'' had the survivors come across a scientist's video-log in a underground medical facility (which was very reminiscent of ''Film/ResidentEvil2002''). The log also shows the scientist turning into a zombie.
* In ''Film/DesHommesEtDesDieux'', the final voiceover consists of [[spoiler:Christian's testament, describing his view on the dangerous situation.]]
* As the rescue team enter the deserted Glasgow in ''Film/{{Doomsday}}'' we're treated to excerpts of Kane's log, detailing his frantic attempts to survive in a barricaded hospital as civilisation outside crumbles and burns in the aftermath of the [[TheVirus Reaper virus]] outbreak.
* In ''Film/{{Eli}}'', the title character finds a series of medical files showing [[spoiler: the deterioration of Dr. Horn's patients. The page for Treatment 1 shows a picture of the child looking healthy. On the page for Treatment 2, they look weak and sunken-eyed. The page for Treatment 3 shows them dead on the operating table]].
* A very abbreviated version can be found in ''Film/EventHorizon'', wherein the salvage crew finds the ship's logs. The first portion shows the ambitious crew getting ready to perform the experimental hyperspace jump, but it cuts out at the moment of entry, to be replaced by horrific images of what happened to the crew after [[HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace the trip]]. The last coherent line recorded on the log is [[spoiler:"Libera te tutemet ex inferis", or "Save yourself from hell".]] The last part is actually a plot point, as the original audio recording was garbled and made it seem as if [[spoiler:TheCaptain was asking for help ("Liberate me" -- "save me"), when, in fact, he was warning people to stay away]].
-->'''Captain Miller:''' ''[turning off the video]'' We're leavin'.
* The ''Franchise/EvilDead'' trilogy uses this trope as the catalyst for its plot, as Professor Knowby, the researcher who first unearthed the [[TomeofEldritchLore Necronomicon]], kept an audio journal chronicling his battle with his [[DemonicPossession demon-possessed]] wife Henrietta, and his failed attempt to survive the night. Unfortunately, he'd also recorded the recitation of the demon summoning spell that'd accidentally caused the mess to begin with, meaning that anyone who listens to the whole tape ends up going through the exact same thing.
* ''Film/FoundFootage3D'', an AffectionateParody of the genre, refers to this as "the first rule of found footage" -- the "found" part comes from the fact that nobody was left alive to bring the footage back, and it was only recovered later by the search party. The film revolves around the [[TroubledProduction production]] of ''[[ShowWithinAShow Spectre of Death 3D]]'', "the first 3D found footage film", which plays this trope straight; the fact that Derek is trying to [[WagTheDirector rewrite the script]] so that his character lives to the end is a sign of his growing [[ThePrimaDonna diva behavior]]. [[spoiler:The film itself is also a straight example, ending with a possessed Amy [[CallBack referring to "the first rule of found footage"]] before she kills Mark.]]
* ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}''
** The original 1954 ''Film/Godzilla1954'' featured a reporter giving a blow-by-blow description of Gojira's destruction of Tokyo, ending with his description of the monster's attack on the tower he was broadcasting from.
** ''Film/ShinGodzilla'' has an Apocalyptic Log that serves as a major plot point. An abandoned yacht owned by a man named Goro Maki is found and the characters piece together what happened: Maki discovered Godzilla in a larval state and began researching him, keeping journals and jotting down data. Excerpts of the notes are given, explaining how Maki was shunned and mocked by academia, had his work censured by the United States government, and eventually crossed the DespairEventHorizon after his wife died of improperly treated radiation sickness. Pushed past the breaking point, he left behind all his notes (including a method to destroy Godzilla) for others to find, with a final entry saying "do what you will". [[NothingIsScarier We never find out what happened to him after that]]; all the authorities find are some personal belongings left on his boat. [[spoiler:The ending heavily implies that he may have been assimilated by Godzilla, judging by the disturbingly humanlike growths seen on Godzilla's tail after he's frozen.]]
