An invisible man sleepin' in your bed, who you gonna call? THE JADED VIEWER!

I've blogged about the world of horror for well over 10 years. I've watched every inconceivable paranormal, poltergeist and ghost movie probably ever made but I've never actually done any ghost hunting IRL. In less than a month, I'll be doing just that for the first time.

With some fellow Survivors, were all going to venture to The Shanley Hotel, a supposed haunted inn with a very dark past. Equipped with EVPs and recording devices, we shall see if we can hear and see the sights and sounds of the past. Part of me wants to bring a PKE meter, Tobin's Spirit Guide and a proton pack but I would need some help obtaining those items.

I've only done one other "ghost tour" and that was in New Orleans....during the day. If you look at those pictures, I'm not even sure I took a picture of a orb or ghost though they claimed there was a 90% chance I would.

Hence my tone of skepticism. I've seen and loved both Paranormal Activity and The Innkeepers. But that's movie magic and you're guaranteed to see bumps in the night. Who knows what will happen when I go on May 25th.

But here's the deal where believer and skeptic become a debate in your own head. I believe there is intelligent life in the universe. I believe there is unknown species we have yet to discover on this planet called Earth. But believing in something and wanting to believe are two different things.

I want to believe in Bigfoot and Loch Ness Monster. I want to believe extrasensory perception and time travel. I also want to believe in the paranormal. And so we put that to the test first. Because that is worth exploring. As Q in ST: TNG said once, it's "charting the unknown possibilities of existence".

Do you believe in ghosts? Have you gone on a mini investigation of our own to a supposed haunted place?
Let me know and share some advice with me.

Here be some linkage:

• Official Site
• Facebook
•  Twitter

Categories: ghost hunting, ghost stories, ghosts, haunted house, paranormal activity, real life haunts

ABC's The River (TV Review)

I was able check out ABC's new show The River a little early. You've probably seen the commercials and the marquee branding that it comes from Paranormal Activity director Oren Peli. Having watched the pilot, I gotta admit it's probably the best pilot I've ever seen since Lost.

It really grabs you from the opening scene and you get seriously mesmerized by it all. Sometimes in pilots, they think they need to establish characters so you all know who is who. The River touches on a few character developments but doesn't get bogged down in the details. It knows it'll get into that in later episodes.

What The River does well is jump right into the shit you wanna see. So what's that exactly?

A Steve Irwin (but American) like TV explorer and wildlife guru and his family were stars of a hit weekly TV show where they discovered new species and got into the adventures (you know Swiss Family Robinson style I guess). Years later, dear old dad seems to have gone missing and his wife, his son and a new TV crew go searching for the long lost star explorer. They're joined by a hot blonde (there is always a hottie and who also lost her dad in the last expedition), a few TV producers and camera guys and a South American guide with his daughter and it's bon voyage into the Amazon.

Filmed with that Paranormal Activity style of shaky cam footage (via the cameramen), surveillance shots, old archived footage and traditional TV style, it all works on all those different levels. Soon these rag tag group locates a beacon that is suppose to be from Dr. Emmet Cole, our intrepid adventurer and they locate and search an abandoned boat of the long lost crew. But then shit starts hitting the fan.

Magical unseen forces are wreaking havoc, weird footage of dad doing Amazonian things and a glimpsed at story from the natives is told. A few scenes had me going WTF. But it's the pure awesomeness of Peli and his sight beyond sight that makes The River standout. We get a mythos in the pilot, a few blurry attacks and a good ole WTF death scene. Awesome.

Sure it's basically Paranormal Activity meets Lost. The characters all seem to echo a bit of shadiness and our "Jack" character is now called Lincoln Cole. But all in all, something seems not right and the mystery really does hook you. The dragonflies are all quirky and the mysterious entity that "seeks blood" isn't just shutting doors or flickering lights but outright attacking the castaways.

