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Horror Movies

Blackshirts BLVD

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FaCe-LeE-uS

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I watched a lot of terrible horror movies because they had a great cover.
Amen… wife & I used to grab at least 10 movies that “looked good” after spending an hour rifling through each horror isle. That was the minimum that we would grab in hopes that you found at least 1-2 hidden gems.
 

FaCe-LeE-uS

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FaCe-LeE-uS

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In my big killcount by horror icon post I had Freddie at 39 to 46, Michael at 133 (and I think that was pre- Halloween 2018), and Jason at 155. So even after a bunch of research my counts are slightly different.
One of the coolest posts in this entire thread... Wish I could sticky posts within a thread lol
 

returnofjakedog

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Ok then..........<deep breath>.........

So awhile back I decided to kinda go over the longest running horror franchises (in terms of number of movies). I started with Romero's ......of the Dead franchise (and it's MANY offshots!), and it was a good topic where I learned quite a lot about it. Due to this, I was looking forward to the next franchise up. I went to the list I was using and saw Paranormal Activity was the next one up..........and my enthusiasm was immediately gone.

So here I am 3 weeks later, finally addressing a franchise that I just could not possibly feel more ambivalent about going into it but I did find some interesting stuff on the 6 (soon to be 7) demon possession through security cam films.

*The franchise has made $890 million on a total cost of $28 million over the first 6 films!
*The original Paranormal Activity movie:
-was filmed and produced by Oren Peli for $15,000. A 7 day, long hour shoot.
-Oren hasn't followed it up with much of note and seems content to be rollin in the PA $$$ as a "producer". He did write the mediocre Chernobal Diaries, and wrote and directed the bad Area 51 movies, so maybe it is for the best?
-it played at some festivals, and was purchased by Dreamworks/Miramax for $50,000, where it somehow became Blumhouse Productions property. I'm not clear how that worked but I think Blumhouse was a subsidiary or Miramax at the time? (Yes, Jason Blumhouse was a Weinstein protégé. Yikes!)
-They used a retroscripting method, so no set script was used, only outlines and the actors improv the dialogue.
I think they did that aspect better than The Blair Witch Project, which also retroscripted.
-The 2 leads got $500 each for their roles!
-The studio's original idea was to re-shoot the entire movie, but Blumhouse managed to re-edit it, and then added a new ending, and they deemed it good for release.
-The original film cost only $15,000, but the new ending was an additional $215,000.

-It kept on expanding the number of theatres it played almost exponentially for 5 straight weeks upon release. That is crazy when you think about it!

So what about the actual movie? It is a low budget, shot on cam movie but it does alot right. The acting is good (all things considered), they had a good story, and they executed it well. The sound is good, the editing is good, the dialogue comes off as generally realistic. It isn't perfect, but it is a good demonic possession movie.

My problem with the franchise comes (mostly) after this first movie. There are other good movies in the franchise. Paranormal Activity 3 is considered the best of the franchise by many. Parts 2 and 5 are considered "average-ish", while parts 4 and 6 are generally rated pretty bad. Part 7 comes out in March.
But quality isn't necessarily the issue. I THINK I've seen at least parts of all 6 movies, but I wouldn't bet on it. I remember very few details of any of these movies. I remember Part 3 was a prequel. I couldn't tell you to much about the characters except the main guy in the first movie dies (he is in one or two prequels), and there are a couple of sisters as the main focal. I think there is a family curse of some kind that leads to the possessions? I'm not sure. They all just kinda blend together in a big amorphous blob of generalities in my brain. I remember the do a couple prequels, at least one with no characters related to the rest of the series, and a few other vague points.

So that is about all I can say on the actual movies: Some decent enteries but nothing stood out as particularly memorable to me. So anyone feel free to add in their 2 cents on the movies!

I will close with THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT of the Paranormal Activity franchise: Without the original movie, it is very possible that Blumhouse Productions does not exist, or at least not in it's current form.
Jason Blum stated that he watched a Friday the 13th movie at an early age and it scared the shit out of him. Because of that he didn't watch another horror movie until Paranormal Activity! Now he is a huge horror fan (he says he is, but the literal billions might help that along!). Before PA, Blumhouse had only released 4 movies: 1 average romance that still plays on Hallmark, a well-regarded psychological drama, a bad comedy (The Darwin Awards), and a poorly received coming of age drama.