* ''Film/GraveEncounters'' is this. It's supposed to be the footage the titular ghost-hunting show takes when they go into an abandoned mental hospital to film an episode. Obviously all of it was supposed to be fake (as shown by the spokesman of the show paying a custodian to say he saw something creepy), but, of course, the ghosts soon turn out to be real, and very, very nasty. It seems to switch between the in-universe cameras and regular ones, though (probably so the whole film wouldn't be in slightly grainy green-light)
* Timothy Treadwell's tapes in ''Film/GrizzlyMan'' constitute this, even to the point of recording Tim and his girlfriend being eaten by a bear (although with audio only).
* ''Hell House'' series
** ''Film/HellHouseLLC'' starts as a documentary about a haunted house attraction in upstate New York where fifteen people, including most of the crew, die in an unknown accident. The bulk of the film consists of footage shot by the haunted house crew during setup showing how [[FromBadToWorse everything went off the rails.]]
** ''Film/HellHouseLLCIITheAbaddonHotel'' picks up eight years after the events of the original in the same style.
* Such log in Creator/LucioFulci's ''Film/TheHouseByTheCemetery'' leads to TheReveal regarding the Freudstein House's CreepyBasement.
* ''Film/IAmLegend'' is a variation on the typical setup, as its the main character keeping the log of his continuing research into the plague, almost three years after the [[ZombieApocalypse Vampire Apocalypse]].
* ''Film/IslandOfTerror'' had such a log, explaining how anti-cancer research resulted in the creation of the bone-eating Silicates.
* In ''Film/ItCameFromHollywood'', Creator/DanAykroyd narrates the section about alien {{B Movie}}s as "Colonel Dan Diamond" dictating the events of an AlienInvasion for future generations.
-->"Yeah, the aliens came in all shapes and sizes. Short, tall, thin, fat...[[MarsNeedsWomen horny]]."
* In ''Film/TheKillerShrews'' (which was featured on a ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' episode), there is a {{Narm}}ful scene where a scientist, having just been bitten by one of the title monsters, sits down at a typewriter and records the process of his body succumbing to the shrew's poisonous saliva. Based upon the real-life incident of herpetologist Karl P. Schmidt (see folder "Real Life", below).
* ''Film/TheLastBroadcast'' (1998) is a pseudo-documentary featuring found footage from a disastrous cable-access paranormal program. The film pre-dates the vastly more successful ''Blair Witch Project'' by a short time, causing many viewers to mistake it for a rip-off.
%%* There is also the 70s b-movie, ''Film/TheLegendOfBoggyCreek'' about bigfoot.
* ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheFellowshipOfTheRing'': When the Fellowship reaches the Mines of Moria, next to Balin's tomb they find Ori's journal which reads: "They have taken the Bridge and the Second Hall. We have barred the gates, but cannot hold them for long. The ground shakes... Drums. Drums in the deep. We cannot get out. A shadow moves in the dark... We cannot get out... ''They are coming''." This isn't exactly what Tolkien wrote, but it's chillingly effective, and even shows the journal with the final scrawled entry trailing off down the page.
* The film ''Lost Signal'' is based on a story of a Nebraska couple, [[https://www.copronason.com/meth.htm Janelle Hornickel and Michael Wamsley]], who tried crystal meth at a New Year party, crashed their car and decided to walk while making continuous 911 calls. Part of the real-life tragedy is that they assumed they were much closer to home than they really were and kept giving misleading directions to dispatchers.
%%* ''Film/ManBitesDog'' is also an example that predates the ''Blair Witch Project''.
* ''Film/TheMonsterClub'': Whilst in the church, the director discovers the skeleton of TheVicar and a long document he wrote before dying that explains the terrifying truth of Loughville; centuries before, a swarm of ghouls invaded the village, mated with the humans, and made their nest there.
* From ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'': This is actually a humorous subversion. [[spoiler: "Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh" is actually the name of the castle where the Holy Grail is being kept]].
-->'''King Arthur:''' ''(about the inscription on the rock)'' What does it say, Brother Maynard?\\
'''Brother Maynard:''' It reads, "Here may be found the last words of Joseph of Arimathea. He who is valiant and pure of spirit may find the holy grail in the Castle of Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh..."\\
'''King Arthur:''' What?\\
'''Brother Maynard:''' "The Castle of Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh".\\
'''Sir Bedevere:''' What is that?\\
'''Brother Maynard:''' He must have died while carving it.\\
'''Sir Lancelot:''' Oh, come on!\\
'''King Arthur:''' Look, if he was dying, he wouldn't have bothered to carve "Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh" into the rock. He'd just say it.\\
'''Brother Maynard:''' Well, that's what's carved on the rock.\\
'''Sir Galahad:''' Perhaps he was dictating it.\\
'''King Arthur:''' Oh shut up!