The River looks promising and I'm going to definitely check out series. There is already so much good horror TV shows probably on your plate but I'm banking on the natives and the river to slaughter and cannibalize this millennial version of the SS Minnow.

Good times.

The River premieres on February 7th 2012 (Tuesday) on ABC.

Categories: cinema verite, paranormal activity, pov horror, reality tv satire, the river, tv shows

Horror Movie Alternate Endings You May Have Missed

The alternate ending. It's sometimes comes out actually better than the original ending. Most of the time, it's actually a piece of shit. I'm a proponent of downer endings, one where our hero or heroine doesn't survive because it just sometimes feels more real than your standard packaged survival ending.

But Hollywood and supposed "test audiences" never like downer endings. They hate when the killer lives or wins. They love open endedness-ish stuff and they also like when everybody lives happily ever after. They LOVE fuckin happy endings! :-)

I'm pretty sure you've seen these alternate endings before but if you haven't, their all pretty interesting to watch. 5 of em are complete downers. I especially liked Orphan and Paranormal Activity's alternate endings.

How do you feel about alternate endings? What are your favorite ones and what are ones you hated? Do you have a few that I can add to the list below? Share your thoughts.

Spoil yourself below. Obvious spoilers below.

28 Days Later





Army of Darkness





Blade





Freddy vs Jason





Orphan






Paranormal Activity

Categories: 28 days later, alternate endings, alternate reality, alternative endings, horror movies, orphan, paranormal activity, paranormal activity original ending, wesley snipes

Paranormal Activity 2 (Review)

Paranormal Activity 2

Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)

Directed by Tod Williams

I gave the original Paranormal Activity 3 spinkicks on the basis that it reinvented the POV shaky cam found footage horror genre. Not since Blair Witch had a movie techno supersized the typical supernatural film into cult like status.

It brought in surveillance footage blended with shaky cam and a running timer that actually fast forwarded to the good parts. Yes folks, these little things were clever in the original.

But then it got a sequel and it went all down hill.

Paranormal Activity 2 is clearly inferior to its big brother. The quick review is it uses new and old characters, the same techniques, the same story and the same scares to deliver the goods. But oddly this sequel which is actually a prequel then sequel jumped the shark once it was announced it was going to be made.

It's not that it repackages everything, it's that the characters who drove the first film (Micah and Katie) somehow were more cooler than this family (in this case Katie's sister Kristi, her husband Daniel, their daughter Ali and the newborn Hunter). Sure Michah was an asshole but we bought into it. Coupled with the fact Part 2 loses its glamor and originality just by existing, I can only declare this movie a yawn.

Boring Plot-O-Matic

After experiencing what they think are a series of "break-ins", a family sets up security cameras around their home, only to realize that the events unfolding before them are more sinister than they seem.

Awesome Review-O-Matic

Since I've seen PA1, I've watched a handful of found footage flicks. Evil Things (full review here), Rec and 2 flicks that made my Top 10 List of 2010: The Last Exorcism and Rec 2. Rec 2 is clearly the winner in the sequel department has it was all super sized for full effect.

For Paranormal Activity 2, we clearly have a Book of Shadows effect here. How do you top a one of a kind flick like PA? Rec 2 did the impossible and stayed true but so did PA. So we'll go all formula review here.

Let's get to the breakdown by seeing how Paranormal Activity 2 worked the BWP formula to perfection.

• The camera "person" films everything
• His friends who become part of the video
• Something sinister starts to scare them
• The film ends with "the final shot" that gets the audience shocked

The camera "person" films everything

Sometimes the logic of why everybody films everything is illogical. In PA2, it's gratuitously overused. It works in PA1 because Micah wants to document the weird paranormal shit. But a newborn doesn't warrant this much filming. Dad, mom and daughter take turns filming everything in this hell week before the events of PA1. I thought they'd get the damn nanny to start filming them as well.

Hell, why not put cameras on tripods and have 2-3 takes?

