Godzilla Redefines Fear in Viral Found Footage Horror Short

The Blair Witch Project may have popularized the genre, but found footage has come a long way since the film’s launch. For decades now, filmmakers have tried their hand at the medium, and it has bloomed with horror lovers. Now, writer-director Danny Donahue has given the world a peek at what Godzilla might look like in a found footage film, and it is nothing short of perfection.

The work was posted to social media this weekend as you can see below. At less than a minute, this viral Godzilla clip brings the monster to life using an overlay of VHS found footage. We are put into the shoes of somebody experiencing Godzilla’s presence firsthand, and it puts the kaiju into perspective really fast.

View on X

After all, the footage shows Godzilla towering over a city, and his size alone is intimidating. As the clip goes on, we can see the King of the Monsters go onto the offensive as the armed forces try to defeat him. As you can imagine, Godzilla doesn’t go down easily, and the footage ends with the beast lumbering towards the camera with his mouth wide open.

Obviously, this viral fan-film shows just how intimidating Godzilla can be. It is hard to put his size into perspective, but Donahue has managed to convey it with some clever filmography. The short is done so well that you can imagine this kind of clip existing in the Godzilla Universe easily enough. So while Cloverfield may have tapped into found footage horror years ago, this fan-film proves Godzilla could master the medium.

Of course, there are no plans for Godzilla to star in their own found footage movie. The beast is busy enough these days as Godzilla Minus One just earned a historic Oscars nomination. The Japanese movie has earned high praise with fans calling Godzilla Minus One the monster’s best movie in decades. All eyes are on the kaiju ahead to the 96th Academy Awards, and that isn’t the only thing tying up the IP. This spring, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is slated to debut, and it will move the MonsterVerse one step forward with its launch. 

What do you think about this intense Godzilla short? Would the monster do well with a found footage film? Let us know what you think in the comments below as well as on Twitter and Instagram. You can also hit me up @MeganPetersCB to share your take!