Think about it: without Paranormal Activity, there would not exist (at least in their current form) the likes of Insidious, Sinister, The Purge, Occulous, Ouiji: Origin of Evil, Split, Creep, Hush, Split, Get Out, their related sequels, and many others (both good and bad). Some damn good horror movies in there! So kudos for that!
 

FaCe-LeE-uS

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Ok then..........<deep breath>.........

So awhile back I decided to kinda go over the longest running horror franchises (in terms of number of movies). I started with Romero's ......of the Dead franchise (and it's MANY offshots!), and it was a good topic where I learned quite a lot about it. Due to this, I was looking forward to the next franchise up. I went to the list I was using and saw Paranormal Activity was the next one up..........and my enthusiasm was immediately gone.

So here I am 3 weeks later, finally addressing a franchise that I just could not possibly feel more ambivalent about going into it but I did find some interesting stuff on the 6 (soon to be 7) demon possession through security cam films.

*The franchise has made $890 million on a total cost of $28 million over the first 6 films!
*The original Paranormal Activity movie:
-was filmed and produced by Oren Peli for $15,000. A 7 day, long hour shoot.
-Oren hasn't followed it up with much of note and seems content to be rollin in the PA $$$ as a "producer". He did write the mediocre Chernobal Diaries, and wrote and directed the bad Area 51 movies, so maybe it is for the best?
-it played at some festivals, and was purchased by Dreamworks/Miramax for $50,000, where it somehow became Blumhouse Productions property. I'm not clear how that worked but I think Blumhouse was a subsidiary or Miramax at the time? (Yes, Jason Blumhouse was a Weinstein protégé. Yikes!)
-They used a retroscripting method, so no set script was used, only outlines and the actors improv the dialogue.
I think they did that aspect better than The Blair Witch Project, which also retroscripted.
-The 2 leads got $500 each for their roles!
-The studio's original idea was to re-shoot the entire movie, but Blumhouse managed to re-edit it, and then added a new ending, and they deemed it good for release.
-The original film cost only $15,000, but the new ending was an additional $215,000.

-It kept on expanding the number of theatres it played almost exponentially for 5 straight weeks upon release. That is crazy when you think about it!

So what about the actual movie? It is a low budget, shot on cam movie but it does alot right. The acting is good (all things considered), they had a good story, and they executed it well. The sound is good, the editing is good, the dialogue comes off as generally realistic. It isn't perfect, but it is a good demonic possession movie.

My problem with the franchise comes (mostly) after this first movie. There are other good movies in the franchise. Paranormal Activity 3 is considered the best of the franchise by many. Parts 2 and 5 are considered "average-ish", while parts 4 and 6 are generally rated pretty bad. Part 7 comes out in March.
But quality isn't necessarily the issue. I THINK I've seen at least parts of all 6 movies, but I wouldn't bet on it. I remember very few details of any of these movies. I remember Part 3 was a prequel. I couldn't tell you to much about the characters except the main guy in the first movie dies (he is in one or two prequels), and there are a couple of sisters as the main focal. I think there is a family curse of some kind that leads to the possessions? I'm not sure. They all just kinda blend together in a big amorphous blob of generalities in my brain. I remember the do a couple prequels, at least one with no characters related to the rest of the series, and a few other vague points.

So that is about all I can say on the actual movies: Some decent enteries but nothing stood out as particularly memorable to me. So anyone feel free to add in their 2 cents on the movies!

I will close with THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT of the Paranormal Activity franchise: Without the original movie, it is very possible that Blumhouse Productions does not exist, or at least not in it's current form.
Jason Blum stated that he watched a Friday the 13th movie at an early age and it scared the shit out of him. Because of that he didn't watch another horror movie until Paranormal Activity! Now he is a huge horror fan (he says he is, but the literal billions might help that along!). Before PA, Blumhouse had only released 4 movies: 1 average romance that still plays on Hallmark, a well-regarded psychological drama, a bad comedy (The Darwin Awards), and a poorly received coming of age drama.