Sure the multiple surveillance cameras are a nice touch but they totally fucked up the one thing that made Paranormal Activity had going with it. THE RUNNING TIMER!!!

The running timer (which fast forwards during the night and somehow gets us to the good part) does not come in until 1 HOUR INTO THE MOVIE?!?!? The beauty of the timer was it built up serious oodles of suspense. You knew when it stopped, some fucked up shit was gonna happen. Here it's not used at all and your left with boring attempts at humor, some Katie and Micah cameos and some family bickering. Sigh and yawn.

His friends who become part of the video

Not much to say here. Like I said Micah and Katie make a cameo which enable us the viewer to start seeing a prequel unfold. Good to see our yuppie San Diego couple in pseudo extra footage.

Our Misifits loving daughter Ali soon becomes a YouTube cam girl as we go on. She starts Fox Muldering herself and night camming her way all over the creepy house. Seriously, this house is fuckin huge. 4 bedrooms, big ass TV, large ass pool. What does dad do? Run a mega corporation or run drugs from Mexico?

Something sinister starts to scare them

The eerie comes in all forms and follows the same formula. We get low rated scares to progressively yowser scares. So what do we get to see? Baby toys move, dogs barking, pots and pans trying to escape a hanging, flame wars, mysterious shadows, doors closing babies running amok, cabinets wanna party, dogs battling demons and dragged out house stunts.

I actually predicted a few of these scares. That's how boring it got.

I know you lose the luster in a sequel which is why you CAN'T do more of the same. You have to add something completely different than will outright shock and awe the shit out of the viewer. Rec 2 totally did this. PA2 which seemed especially Hollywood-ized feeds you the same generic pizza you've had before. Sonnavabitch.

The film ends with "the final shot" that gets the audience shocked

There be a bit of a mythos slightly explained and a bit of a twist as our prequel goes into sequel mode. It's clear that Tod Williams seemed to have watched Rec a few times and we get full frontal night vision when our big sis gets all demonized. The only difference is we have a toddler clogging up camera time.

Yeah we get a few more WTF but their mild WTFs. I mean if you wanted to give yourself a PA marathon, the best case scenario is to watch PA2 then stop it when we see Katie pull up in the driveway and meets Micah. Then pop in Part 1 and when that's over resume Part 2 again. They clearly blended this all together. They should just make one mega Paranormal Activity that intercuts both movies (ahem ahem I'm talking to you INTERNET!)

The big final shot was clearly anti climactic. If we were to look back at the original ending of Paranormal Activity this other ending wouldn't really exist but remember folks, Spielberg always wins in the end.

I was a little worried we'd see little Hunter get a vicious pair of teeth and start babbling violently into the camera. Don't worry, that doesn't happen...well not until we get Paranormal Activity 3.

What more can I say? I didn't like PA2 as much as the first one. Yes it was the characters, the recycled scares and the lack of cliches (eg. running timer) they used in the first one. And then again with the Ouija board? C'mon now. Hell they could have killed the daughter's boyfriend.

It's a sequel that had problems from the get go and it doesn't really go.

If you've never seen any of these flicks, go with the original. Why? The jokes were a bit better.

Gore-ipedia/Nude-ipedia

Negative Zero

WTF moment

The sequel in the sequel which is a prequel then a sequel

The Jaded Viewer's Final Prognosis

You'd think I'd have seen this just in case it was good enough to be on my Top 10 list. Hell it doesn't even make my Top 20.

Paranormal Activity 2 is out on Blu-Ray, VOD and DVD.

Rating:
1/2

Check out the trailer.

Categories: cinema verite, demons, found footage, paranormal activity, paranormal activity 2, paranormal activity original ending, paranormal activity review, paranormal activity trailer, pov horror

The Shortround: Enter the Dark (Review)

Enter the Dark

Enter the Dark (2010)

Directed by Todd Miro

My one success story that I brought to the horror blogosphere was getting some buzz and attention for Alex Horwitz's short Alice Jacobs is Dead.