* The titular OutlawCouple in ''Film/NaturalBornKillers'' always SpareAMessenger at the scene of their [[SpreeKiller killing sprees]] in order to tell the story of what happened and [[FameThroughInfamy build their legend]]. The lone exception comes at the end, when they realize that, because [[spoiler:the [[{{Paparazzi}} tabloid hack]] Wayne Gale filmed their interview]], they can easily kill him and let the camera serve as the lone witness. Mickey describes it as not just the end of [[spoiler:Wayne's career and life]], but a metaphorical end to everything the man represented as well as the end of his and Mallory's killing spree.
-->'''[[spoiler:Wayne Gale]]:''' Don't Mickey and Mallory always leave somebody alive to tell the tale?\\
'''Mickey Knox:''' We are. Your camera.
* The remake of ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet2010'' has one from an AsianAndNerdy video blogger. We see several video entries about his dreams of Freddy... and then we see one with him asleep. He then suddenly slams into the camera and the screen blacks out.
* In the cult classic ''Film/NightOfTheCreeps'', James Carpenter "J.C." Hooper leaves a audio recording for his friend explaining how the alien leeches get into your head and incubate. They then create more "brain slugs" before they kill you and reanimate your corpse. His voice is clearly changing, due to the fact he's slowly turning. It's one of the few things in this Horror/Comedy hybrid film that's played bone chillingly straight.
* In ''Film/OverdrawnAtTheMemoryBank'' (another from ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''), there's one of these for the process the heroine uses to try to save Fingal's mind.
* The ''Film/ParanormalActivity'' series is presented as footage taken by people who encounter the titular paranormal activity. [[spoiler:In all cases, every single protagonist ends up dying.]] In the first film, it's made pretty obvious that the protagonist putting up a camera has only made the demon more active -- and angry. [[TooDumbToLive This doesn't deter him in the slightest]].
* ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes2001'' has this, explaining how the crash of Leo Davidson's ship turned the desolated planet into a simian dystopia. A non-canon book expands on this and reveals that the apes were deliberately engineered to be smart in order to help fight off the local InsectoidAliens. After the apes won, their leader Simos decided that they didn't need to obey humans anymore.
* ''Film/PokemonDetectivePikachu'': At the PCL ruins, Tim and Pikachu replay holographic diary entries made by Dr. Laurent detailing the experiments done there with Mewtwo [[spoiler: including the creation of R and the Neural Link completed]], leading up to the Mewtwo's escape and [[spoiler: Laurent's [[AssholeVictim death]]]].
* ''Film/ThePossessionOfMichaelKing'' starts as a documentary by Michael to disprove the supernatural, and ends up being a warning left to not meddle with such forces.
* ''Film/{{REC}}'' and its American remake ''Film/Quarantine2008'' are found footage recorded by a female reporter and her camera man while trapped inside an apartment building with zombies. There's also a subversion of the trope when they discover a dictation machine in a RoomFullOfCrazy. You'd assume that the machine would hold an Apocalyptic Log about the zombie virus's origins, but the batteries are dead, so [[TheUnreveal the message is incomprehensible]].
* Part of the plot of ''Film/{{Resolution}}'' is that Michael starts finding a series of these with the medium ranging from records to projector slides to books to photographs to [=DVDs=]. Eventually, they start to be about him...
* ''Film/RobotWorld'': In [[spoiler: a small shed]], the astronaut find [[spoiler: an old film reel of a family having a party when a huge attack occurs]].
* In ''Film/{{Serenity}}'', the crew of the eponymous ship head to the planet of Miranda and come across a lot of dead folks who had apparently lain down and died with no explanation. When they come across a video log from a rescue mission, they find out what happened to the planet: [[spoiler:the Alliance had seeded the planet's air with an experimental drug called the Pax, which was intended to curb violent tendencies. [[GoneHorriblyRight It worked too well]], resulting in nearly everyone on the planet laying down and dying. Even worse, the drug had the opposite effect upon a small portion of Miranda's population, turning them insane and psychopathically violent, resulting in the creation of the Reavers that we know and fear]]. The crew also see what happened to the rescuers. [[GoryDiscretionShot We don't see]], [[SoundOnlyDeath but they do]].
