33 replies to this topic

[Peter T Chattaway]

People have been complaining for years about the security guards who scrutinize audiences with their night-vision goggles during preview screenings. Now we have an entire trailer built around footage of an audience taken with night-vision technology. Did these audience members know that their faces would be used in an ad for this movie? Did they all sign a release form?

[Persona]

This movie's been in red tape purgatory for two years, and now it's only releasing to 12 theaters with a "Demand It" attached? It's got a current 9.1at IMDB. Somebody is failing big-time here.

[Peter T Chattaway]

Fans check in for 'Couples Retreat' with $35.3M
Shot for a reported $15,000, "Paranormal Activity" came in at No. 5 with $7.1 million as distributor Paramount expanded it into daylong release after two weeks of midnight-only screenings.
"Paranormal Activity" played in narrow release of just 160 cinemas, a fraction of the theater count for other top movies. It averaged a whopping $44,163 a theater, compared with $11,780 in 3,000 theaters for "Couples Retreat."
"You almost do a double take when you look at that theater count for a movie in the top five," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "That's amazing. That's unprecedented." . . .
"Paranormal Activity" was acquired by former Paramount partner DreamWorks at 2007's Slamdance Film Festival with the idea that writer-director Oren Peli would re-shoot it on a bigger budget.
But after audiences responded well to a test screening, Paramount decided to sneak "Paranormal Activity" out in a manner befitting its raw, independent roots. The studio began two weekends ago with midnight screenings in 13 cities, the movie building buzz online much as "The Blair Witch Project" did 10 years ago. . . .
According to Paramount, "Paranormal Activity" had a record weekend for a movie playing in fewer than 200 theaters, surpassing the $3.7 million haul for "Platoon" in 174 theaters early in its run in 1987. Factoring in today's higher prices for movie tickets, which average nearly twice as much as in 1987, "Paranormal Activity" sold about the same number of tickets as "Platoon."
Including its take from midnight screenings the previous two weeks, "Paranormal Activity" has grossed $8.3 million. Paramount plans to expand it to several hundred more theaters next weekend, again adding new markets based on where it gets the most requests. . . .
Associated Press, October 11

[Persona]

Forget what I said about "failing."

But still. Two years later.

And is this the original version? I heard Paramount tried to rework some things.

[Peter T Chattaway]

Persona wrote:
: And is this the original version? I heard Paramount tried to rework some things.

FWIW, I just came across a post somewhere which claimed that this version of the film was about 10 minutes shorter than the version which played Slamdance a year or two ago. I didn't read any further than that, though, since the details would presumably have been fairly spoiler-ish.

[Thom Wade]

Peter T Chattaway, on 12 October 2009 - 02:18 AM, said:

Persona wrote:
: And is this the original version? I heard Paramount tried to rework some things.

FWIW, I just came across a post somewhere which claimed that this version of the film was about 10 minutes shorter than the version which played Slamdance a year or two ago. I didn't read any further than that, though, since the details would presumably have been fairly spoiler-ish.

This film has a different ending recommended by some guy named Speilberg. The word of mouth on the film has been pretty terrific.

[Thom Wade]

Persona, on 18 September 2009 - 10:59 PM, said:

It's got a current 9.1at IMDB.

Currently, it's at 84%.

[Persona]

Nezpop, on 12 October 2009 - 07:47 AM, said:

This film has a different ending recommended by some guy named Speilberg. The word of mouth on the film has been pretty terrific.

That's right, that's what I remembered.

Can you read what it says on my forehead? "SUCKER."

I'm sure this one's gonna be a blast.

[Thom Wade]

Persona, on 12 October 2009 - 07:55 AM, said:

I'm sure this one's gonna be a blast.

It's funny that in the same month, two movies that sat around for two years are coming out to primarily positive reviews. After sitting on a shelf for two years, WB is releasing Trick'rTreat and the response is, why wasn't this released to theaters?! Best horror anthology in over 20 years.

[Persona]

Nezpop, on 12 October 2009 - 08:09 AM, said:

Trick'rTreat

Is that directed by Michael Dougherty?