Shorts are the quickest way to get an indie filmmaker's talent some buzz and with Enter the Dark, Todd Miro (who was the producer and editor for Elisabeth Fies' cult-thriller The Commune) does just that.

So does this Paranormal Activity lite short reinvent the ghost haunted house genre and take it into new territory?

My quick hit answer is "ehhh not really but sorta." It's a quick 18 min and some of the interactions between our main characters Rob and Charles are funny and slightly suspenseful. It's slickly produced, some of the scenes are new and inventive and put a chill down my spine. But here's the thing. If say they did this a few years ago, I'd be glowing about Enter the Dark but Paranormal Activity single handily rebooted the POV/shaky cam haunted house genre and unfortunately now all other films in this genre have to be compared to it.

That's not to say Enter the Dark didn't do things to scare the bejesus out of me.

Boring Plot-O-Matic

Enter The Dark is a short film that takes you into the dark recesses of a haunted house and the even darker fathoms of the human soul. Although it may seem similar to Paranormal Activity and Blair Witch Project, its sensibilities are really rooted in films like The Haunting, Poltergeist and especially The Exorcist, Alien, and The Shining.

Awesome Review-O-Matic

I'd have to say the best parts of the short are the very Rated R conversations between Rob (Rob Sandusky) and Charles (Charles Yoakum). Some of the light hearted conversation is hilarious and had me LOL-ing. The short forces you to get all chummy with these buddies but soon it's Mulder and Scully time as Charles has an X-File he needs help with.

His house is haunted and he tries to make Rob believe this is such. His initial evidence? A strange video recording. This leads to a walk around the house with a video camera POV (the film also is shot regularly which should relieve the nauseous viewer). Soon our duo are hearing voices, feeling cold spots and in one stellar scene communicate with the ghost via a children's audio book This scene works beautifully and I admit I got a little freaked out.

Check out the scene here:

Enter The Dark scene 4 preview from Todd Miro on Vimeo.

However, we also get our standard cliches in the mix. A locked door, some toy stacking and some written mirror messages (thank the movie gods Miro didn't put in a mirror scare). It's all your standard stuff that have seen before. My hope was that though this was in the same vain as PA, it would try to do things slightly differently to scare us. Basically, the scare factors here in Enter the Dark hit average, a baseball average of .333.

My only other gripe was the acting and dialogue. It's not bad bad but there seemed to be some over explaining. A rule in filmmaking is to never talk about what you're doing and at times this is what happens. Also the performances are adequate yet both Rob and Charles don't seem frightened by something very frightening. The charm is Rob is Scully-ing as far as he can go even though the evidence that's stacked in front of him is overwhelming.

My final issue is with the ending which employs an interesting twist. The ending shows a little too much visually and I'd hope we wouldn't actually "see" what the audience is dying to see. I may be nitpicking but that's the point of an effective ghost story is to let your imagination make up the monster in your head.

The film is very well produced and shot. The fact it was shot in Todd Miro's actual house (much to his wife's displeasure) gives it such an authentic quality that can't be duplicated. A fast 35mm lenses and a Sony HD infra-red camcorder were used and you can tell by the quality of the visuals. It's edited nicely so the long suspenseful build shots are drawn to a nicely edited switching between the 2 POVs.

Enter the Dark is an effective short in this post Paranormal Activity age. There are always new ways to amp up the scare quotient and Todd Miro and his crew do this effectively. I just needed to see more and by more I mean scenes that were creatively scary. There's some good stuff to make a feature and this genre is definitely prime to get some new blood in it.

Hopefully, Todd Miro is the man to do it.

Gore-ipedia/Nude-ipedia

Negative Zero

WTF moment

The ghost talks via book (hell it could have been a Kindle)
The ending

The Jaded Viewer's Final Prognosis

So where can you see this short? The film will be screening at the Chicago Horror Film Festival on Sunday, Sept. 26th. It's also been submitted to various other festivals including Screamfest and Slamdance.