* At the end of ''Film/{{Superhost}}'', Claire records and uploads a final video to her vlog attempting to warn that [[spoiler:Rebecca is a psychopathic murderer, shortly before Rebecca kills her. Problem is, Claire and Teddy's Website/YouTube channel had such a bad reputation for clickbait that [[CryingWolf everybody thinks it's another stunt]].]]
* The BBC docudrama ''Supervolcano'' has a group of people watching the logs of a dying scientist, who documents the conditions of the U.S. after the eruption of Yellowstone. Subverted, in that [[spoiler:the scientist actually survives, and is one of the people watching the logs]].
* ''Film/TheThing1982''. Helicopter pilot [=MacReady=] leaves an Apocalyptic Log to warn the eventual rescuers about the title monster.
-->'''[=MacReady=]:''' I'm going to hide this tape when I'm finished. If none of us make it, at least there'll be some kind of record...
* George Pal's version of ''[[Film/TheTimeMachine1960 The Time Machine]]'' in the form of the talking rings that explain how a nuclear conflict created two separate species of humanoids.
* ''Film/TheWidow2020'': The rescue team finds a phone in an underground tunnel. On the phone is a video of Nikita and his little brother being kidnapped by the Lame Widow.
[[/folder]]
----
* The style of ''Film/TwentyEightDaysLater'' is meant to evoke found footage, even though the film itself doesn't fit the category. Aside from shooting on relatively inexpensive DV cameras and using odd angles to mimic a "found footage" look, several scenes were deliberately staged to resemble photographs from the genocide and war in Bosnia.
* ''Film/TheAgeOfStupid'' is a 2009 pseudo-documentary that is created as one. The various clips we see are old recordings from our time, viewed by a sole archivist played by the late Pete Postlethwaite, living in an arctic repository in the mid-21st century where damage from climate change has driven humanity to extinction. The man attempts to create a film showing why humanity didn't save itself when it had the chance. [[{{Anvilicious}} It takes a certain view of climate change]].
* ''Film/AlienAbductionIncidentInLakeCounty'' (a remake of ''UFO Abduction'' a.k.a. ''The [=McPherson=] Tape'') predates ''The Blair Witch Project'' and involves a family celebrating Thanksgiving in a secluded cabin when the power goes out. When searching for the source of the outage, the family stumbles on a UFO and a group of aliens who start terrorizing the family. Besides the typical "shaky cam" effect, suspense is added by the fact that the aliens are never shown in detail, as their very presence somehow causes the camera to pixelize. The aliens also possess some sort of PsychicPowers, allowing them to mind control the family. There are two endings: one involves the family members disappearing one-by-one, with the boy holding the camera finally dropping it when coming face-to-face with one of the aliens; the other has the aliens simply walk into the dining room, the family marches out under mind control, and an alien switches off the camera. The director's original intent was to make it as realistic as possible, ending the video abruptly. However, ExecutiveMeddling has resulted in ending credits being added, dispelling the mystery by showing who played the aliens.
* The titular journal in ''Film/AntarcticJournal'' clearly wants to be an Apocalyptic Log, but since the guys who find it don't really read much of it, and the pictures are vague, it fails in its attempt.
* ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' starts with Tony Stark using a helmet of his to record a log, which given the ship's AlmostOutOfOxygen and with supplies depleted, he intends for it to be his final message. Luckily, he ends up saved soon after.
* Some of the footage used in ''Film/TheBay'' is this, like the videos left by Dr. Abrams, head doctor who must deal with the outbreak at the local hospital, and Jennifer, a young girl who records the progress of her infection via a Skype/[=YouTube=]-like web app.
* ''Film/BlackWake'': The whole movie in a nutshell is presented as a series of video logs chronicling people being attacked either by strange individuals, and/or becoming hosts for a parasite.
* ''Film/TheBlairWitchProject'' (1999) [[TropeCodifier brought the found footage genre into the mainstream]]. It comprises footage shot by an ill-fated documentary film crew researching the Blair Witch urban legend. The film was marketed as real found footage, causing some confusion amongst more gullible viewers.
