'Paranormal Activity' and More Visually Unique Scary Movies

'Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension,' new this week, looks to continue in the tradition of the franchise's "found footage" style. If you're a sucker for offbeat visual approaches like we are, you might like these other horror movies that were conceived outside the box.

The first film in this disturbing franchise used the “found footage” format to increasingly nightmare-inducing effect. This approach kicked off the recent boom in “FF” horror, and the low-budget movie would go on to make a massive profit. 

'Unfriended' put a fresh spin on the slasher flick, delivering its scares across a computer screen as a group of teenagers is picked off one by one while they video chat. Sounds annoying, but it's actually quite entertaining.

Like 'Unfriended,' this creepy thriller takes place on a PC desktop. Elijah Wood stars as a loner who uses a hacked webcam to spy on his celebrity crush (Sasha Grey), and gets in over his head when a psycho starts pushing the buttons.

From 'Rope' to 'Birdman,' the single-take movie – where the story seemingly plays out in one continuous shot – is almost its own genre. This blood-drenched outing, starring Elizabeth Olsen, is a remake of an (arguably better) 2010 Uruguayan film.

Not the first "found footage" horror movie but still among the most audacious, with its blend of video and film and its actors' ad-libbed dialogue and camerawork. Nothing about this no-budget freakout spelled "hit," yet audiences were spellbound.

Of all the post-'Blair Witch' found footage movies, 'Alone with Her' – shot a year before 'Paranormal Activity' – stands out for its inventive use of hidden "spy cameras." Worth a look for Colin Hanks's effective turn as a stalker.

This cult item took the found footage concept and built an anthology movie around it. Several directors helm individual segments, each represented by a "found" VHS tape, and all with one shared goal: to scare your pants off.

Up for more subtitles? Then try this Belgian shocker, an early mockumentary in which a film crew follows – and enables – a serial killer as he makes his rounds. Beware: the dark humor will not prepare you for some deeply disturbing moments.

David Lynch's first feature isn't typical horror. Frankly, it isn't typical anything. But if you can endure the industrial soundtrack, the intentionally stilted performances, and a truly disgusting monster baby, you're in for a nightmarishly good time.

Though not for all tastes, this gory, gothic, dialogue-free experimental film led its maker, E. Elias Merhige, to a second career directing Marilyn Manson music videos. He also directed 'Shadow of the Vampire' (2000), starring Willem Dafoe.

There have always been scary scenes in Disney cartoons, and recent comedies like 'Hotel Transylvania' and 'ParaNorman' have spoofed horror tropes, but this Japanese classic is the rare animated feature that takes the genre seriously.

Another anthology movie but expanded to 26 segments, one for each letter of the alphabet assigned to different directors. Ambitious and uneven, it still gets props for effort and originality.