Check out the official site for more information and also check out Todd Miro's blog Into the Abyss. Also you can check out the opening scene on Vimeo

Rating:
Check out the trailer below.

Enter The Dark Trailer from Todd Miro on Vimeo.

Categories: enter the dark, ghost stories, paranormal activity, the shortround

After Dark Horrorfest 4: Lake Mungo (Review)

As I mentioned before, I'm reviewing all the After Dark Horrorfest 4 movies on UGO.com. I've made up a hub for all my reviews. Keep checking back as it will be updated once the reviews go live on UGO.com.

Here's a little excerpt from my review of Lake Mungo.

"I must admit, Lake Mungo was not on my must-see radar when reviewing the After Dark Horrorfest movies. But this is the hidden gem beneath the proverbial sand of the eight films. I was exceptionally surprised at how great the movie was and amazed that it didn’t slowly evolve into a cheap Paranormal Activity gimmick. The trailer and poster are very misleading and you may be convinced you’re seeing a midnight movie set to deliver jolts of jump scares.

I am here to say jump scares be damned."

Read the rest of the review by heading to UGO.com.

Categories: after dark, after dark horrorfest 2010, after dark horrorfest 4, after dark horrorfest boxset, australian horror, horrorfest, miss horrorfest, paranormal activity, the blair witch project

Paranormal Activity (Original Ending)

Well it finally hit the interwebs. Paranormal Activity's original ending (via MovieWeb and Bloody Disgusting). I first mentioned this in my review that I was intrigued by this ending. Now having seen it, here are my thoughts.

• The ending keeps the "real" feel of the entire movie.
  
• That rocking back and forth is really creepy
• The discovery of Micah's body is only heard in voices...makes it really tingly mesmerizing
• The cops shooting Katie seem kinda off...but she did lunge at them with a knife
• The demon makes a noise in another room and the cops see nothing...there should be one final scare in this flick

So I'm mixed. They had elements they could have kept in this ending but you do need that one final "Spielberg ending" scare shot to end the movie with a bang. The dedication is a little goofy too.

What did you guys think? Spielberg ending or the original ending? If a gun were pointed to my head, I'd have to go with the sigh Spielberg ending. But intertwining the two would have worked.

I think this will be part of the Paranormal Activity Effect where big studios just change the film.

OK. Enough talking. Watch the original ending yourself.

Categories: paranormal activity, paranormal activity original ending, paranormal activity review, pov horror

Paranormal Activity (Review)

Paranormal Activity

Paranormal Activity (2009)

Directed by Oren Peli

So it was inevitable that I would see Paranormal Activity as it's all the hype and rage of late. As a horror blogger, it would be shameful of me not see this. So the odd part is I did not see this during a midnight madness showing (though I did try to go to one) but on a lazy Sunday mid-afternoon show with a few sporadic jabronis and Joe and Joanna Moviegoer. It would have been cooler to see this with Geeks and The Core, but you have to make do with what you got right?

Another disclaimer before I review is I saw the Paramount cut with the Spielberg ending and not the original uncut movie. To get a feel of what was changed head over to The Horror Effect and B-Movie Becky can explain.

So what did the jaded viewer think?

Paranormal Activity is a very creepy and scary movie that follows the shaky cam/found footage formula to a tee. It doesn't live up to the hype, but it does get very close. The movie relies on ingrained fear of the unknown and tosses some sound effects, shadow and bizarre creepiness and an ending that people won't forget.

As I mentioned before, The Paranormal Activity Effect will be echoed by all the major studios. It's a testament to what a $15,000 dollar budget, one week shoot and no name actors can accomplish. You think The Blair Witch Project can only happen once in a lifetime, but 10 years later, it's happened again in the full internet age to boot. Wow. What a fuckin accomplishment.
Indie horror is still alive and for once the big studios took advantage instead of relegating good horror (like Trick R Treat) to Best Buy DVD shelves.