* ''Film/BloodBags'': Petra finds some notes in an upstairs room of the mansion detailing how a family's baby has been diagnosed with [[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7376977/ Gunther disease]].
* Ultimately averted in the 1975 movie ''Film/{{Bug|1975}}''. Parmiter makes an audio log of his study of the hybrid bugs, but they deliberately destroy it, so his findings can never be discovered.
* The infamous exploitation film ''Film/CannibalHolocaust'' is split into halves, the first being the recovery of an ApocalypticLog filmed by a documentary crew observing Amazonian tribes, and the second being the log itself. Because the film was made way back in 1980, this makes the found footage genre OlderThanTheyThink.
* ''Film/{{Cloverfield}}'' is a "worm's eye view" of a {{Kaiju}} film in which a man records himself and a group of survivors struggling through New York City during a monster attack. Bumpers added to the footage identify it as from a tape discovered by later investigators.
* ''Film/ClownMotel'': One of the girls finds a journal in their hotel room that belonged to a police officer named "Jane Doe". She details how her partner disappeared after going beyond the cemetery, and how she found a mine, [[HopeSpot which gives the group hope they can use it to escape]]. [[spoiler:It just goes right back to the motel.]]
* ''Film/ColorOutOfSpace2020'': Local hermit Ezra leaves a rather haunting one in the form of his audio logs, which continue playing in his hut after he's evidently died from the titular BrownNoteBeing[='s=] effects, broadcasting his thoughts and speculations about the Color.
* Subverted in ''Film/TheCore'': Zimsky records his thoughts on his impending death... until he realizes the tape recorder's going to die with him and bursts out laughing. His final words are "What the fuck am I doing?"
* ''[[Film/{{Creep2014}} Creep]]'' plays with this. The setup is that the filming starts off as a video log to be passed to the unborn child of the terminally-ill subject, but as the movie goes on we learn there's something terribly off about him, the tables turn, and it becomes a chronicle of the cameraman's final days.
* ''Film/DawnOfTheDead2004'':
** The DVD extras have a video log of Andy's last days right up until he became a zombie. The log also had a short clip of what appears to be his family, which he partially recorded over.
** Another DVD extra is an in-universe news broadcast about the opening stages of the ZombieApocalypse, starting with initial reports about riots in the Midwest, continuing through clips and reports of the spreading zombie outbreak and various responses to it in both the US and abroad, and ending with the news anchor in an increasingly abandoned studio telling his wife that he's coming home as he walks out and the station goes to emergency broadcasting.
* The pseudo-remake of ''Film/DayOfTheDead2008'' had the survivors come across a scientist's video-log in a underground medical facility (which was very reminiscent of ''Film/ResidentEvil2002''). The log also shows the scientist turning into a zombie.
* In ''Film/DesHommesEtDesDieux'', the final voiceover consists of [[spoiler:Christian's testament, describing his view on the dangerous situation.]]
* As the rescue team enter the deserted Glasgow in ''Film/{{Doomsday}}'' we're treated to excerpts of Kane's log, detailing his frantic attempts to survive in a barricaded hospital as civilisation outside crumbles and burns in the aftermath of the [[TheVirus Reaper virus]] outbreak.
* In ''Film/{{Eli}}'', the title character finds a series of medical files showing [[spoiler: the deterioration of Dr. Horn's patients. The page for Treatment 1 shows a picture of the child looking healthy. On the page for Treatment 2, they look weak and sunken-eyed. The page for Treatment 3 shows them dead on the operating table]].
* A very abbreviated version can be found in ''Film/EventHorizon'', wherein the salvage crew finds the ship's logs. The first portion shows the ambitious crew getting ready to perform the experimental hyperspace jump, but it cuts out at the moment of entry, to be replaced by horrific images of what happened to the crew after [[HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace the trip]]. The last coherent line recorded on the log is [[spoiler:"Libera te tutemet ex inferis", or "Save yourself from hell".]] The last part is actually a plot point, as the original audio recording was garbled and made it seem as if [[spoiler:TheCaptain was asking for help ("Liberate me" -- "save me"), when, in fact, he was warning people to stay away]].
