The Blair Witch Project

The opening text of this era-defining indie horror reads: “In October of 1994 three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland, while shooting a documentary. A year later their footage was found.” In the diegetic filmmakers’ search for the truth of a local myth, the milestone late ‘90s horror calls back to colonial America’s obsession with the supernatural and the idea that something terrifying lingers in the woods at the frontier. Immensely terrifying, simple, and magnetic, the debut from Myrick and Sánchez launched a revival of found footage horror movies throughout the 2000s.