Think about it: without Paranormal Activity, there would not exist (at least in their current form) the likes of Insidious, Sinister, The Purge, Occulous, Ouiji: Origin of Evil, Split, Creep, Hush, Split, Get Out, their related sequels, and many others (both good and bad). Some damn good horror movies in there! So kudos for that!
Love the factoids in here. I knew the original PA had something to do with how big Blumhouse became. That 'ticket to fame' or whatever you want to call it created one of the best horror production companies to date. As you indicated, its quite amazing considering it was practically born from a movie that was originally filmed on a $15k budget. Really makes me want to take a stab at filming one myself lol... Hey, maybe all of us delinquents in here could make our own horror production company? We just need 1 movie to blow up big!

I've always been a fan of this franchise from the beginning. Admittedly, the vast majority of the 'installments' are cash-grabbing garbage. The first 3 are the only ones that I would recommend to a 1st time viewer, and maybe the 4th. But past that its just nonsensical plots that muddy the waters. Some were more clever than others but they weren't memorable. What made the 1st so good IMO was how simple the approach & focus was, and that retroscripting/ad-libbing probably helped a lot in that aspect. Instead of diluting the plot with an abundance of filler they rather focused on just the experience of being haunted/possessed and presented it in a way that allowed the audience to experience it in real time sotospeak. It was much more believable that way. That simplicity translated to a very surreal experience that played so well on people's inherent fears of the paranormal world. My biggest gripe about any of those first 3-4 films was how impractical the character's choices seem... The majority of the time they are simply too nonchalant about everything. If I was just pulled out of bed & dragged down a hallway I sure as f*ck wouldn't be caught sleeping in the same bed again, let alone minutes later in the same night. Also I'm pretty sure a little girl being picked up by her hair and dangled for 20-30seconds would have struck so much mortal fear inside her that she wouldn't eat or sleep for days. But no, she merely told her parents and then went right back to playing & sleeping in that same room.

One thing that needs to be stated in regards to the 1st film's popularity was the impact that director Oren Peli had on it. I read a magazine article back during this movie's massive ascension that detailed Peli's development for the film. IIRC the man took over a year to prepare his own house for the filming... repainting, adding furniture, building stairs, etc... He also did a ton of research on demonology & paranormal stuff. He made the decision to go with the 1st person filming, aka raw footage route, as well as the retroscripting to capture more of that plausibility he was after. A decision he attributed to the impact & success that the Blair Witch Project (1999) set the stage for. Peli stayed onboard to help produce most of the movies that came after

Fun fact... Both the writer & director that did PA3 & PA4, Christopher Landon & Henry Joost, also collaborated on a badass flick called Viral (2016) about a parasitic infection that turns people into zombie-like killers. Sort of like The Faculty (1998), where a parasite wants to infect as many hosts as it can. High quality cgi/fx. I highly recommend it.

The newest "retooling" of the franchise, which is set to release sometime next year, boasts a credible staff. They got Christopher Landon back onboard to write it (he wrote the 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th installments), with William Eubank (Underwater) to direct. I wasn't a big fan of Landon's most recent effort Freaky (2020), but I loved both the Happy Death Day (2017 & 2019) films. He has definitely taken on a more satirical approach to his writing. I doubt we'll see that in this next PA reboot though. Eubank is an up-and-comer that has mainly dabbled in sci-fi thrillers so he should be a great fit. Jason Blum & Oren Peli are back to produce this reboot. Seeing all these guys back together on this project makes me think that we will see a more original look & feel to this reboot.

Another fun fact.... Christopher Landon is also working on a new Netflix movie called "We Have a Ghost" that will star David Harbour (Stranger Things, Black Widow) & Anthony Mackie (Falcon in Marvel films). And they brought in Tig Nataro (Army of the Dead pilot), which no doubt means this one will definitely have Landon's horror-comedy approach to it.
 

returnofjakedog

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Love the factoids in here. I knew the original PA had something to do with how big Blumhouse became. That 'ticket to fame' or whatever you want to call it created one of the best horror production companies to date. As you indicated, its quite amazing considering it was practically born from a movie that was originally filmed on a $15k budget. Really makes me want to take a stab at filming one myself lol... Hey, maybe all of us delinquents in here could make our own horror production company? We just need 1 movie to blow up big!