-->'''Captain Miller:''' ''[turning off the video]'' We're leavin'.
* The ''Franchise/EvilDead'' trilogy uses this trope as the catalyst for its plot, as Professor Knowby, the researcher who first unearthed the [[TomeofEldritchLore Necronomicon]], kept an audio journal chronicling his battle with his [[DemonicPossession demon-possessed]] wife Henrietta, and his failed attempt to survive the night. Unfortunately, he'd also recorded the recitation of the demon summoning spell that'd accidentally caused the mess to begin with, meaning that anyone who listens to the whole tape ends up going through the exact same thing.
* ''Film/FoundFootage3D'', an AffectionateParody of the genre, refers to this as "the first rule of found footage" -- the "found" part comes from the fact that nobody was left alive to bring the footage back, and it was only recovered later by the search party. The film revolves around the [[TroubledProduction production]] of ''[[ShowWithinAShow Spectre of Death 3D]]'', "the first 3D found footage film", which plays this trope straight; the fact that Derek is trying to [[WagTheDirector rewrite the script]] so that his character lives to the end is a sign of his growing [[ThePrimaDonna diva behavior]]. [[spoiler:The film itself is also a straight example, ending with a possessed Amy [[CallBack referring to "the first rule of found footage"]] before she kills Mark.]]
* ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}''
** The original 1954 ''Film/Godzilla1954'' featured a reporter giving a blow-by-blow description of Gojira's destruction of Tokyo, ending with his description of the monster's attack on the tower he was broadcasting from.
** ''Film/ShinGodzilla'' has an Apocalyptic Log that serves as a major plot point. An abandoned yacht owned by a man named Goro Maki is found and the characters piece together what happened: Maki discovered Godzilla in a larval state and began researching him, keeping journals and jotting down data. Excerpts of the notes are given, explaining how Maki was shunned and mocked by academia, had his work censured by the United States government, and eventually crossed the DespairEventHorizon after his wife died of improperly treated radiation sickness. Pushed past the breaking point, he left behind all his notes (including a method to destroy Godzilla) for others to find, with a final entry saying "do what you will". [[NothingIsScarier We never find out what happened to him after that]]; all the authorities find are some personal belongings left on his boat. [[spoiler:The ending heavily implies that he may have been assimilated by Godzilla, judging by the disturbingly humanlike growths seen on Godzilla's tail after he's frozen.]]
* ''Film/GraveEncounters'' is this. It's supposed to be the footage the titular ghost-hunting show takes when they go into an abandoned mental hospital to film an episode. Obviously all of it was supposed to be fake (as shown by the spokesman of the show paying a custodian to say he saw something creepy), but, of course, the ghosts soon turn out to be real, and very, very nasty. It seems to switch between the in-universe cameras and regular ones, though (probably so the whole film wouldn't be in slightly grainy green-light)
* Timothy Treadwell's tapes in ''Film/GrizzlyMan'' constitute this, even to the point of recording Tim and his girlfriend being eaten by a bear (although with audio only).
* ''Hell House'' series
** ''Film/HellHouseLLC'' starts as a documentary about a haunted house attraction in upstate New York where fifteen people, including most of the crew, die in an unknown accident. The bulk of the film consists of footage shot by the haunted house crew during setup showing how [[FromBadToWorse everything went off the rails.]]
** ''Film/HellHouseLLCIITheAbaddonHotel'' picks up eight years after the events of the original in the same style.
* Such log in Creator/LucioFulci's ''Film/TheHouseByTheCemetery'' leads to TheReveal regarding the Freudstein House's CreepyBasement.
* ''Film/IAmLegend'' is a variation on the typical setup, as its the main character keeping the log of his continuing research into the plague, almost three years after the [[ZombieApocalypse Vampire Apocalypse]].
* ''Film/IslandOfTerror'' had such a log, explaining how anti-cancer research resulted in the creation of the bone-eating Silicates.
* In ''Film/ItCameFromHollywood'', Creator/DanAykroyd narrates the section about alien {{B Movie}}s as "Colonel Dan Diamond" dictating the events of an AlienInvasion for future generations.
-->"Yeah, the aliens came in all shapes and sizes. Short, tall, thin, fat...[[MarsNeedsWomen horny]]."