[Thom Wade]

Persona, on 12 October 2009 - 08:24 AM, said:

Nezpop, on 12 October 2009 - 08:09 AM, said:

Trick'rTreat

Is that directed by Michael Dougherty?

Why, yes. Yes it is.

[J.A.A. Purves]

I keep hearing that this movie is so scary that people have to run to the bathrooms to puke.

Um ... could that have something to do with ... perhaps ... the shaky (site decorum) camera a-la Blair Witch Project/Tony Scott on crack? Just wondering what would make you go throw up more - an indie horror movie about 2 people sleeping in a bed, or sitting in front of a big huge shaking theater screen.

Austin Chronicle - Marc Savlov

Quote

Don't believe the hype: Paranormal Activity may be a lot of things, but the words "scary" and "movie" are not among them. It is instead nothing more or less than an excruciatingly tedious YouTube gag cleverly marketed to go viral in the broadest and most box office-friendly way ... Paranormal Activity purports to exist as actual found footage – the opening text says it was discovered by the San Diego Police Department – but that's no excuse for foisting a poorly acted (whoops! make that "realistic"), shoddily conceived, anti-art-directed nonstarter that pays off only in its final 10 seconds on a gullible moviegoing public that only wants to have its collective hair raised. At 96 minutes, it's at least 90 minutes too long, and most damning of all, it's just plain dull. What little there is of a plot hangs on the irritatingly senseless, often just plain dopey suburban couple of Katie (Featherston) and Micah (Sloat). Plagued by mysterious thuds in the night, Micah invests in some pricey video- and sound-recording gear and begins taping the couple as they sleep. Precious little ensues until those final 10 seconds, and even those will arrive as no surprise to anyone who ever bothered to open one of those faddish "shocker" e-mails of a few years back (you know, the ones that guided you to a website featuring some random scene of pastoral beauty which dawdled on forever until suddenly a loud noise and a scary face blasted onto your monitor and freaked your adrenals into overdrive). Yeah, Paranormal Activity is exactly like that but without the one-trick pony grazing in the verdant field ...

'Paranormal Activity' falls short with scares -

Quote

Paranormal Activity owes much to its “found video” predecessor, The Blair Witch Project, which scared $250 million out of the world’s pockets 10 years ago. For Paranormal Activity, the shaky camera has moved from the Maryland woods to the San Diego suburbs. Filmed in documentary style, young couple Katie (Katie Featherston) and Micah (Micah Sloat) — who both lack common sense and have been studying from the Things You Never Do in a Horror Movie textbook — have just moved into a new house where all sorts of things are going bump, clang and thud during the night. Is it a ghost? Is it a demon? Whatever it is, she’s a believer, he’s a skeptic, and Micah sets up a video camera to document the haunted goings-on while they sleep to get to the bottom of things ... Unfortunately, Paranormal Activity proves to be slightly less scary than your average Lady Gaga performance outfit.

[Michael Todd]

I just got home from watching the movie. I really liked it. It kept my attention. I wasn't scared, but it was creepy, in the same way that the Ring is. Why no one ever prays to Jesus, I'll never know. It is like no one has ever read Matthew 10:6. A disciple of Jesus can cast out demons, and that was pre-Atonement, pre-Petnecost. Humans have power over the supernatural, but only a few mystics and witches ever seem to get that. Oh well, enough of my anti-dispensational theology. It was an entertaining film.

[Thom Wade]

Michael Todd, on 24 October 2009 - 01:03 AM, said:

I just got home from watching the movie. I really liked it. It kept my attention. I wasn't scared, but it was creepy, in the same way that the Ring is. Why no one ever prays to Jesus, I'll never know. It is like no one has ever read Matthew 10:6. A disciple of Jesus can cast out demons, and that was pre-Atonement, pre-Petnecost. Humans have power over the supernatural, but only a few mystics and witches ever seem to get that. Oh well, enough of my anti-dispensational theology. It was an entertaining film.

Well, that would make for a short and anticlimactic film. Or you have the Amityville Horror.