I've always been a fan of this franchise from the beginning. Admittedly, the vast majority of the 'installments' are cash-grabbing garbage. The first 3 are the only ones that I would recommend to a 1st time viewer, and maybe the 4th. But past that its just nonsensical plots that muddy the waters. Some were more clever than others but they weren't memorable. What made the 1st so good IMO was how simple the approach & focus was, and that retroscripting/ad-libbing probably helped a lot in that aspect. Instead of diluting the plot with an abundance of filler they rather focused on just the experience of being haunted/possessed and presented it in a way that allowed the audience to experience it in real time sotospeak. It was much more believable that way. That simplicity translated to a very surreal experience that played so well on people's inherent fears of the paranormal world. My biggest gripe about any of those first 3-4 films was how impractical the character's choices seem... The majority of the time they are simply too nonchalant about everything. If I was just pulled out of bed & dragged down a hallway I sure as f*ck wouldn't be caught sleeping in the same bed again, let alone minutes later in the same night. Also I'm pretty sure a little girl being picked up by her hair and dangled for 20-30seconds would have struck so much mortal fear inside her that she wouldn't eat or sleep for days. But no, she merely told her parents and then went right back to playing & sleeping in that same room.

One thing that needs to be stated in regards to the 1st film's popularity was the impact that director Oren Peli had on it. I read a magazine article back during this movie's massive ascension that detailed Peli's development for the film. IIRC the man took over a year to prepare his own house for the filming... repainting, adding furniture, building stairs, etc... He also did a ton of research on demonology & paranormal stuff. He made the decision to go with the 1st person filming, aka raw footage route, as well as the retroscripting to capture more of that plausibility he was after. A decision he attributed to the impact & success that the Blair Witch Project (1999) set the stage for. Peli stayed onboard to help produce most of the movies that came after

Fun fact... Both the writer & director that did PA3 & PA4, Christopher Landon & Henry Joost, also collaborated on a badass flick called Viral (2016) about a parasitic infection that turns people into zombie-like killers. Sort of like The Faculty (1998), where a parasite wants to infect as many hosts as it can. High quality cgi/fx. I highly recommend it.

The newest "retooling" of the franchise, which is set to release sometime next year, boasts a credible staff. They got Christopher Landon back onboard to write it (he wrote the 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th installments), with William Eubank (Underwater) to direct. I wasn't a big fan of Landon's most recent effort Freaky (2020), but I loved both the Happy Death Day (2017 & 2019) films. He has definitely taken on a more satirical approach to his writing. I doubt we'll see that in this next PA reboot though. Eubank is an up-and-comer that has mainly dabbled in sci-fi thrillers so he should be a great fit. Jason Blum & Oren Peli are back to produce this reboot. Seeing all these guys back together on this project makes me think that we will see a more original look & feel to this reboot.

Another fun fact.... Christopher Landon is also working on a new Netflix movie called "We Have a Ghost" that will star David Harbour (Stranger Things, Black Widow) & Anthony Mackie (Falcon in Marvel films). And they brought in Tig Nataro (Army of the Dead pilot), which no doubt means this one will definitely have Landon's horror-comedy approach to it.
Nice! I'm glad you can fill in the blanks a bit for me. It still baffles me that I can't even remember with certainty if I've seen all of the franchise entries or not.

Another interesting tidbit, and perhaps the reason why we haven't seen too much more from Oren Peli, is that he said that making a ghost/demon film was kinda cathartic as he is (or at least was) terrified of the supernatural. He was quoted as saying even Ghostbusters freaked him out!

......but regardless of everything else about Paranormal Activity, it certainly belongs in the pantheon of "little horror movies that could", which is quite an impressive list! Moreso than any other genre, low budget classics are the backdown of the horror genre:
*Night of the Living Dead: $115,000
*Halloween: $300,000
*The Blair Witch Project: $60,000
*The Evil Dead: $375,000
*Texas Chainsaw Massacre: $80,000
*Friday the 13th: $350,000
...........this list goes on for eternity, so I just threw out a few of the "big dogs". Even compared to these, Paranormal Activity's budget to box office ratio is crazy impressive!

.......as far as characters not reacting according to the gravitas of the situation? Well, that is a horror movie trope that classic Eddie Murphy probably addresses best!:
 

Diamondeye

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I watched a lot of terrible horror movies because they had a great cover.

I fell into that trap with basically all the straight to video Hellraiser movies, though I thought Inferno was OK.

I'm glad we're finally going to get another theatrical release produced by Clive Barker.

Not sure about the tranny Pinhead, though.
 

FaCe-LeE-uS

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Good read for you Ghostface lovers out there...


 
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