Summary

• Found footage horror is making a comeback with 2023's "Frogman," proving the subgenre is far from over.
• "Frogman" keeps the filmmaking amateur to enhance the viewer's immersive experience.
• By revealing the monster in all its glory, "Frogman" stands out among other found footage films.

The Frogman movie is a 2023 found footage horror film, and it's convinced me that the subgenre isn't over. As a whole, horror is a genre that is never going to die. Don't get me wrong, A24's horror movie catalog. But the problem with the genre is that when one movie does well, copycats often follow.

So when a favorite subgenre of mine, found footage horror movies, started tanking after a glut of mediocre entries, I was worried. Were the heydays of Blair Witch and Paranormal Activity over? Thankfully, 2023's Frogman came along, and I knew found footage horror was back on the upswing. Frogman follows a group of three YouTubers who are searching for the legendary Loveland Frogman and discover the monster is more real than they could have imagined. It's a standard found footage setup, but Frogman nails it with the execution.

The Frogman Movie Leans Into Its Low Budget Campiness — Which Is How Found Footage Horror Should Be

Frogman Doesn't Cheat In How It's Filmed

Found footage works best when it leans into its conceit. My favorites of the genre make an effort to only use cameras that the characters could reasonably get their hands on. Paranormal Activity and Hell House LLC use handheld cameras in cleverly mounted places to create ominous shots that can then be populated with frightening images and jump scares.

Unless there's a clear reason how the camera got there, then that shot shouldn't exist.

Sometimes, found footage horror movies want to have their cake and eat it too. They want to pretend the movie is being filmed by amateurs, but they also want to use expensive cameras and shots that no layperson would ever be able to get on their own. It's cheating, and it takes you out of the movie. Unless there's a clear explanation for how the camera got there, then that shot shouldn't exist. Just make it a normal horror movie and take out the whole found footage part.

Frogman's tagline is "The Croaks Are No Hoax!"

I'm going to say it again, sorry, but The Last Exorcism has camera shots in the strangest places, as if the main characters are being filmed by someone else, so why is it found footage? Even amateurs can get their hands on good cameras these days, but found footage movies shouldn't be glossy like an MCU film. The Visit by M. Knight Shyamalan is found footage, except the person who took the videos is an Academy Award-nominated director, so it looks too professional.

Frogman keeps its filmmaking amateur. You are always certain you and the characters are experiencing the same things at the same time and the grainy footage ensures you're never taken out of the film. It's restrictive for sure, which makes it more difficult to pull off, but when something like Frogman does, the results speak for themselves.

How The Frogman Compares To Other Found Footage Monsters

Frogman Appears In All His Glory Towards The End Of The Movie

Because of the low budgets of most found footage horror movies, you rarely actually get to see the monsters, or when you do, it's for a single frame, and they're shrouded in darkness. Even The Blair Witch did not reveal its monster until the 2014 entry in the franchise.

The Frogman does make an impressively grotesque and long-lasting appearance at the end. So many found footage movies fizzle towards the finale. Frogman succeeds because the wait is worth it for the monster that eventually appears on-screen in all his slimy B-movie glory, and the film ties itself into a satisfying bow. Raise your camcorders in honor of found footage being back.