Paranormal Activity is genuinely an anomaly within the horror genre, blasting through the clutter of zombies, vampires and monsters. Unseen demon spookiness is a lost art form and I am glad PA brings it back in a very clever way.

So on to a breakdown review.

Boring Plot-O-Matic

After a young, middle class couple moves into what seems like a typical suburban 'starter' tract house, they become increasingly disturbed by a presence that may or may not be somehow demonic but is certainly most active in the middle of the night. Especially when they sleep. Or try to.

Awesome Review-O-Matic

As I watched this flick, the Blair Witch comparisons are inevitable. But more so, I was drawn to compare this to another POV/found footage/shaky cam film that came out recently called Evil Things (full review here). They both are similar in following the formula BWP invented. The only difference is one is now a cult phenomenon and the other is nowhere on anybody's horror radar.

But let's get to the breakdown by seeing how Paranormal Activity worked the BWP formula to perfection.

• The camera "person" films everything
• His friends who become part of the video
• Something sinister starts to scare them
• The film ends with "the final shot" that gets the audience shocked

The camera "person" films everything

Micah and Katie both work the camera so we can get at least 99 minutes of footage. Though the motives are better explained as to why Micah is taping everything. With the paranormal shit having happened before the movie starts, there is justification that Micah wants to be a ghost hunter himself and record everything. Both Micah and Katie give strong performances and come out as very "real" in their ad-libbed and emotional diatribes. They seem to be a natural couple, not Hollywood 20-something actor clones. Katie has that Pam Beasley Office look while Micah comes off as a fantasy football/geek personality.

Katie's persona as a haunted life long victim of this demon comes off as very sincere and you feel for her. But to me, the best reality show character motif comes from Micah who plays the arrogant, SOB boyfriend to a tee. It's a twist within this genre. Usually the characters play off scared, than fuckin totally frightened. But Micah goes all tough guy, calling out the entities that have invaded his home and his girlfriend. His elaborate "traps" to capture evidence is a clever cat and mouse game between him and Demon X. I liked the fact he was brave enough to challenge and though many hated this in Micah, I loved his alpha male -ism.

His friends who become part of the video

Only 2 other characters show up and become part of the footage. The Psychic whose scared shitless and Katie's friend. Can you believe this movie had only 4 people on film?

Something sinister starts to scare them

I'm not going to go over each of the "Night" scenes but some more than others were effective. The daytime scenes are filled with humor, concern and infighting while the meat and potatoes of the movie are the night scenes. It's the tripod camera footage that we all were waiting to see. Katie's eternal standing, Ouija board and the other WTF scene around #13 or so (not sure) worked the best. The others (keys, light switching) seem to be unscary. But it's the buildup that counts as you the paranormal activity goes from low to medium than to mega high. It's a slowburn and by the ending, it's raining hellfire.

The film ends with "the final shot" that gets the audience shocked

The Spielberg ending is a decent way to end it though if you read the original ending, it also seems more realistic and probably worked effectively as well. You tell me. If you saw the original ending vs the Spielberg ending, which one was better?

Paranormal Activity probably wouldn't have worked if say it was released in July. But in October, with Halloween in the air it's just the awesome piece of candy amongst all the crappy candy corn in your bag of horror treats. It is very scary, to tweens and jabronis probably 100x scary but to the Core and the Geeks, we look at it a little differently. Insano Steve said a few times, why don't they turn on all the lights? Whats with this camera light as the only light source?!?! I agree. We all have gripes with the logic but it wouldn't be a horror movie if they turned on all the lights, right? Also, the daytime "scares" broke the mold which gave me a happy.

Because of many of these happy thoughts, Paranormal Activity works. It works as a faux documentary/POV film, it works as a scary and creepy film and it works as one of the best horror films of 2009.

