Paranormal Activity 3's strong box-office performance is fueling a fresh round of found-footage flicks.
Image courtesy Paramount Pictures

Now that Paranormal Activity 3 has broken box office records for October, Hollywood is green-lighting any thriller you can shake a handheld camera at.

The “found footage” horror movie is set to have a new lease on life, with a pipeline full of jump scares. Here is the next crop of “found footage” flicks you should get excited about.

In the latest Entertainment Weekly, Paranormal Activity 3 producer Jason Blum lists off a gaggle of his upcoming shaky-cam features (The Bay, Area 51), which started us looking for the complete set of upcoming movies about recovered footage.

Here’s what we found!

The Bay

Synopsis: It’s being described as an eco-terror flick, and we’re excited to see what becomes of the movie formerly known as Isopods. “The quaint seaside town of Chesapeake Bay thrives on water it is the lifeblood of the community. When two biological researchers from France find a staggering level of toxicity in the water, they attempt to alert the mayor, but he refuses to create a panic in the docile town. As a result, a deadly plague is unleashed, turning the people of Chesapeake Bay into hosts for a mutant breed of parasites that take control of their minds, and eventually their bodies. A brutal and harrowing creature feature for the 21st century, The Bay chronicles the descent of a small town into absolute terror.”

Who: Director Barry Levinson, of Sphere and The Natural fame, is making this thriller with PA3 producer Blum, who said in the EW article that this was, “Definitely the most graphic horror movie I’ve ever been involved with.” Excellent!

When: Currently being test-screened — no release date yet. Until then, check out the set video above.

Area 51

Synopsis: “Terror strikes when a group of reporters visit the secret base, Area 51.”

Who: This is Blum’s next producing project with original Paranormal Activity director Oren Peli, and it’s already been postponed several times. Due to obsessive secrecy, there’s hardly anything about this project other than the news that actor/writer Chris Denham was sent in for rewrites earlier this year, and rumors that Peli went back and did some more reshoots in 2011 as well. Blum told EW that they were “still tinkering with it,” which in producer-speak is near disaster. However, we’re eager for Peli to get back behind the camera again.

When: 2012?

Chronicle

Synopsis: “Three high-school students make an incredible discovery, leading to their developing uncanny powers beyond their understanding. As they learn to control their abilities and use them to their advantage, their lives start to spin out of control, and their darker sides begin to take over.”

Who: An MTV production, Chronicle’s biggest draw is that it stars the wonderful Michael B. Jordan from The Wire, Parenthood and Friday Night Lights.

When: Feb. 3, 2012

The House of Horror

Synopsis: “The House of Horror is a horror-thriller that centers around a gruesome crime scene. The film is shot with a blend of found footage, interrogation video, news cameras and classical cinematography. The film focuses on the aftermath of a horrific massacre; five college students, brutally murdered inside a decrepit, abandoned home…. We are thrown right into the mix as the lead detective, Mark Lewis, and the police department’s psychologist, Dr. Elizabeth Klein, question a suspect. The young man at the center is John Ascot, bound by handcuffs in a mobile command station. During the interrogation, John explains everything leading up to the deaths of his friends.

“We discover that they were amateur ghost-hunters, seeking out paranormal phenomenon at the abandoned house believed to be haunted. What started out as a harmless activity turned into something truly terrifying and more than they ever could bargain for. John explains to the police that he isn’t responsible for his friends’ deaths, but rather, it was the house. He tells them he believes the house is a gateway to hell; a place of concentrated evil.

“We slowly witness an eerie change in John’s demeanor through the course of the movie. Things take a disturbing turn when John hints at the notion that he is possessed by the Devil. Detective Lewis and Dr. Klein are forced to unravel the mystery of how John’s friends were murdered. All this leads to a stunning revelation about the man they’ve been interrogating and a gut-wrenching conclusion.”

Who: Written and produced by James Wan of Insidious fame, so we have high hopes.

When: TBA

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