* In ''Film/TheKillerShrews'' (which was featured on a ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' episode), there is a {{Narm}}ful scene where a scientist, having just been bitten by one of the title monsters, sits down at a typewriter and records the process of his body succumbing to the shrew's poisonous saliva. Based upon the real-life incident of herpetologist Karl P. Schmidt (see folder "Real Life", below).
* ''Film/TheLastBroadcast'' (1998) is a pseudo-documentary featuring found footage from a disastrous cable-access paranormal program. The film pre-dates the vastly more successful ''Blair Witch Project'' by a short time, causing many viewers to mistake it for a rip-off.
%%* There is also the 70s b-movie, ''Film/TheLegendOfBoggyCreek'' about bigfoot.
* ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheFellowshipOfTheRing'': When the Fellowship reaches the Mines of Moria, next to Balin's tomb they find Ori's journal which reads: "They have taken the Bridge and the Second Hall. We have barred the gates, but cannot hold them for long. The ground shakes... Drums. Drums in the deep. We cannot get out. A shadow moves in the dark... We cannot get out... ''They are coming''." This isn't exactly what Tolkien wrote, but it's chillingly effective, and even shows the journal with the final scrawled entry trailing off down the page.
* The film ''Lost Signal'' is based on a story of a Nebraska couple, [[https://www.copronason.com/meth.htm Janelle Hornickel and Michael Wamsley]], who tried crystal meth at a New Year party, crashed their car and decided to walk while making continuous 911 calls. Part of the real-life tragedy is that they assumed they were much closer to home than they really were and kept giving misleading directions to dispatchers.
%%* ''Film/ManBitesDog'' is also an example that predates the ''Blair Witch Project''.
* ''Film/TheMonsterClub'': Whilst in the church, the director discovers the skeleton of TheVicar and a long document he wrote before dying that explains the terrifying truth of Loughville; centuries before, a swarm of ghouls invaded the village, mated with the humans, and made their nest there.
* From ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'': This is actually a humorous subversion. [[spoiler: "Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh" is actually the name of the castle where the Holy Grail is being kept]].
-->'''King Arthur:''' ''(about the inscription on the rock)'' What does it say, Brother Maynard?\\
'''Brother Maynard:''' It reads, "Here may be found the last words of Joseph of Arimathea. He who is valiant and pure of spirit may find the holy grail in the Castle of Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh..."\\
'''King Arthur:''' What?\\
'''Brother Maynard:''' "The Castle of Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh".\\
'''Sir Bedevere:''' What is that?\\
'''Brother Maynard:''' He must have died while carving it.\\
'''Sir Lancelot:''' Oh, come on!\\
'''King Arthur:''' Look, if he was dying, he wouldn't have bothered to carve "Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh" into the rock. He'd just say it.\\
'''Brother Maynard:''' Well, that's what's carved on the rock.\\
'''Sir Galahad:''' Perhaps he was dictating it.\\
'''King Arthur:''' Oh shut up!
* The titular OutlawCouple in ''Film/NaturalBornKillers'' always SpareAMessenger at the scene of their [[SpreeKiller killing sprees]] in order to tell the story of what happened and [[FameThroughInfamy build their legend]]. The lone exception comes at the end, when they realize that, because [[spoiler:the [[{{Paparazzi}} tabloid hack]] Wayne Gale filmed their interview]], they can easily kill him and let the camera serve as the lone witness. Mickey describes it as not just the end of [[spoiler:Wayne's career and life]], but a metaphorical end to everything the man represented as well as the end of his and Mallory's killing spree.
-->'''[[spoiler:Wayne Gale]]:''' Don't Mickey and Mallory always leave somebody alive to tell the tale?\\
'''Mickey Knox:''' We are. Your camera.
* The remake of ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet2010'' has one from an AsianAndNerdy video blogger. We see several video entries about his dreams of Freddy... and then we see one with him asleep. He then suddenly slams into the camera and the screen blacks out.
* In the cult classic ''Film/NightOfTheCreeps'', James Carpenter "J.C." Hooper leaves a audio recording for his friend explaining how the alien leeches get into your head and incubate. They then create more "brain slugs" before they kill you and reanimate your corpse. His voice is clearly changing, due to the fact he's slowly turning. It's one of the few things in this Horror/Comedy hybrid film that's played bone chillingly straight.