Gore-ipedia/Nude-ipedia

Negative Zero

WTF moment

The second to last scene
The ending

The Jaded Viewer's Final Prognosis

Here's hoping the DVD has both endings. I am very curious to see what was cut and what was added. You're not going to see a better movie this October (other than probably Zombieland).

Regardless of my review, you're going to see this movie because the hype has gotten so farfetched, it's at ludicrous speed. All I can say is bring down your expectations and go in with having your fear jolted a few times.

Paranormal Activity will probably end up on my Top 10 Horror Films of 2009 as well as many within the horror-blogosphere. As you all know, those lists are one of the prime indicators you've made it within the horror-sphere. See it in the theater in a packed room and let the mass fear hysteria begin.

Rating:

Check out the trailer.

jaded viewer related linkage:
The Paranormal Activity Effect
Evil Things (Review)
Rec (Review)

Tags:
paranormal activity, paranormal activity review , paranormal activity trailer , top horror movie 2009, grindhouse, horror blog

Categories: cinema verite, ghost stories, paranormal activity, paranormal activity review, paranormal activity trailer, pov horror, the blair witch project

The Paranormal Activity Effect

I watched the trailer for Paranormal Activity months and months ago and it looked good. I just didn't think it was going to get a wide release and I would eventually see it on DVD shelves and Netflix this year. But what this little movie has done via its midnight madness success is probably going to alter the way all indie horror movies operate.

The long journey of this movie 10 years after of the Blair Witch Project revolutionized the shaky cam horror genre is spooky as the movie (which I haven't seen yet like most of horror fans in America). Internet buzz is high (just like BWP), midnight screenings are out of control and the pro and the anti fans of Paranormal Activity are shooting their 2 cents about what they think.

The fact that there are crowd reports during these screenings says it all. It's very similar to the feel the Blair Watch Project had in 1999. I remember when I saw that in the theater, with an overly psyched up and hyped up crowd. Some left feeling utterly disappointed and others like myself felt it was creative and groundbreaking. After watching it again a few months ago, I realized that it wasn't the spookiness and bumps in the night that made it scary but the fact that Heather, Josh and Mike we're decent, funny loveable hipsters that made me care about the fucked up predicament they were in.

Some of the comments and reviews are in. A few have deemed it unscary and overhyped others as the new trailer suggests are jumping out of their seats. I mean check out that trailer.

I first commented that I thought all these people were actors "acting scared" as I mean it's a freakin showing in Hollywood, CA. Really? People clutching each other and jumping out of their seats? Screaming? Shrieking? Puh-lease.





Maybe I'm wrong. I'll have to see it for myself.

Even the director Oren Peli is shocked by the response of the movie.





So what's the effect? Well indie horror cinema has been trying to capture the Blair Witch in a bottle for some time now. Dominic Perez's Evil Things is in the same vain and it's quite good at getting the scares with the shaky cam feel. Rec (not Quarantine) took the shaky cam into a zombie infested apartment building and has spawned Rec 2. The real question will come on how Paramount Pictures responds. Will they give this film a wider release?

Duh of course they will.

The midnight box office has been insane and the crowds massive (I mean see Bloody Disgusting's LA riot). But my bold prediction is this. I think we'll see big studios use the midnight show as a barometer for indie horror movies they sign deals with. Dimension has their Dimension Extreme, Lions Gate has Ghosthouse Underground, etc. I think what we'll see is test screenings for indie horror movies that would have eventually ended up straight to DVD. I mean this won't happen for all horror straight to DVDs but I think the big studios will see what the hype is for a particular movie and if they see it causing chaos, it'll be in a few major cities and the return of the midnight show will make a triumphant return.

And then we'll start calling this the Paranormal Activity Effect and thus it will replace the BWP as a verb for the revolution of the shaky cam horror genre.

Categories: 2009 horror movies, blair witch project, ghost stories, midnight movie, paranormal activity, paranormal activity trailer, the blair witch project