But I enjoyed this one for the creepy atmosphere. Someone accused me of buying into the hype, and proceeded to praise [REC] and calling this a ripoff. Yes, a creepy ghost story is the same as a slam bang zombie film. Heck, [REC] didn't bring anything new to zombie films and it used a storytelling device that we have seen before. Comparing the two films is preposterous. Both are good-but for different reasons. I would gather plenty of people have been alone in a house and heard a sound come from another room, or creaking floors...and had that fight internally where the rational mind knows it is the house settling or something...but some small voice inside says, "What if it's a ghost?! Or I am really not alone?!" That's why the film works, in spite of some flaws.

[Persona]

Nezpop, on 12 October 2009 - 09:05 AM, said:

Persona, on 12 October 2009 - 08:24 AM, said:

Nezpop, on 12 October 2009 - 08:09 AM, said:

Trick'rTreat

Is that directed by Michael Dougherty?

Why, yes. Yes it is.

I saw Trick'rTreat and believe I commented somewhere that it wasn't really for me. But I'm still thinking that Paranormal Activity is right up my alley -- my favorite contemporary horror are these street level DIY-style indie-feeling films. The opening night theater seat that I sat in for The Blair Witch Project still has claw marks on it, I'm sure. And [REC], as has been noted recently, just builds and builds to a beautifully chilling climax. I'm going to try to make it to this later in the week.

[Thom Wade]

Persona, on 26 October 2009 - 03:17 PM, said:

I saw Trick'rTreat and believe I commented somewhere that it wasn't really for me. But I'm still thinking that Paranormal Activity is right up my alley -- my favorite contemporary horror are these street level DIY-style indie-feeling films. The opening night theater seat that I sat in for The Blair Witch Project still has claw marks on it, I'm sure. And [REC], as has been noted recently, just builds and builds to a beautifully chilling climax. I'm going to try to make it to this later in the week.

It's very different from [REC](which I did like)...but I thought this one worked more often than it did not. I actually did not care for the Blair Witch...I did not find one lick of it scary...and it didn't get interesting until the final ten minutes. So, just when I took an interest, it ended. Plus, I find the overacting of the three leads obnoxious. Only in indie horror do people scream and wail like that when trying not to get caught by a killer/monster/whatever...

[Persona]

Nezpop, on 27 October 2009 - 07:07 AM, said:

Only in indie horror do people scream and wail like that when trying not to get caught by a killer/monster/whatever...

Eh, I don't know. If I had a killer/monster/whatever tyring to catch me in the woods, I might just be caught screaming and wailing like that.

[Gina]

Persona, on 27 October 2009 - 06:02 PM, said:

Nezpop, on 27 October 2009 - 07:07 AM, said:

Only in indie horror do people scream and wail like that when trying not to get caught by a killer/monster/whatever...

Eh, I don't know. If I had a killer/monster/whatever tyring to catch me in the woods, I might just be caught screaming and wailing like that.

I know I would, because I was once chased by a vicious dog, and my oh-so-brilliant strategy was to sit down in the gutter and screech my head off.

[J.A.A. Purves]

Yep, was bound to happen ... the sequel is now in the works. New horror movie franchise everyone! What's the over-under on this ending with a Paranormal Activity 6?

Paranormal Activity 2 to Become The Second Scariest Hyped Movie of All Time

Cartman: "Well, I’m out guys. I'm out. If this is what’s cool now, I think I’m done. I no longer have any connection to this world."

[Thom Wade]

Persiflage, on 28 October 2009 - 10:23 PM, said:

Yep, was bound to happen ... the sequel is now in the works. New horror movie franchise everyone! What's the over-under on this ending with a Paranormal Activity 6?

Paranormal Activity 2 to Become The Second Scariest Hyped Movie of All Time

Cartman: "Well, I’m out guys. I'm out. If this is what’s cool now, I think I’m done. I no longer have any connection to this world."

They were already doing [Rec] 2... these "caught on tape", dating back to the Blair Witch never strike me prime sequel fodder, based on their format. Now the Blair Witch ditched the format for it's sequel. But I am under the impression that these other sequels will be more of the same format. And really, what, am I supposed to accept that they found more footage? These films have pretty final endings. Do we find footage from new people that was lost/kept hidden by the government?