* In ''Film/OverdrawnAtTheMemoryBank'' (another from ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''), there's one of these for the process the heroine uses to try to save Fingal's mind.
* The ''Film/ParanormalActivity'' series is presented as footage taken by people who encounter the titular paranormal activity. [[spoiler:In all cases, every single protagonist ends up dying.]] In the first film, it's made pretty obvious that the protagonist putting up a camera has only made the demon more active -- and angry. [[TooDumbToLive This doesn't deter him in the slightest]].
* ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes2001'' has this, explaining how the crash of Leo Davidson's ship turned the desolated planet into a simian dystopia. A non-canon book expands on this and reveals that the apes were deliberately engineered to be smart in order to help fight off the local InsectoidAliens. After the apes won, their leader Simos decided that they didn't need to obey humans anymore.
* ''Film/PokemonDetectivePikachu'': At the PCL ruins, Tim and Pikachu replay holographic diary entries made by Dr. Laurent detailing the experiments done there with Mewtwo [[spoiler: including the creation of R and the Neural Link completed]], leading up to the Mewtwo's escape and [[spoiler: Laurent's [[AssholeVictim death]]]].
* ''Film/ThePossessionOfMichaelKing'' starts as a documentary by Michael to disprove the supernatural, and ends up being a warning left to not meddle with such forces.
* ''Film/{{REC}}'' and its American remake ''Film/Quarantine2008'' are found footage recorded by a female reporter and her camera man while trapped inside an apartment building with zombies. There's also a subversion of the trope when they discover a dictation machine in a RoomFullOfCrazy. You'd assume that the machine would hold an Apocalyptic Log about the zombie virus's origins, but the batteries are dead, so [[TheUnreveal the message is incomprehensible]].
* Part of the plot of ''Film/{{Resolution}}'' is that Michael starts finding a series of these with the medium ranging from records to projector slides to books to photographs to [=DVDs=]. Eventually, they start to be about him...
* ''Film/RobotWorld'': In [[spoiler: a small shed]], the astronaut find [[spoiler: an old film reel of a family having a party when a huge attack occurs]].
* In ''Film/{{Serenity}}'', the crew of the eponymous ship head to the planet of Miranda and come across a lot of dead folks who had apparently lain down and died with no explanation. When they come across a video log from a rescue mission, they find out what happened to the planet: [[spoiler:the Alliance had seeded the planet's air with an experimental drug called the Pax, which was intended to curb violent tendencies. [[GoneHorriblyRight It worked too well]], resulting in nearly everyone on the planet laying down and dying. Even worse, the drug had the opposite effect upon a small portion of Miranda's population, turning them insane and psychopathically violent, resulting in the creation of the Reavers that we know and fear]]. The crew also see what happened to the rescuers. [[GoryDiscretionShot We don't see]], [[SoundOnlyDeath but they do]].
* At the end of ''Film/{{Superhost}}'', Claire records and uploads a final video to her vlog attempting to warn that [[spoiler:Rebecca is a psychopathic murderer, shortly before Rebecca kills her. Problem is, Claire and Teddy's Website/YouTube channel had such a bad reputation for clickbait that [[CryingWolf everybody thinks it's another stunt]].]]
* The BBC docudrama ''Supervolcano'' has a group of people watching the logs of a dying scientist, who documents the conditions of the U.S. after the eruption of Yellowstone. Subverted, in that [[spoiler:the scientist actually survives, and is one of the people watching the logs]].
* ''Film/TheThing1982''. Helicopter pilot [=MacReady=] leaves an Apocalyptic Log to warn the eventual rescuers about the title monster.
-->'''[=MacReady=]:''' I'm going to hide this tape when I'm finished. If none of us make it, at least there'll be some kind of record...
* George Pal's version of ''[[Film/TheTimeMachine1960 The Time Machine]]'' in the form of the talking rings that explain how a nuclear conflict created two separate species of humanoids.
* ''Film/TheWidow2020'': The rescue team finds a phone in an underground tunnel. On the phone is a video of Nikita and his little brother being kidnapped by the Lame Widow.
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