Paranormal Activity *spoilers probable*

[Maxx]

Alright, it opened nationwide today, so I think the little movie that could deserves its own thread.

Caught a showing of it this afternoon and I absolutely loved it. This kicks the shit out of the Blair Witch Project and its going to make a crazy amount of money now that its got a wide release.

If it's playing near you, absolutely go see it, its a great movie for Halloween, worlds better than any Saw film.

For those who've already seen it, lets discuss shall we?

[ACCBiggz]

I haven't seen it, and won't as it's not my type of film but two things:

1. Didn't even hear about this until today. I've heard basically one of two things: 1. Movie is one of the scariest, 2. Movie is overrated and not scary.

However, that matters little to me, but I'd like to focus on the business aspect. This movie will make money, but probably not the extremes you put up there. It won't be #1 or #2 this week or next most likely. But I think where it exceeds the other two is in margin. It was made for very little and might have already paid for itself. That's the same situation that Blair Witch ended up in and what made it exceedingly successful.

The other bit, is this shows the power of viral marketing. Regardless of how good or bad it is, the viral marketing of the film has been top notch. Kudos to all involved with that.

[Maxx]

Somewhere around a $10,000 budget, its already made $7 million in it's limited release

[ACCBiggz]

Alright, wasn't sure what it was made for... knew it was very little though. Yeah, won't be some #1 film at the box office or anything, but it'll bank tons. I mean, already profitted $6.99 million? Whereas something with a $100 million dollar budget will take a few weeks to break even. And then DVD sells in the future where most movies do their true business. Crazy. And always makes me wonder why studios try and do huge budgeted movies when they don't NEED to.

[zero]

Easily top 5 scariest movies I've ever seen. The people I know who have said it's "overrated" are people who lack any sort of imagination.

[Maxx]

Hey Zero, what are your thoughts on what my friend and I decided was the most peculiar moment of the film:

The Ouija board catches on fire and extinguishes itself, on camera, plan as day and Micah never mentions it. He's really interested in what the board was spelling out, and what image seems to be burned into it...but not the fact that the fucking thing lit itself on fire? Very odd to me.

[wolves]

I just got back from seeing it with friends in a packed theater. I actually got the very last ticket. For a second I thought my buddy got the last one and I'd have to sit outside.

As far as the movie goes it certainly had it's moments but we all agreed it was sort of cliched and generic when it was all done. In fact we were laughing our asses off through the whole thing. Some people behind us were really scared though and a couple people just left for like 20 minutes before coming back looking freaked out. The best part of the movie wasn't even in the movie, it was the super stereotypical black people watching the movie. That provided a ton of comedy. But I did enjoy the movie and though that it certainly scored some serious points in the fact it was low budget and had some good original chills throughout it. Check it out if your a fan of scary movies without a doubt.

[zero]

Hey Zero, what are your thoughts on what my friend and I decided was the most peculiar moment of the film:

The Ouija board catches on fire and extinguishes itself, on camera, plan as day and Micah never mentions it. He's really interested in what the board was spelling out, and what image seems to be burned into it...but not the fact that the fucking thing lit itself on fire? Very odd to me.

Yeah, that was my biggest gripe with the film. He mentions it to Katie at one point, "do you want to know what happened with the Ouija board" or something like that, but once I saw a fucking Ouija board catch on fucking fire, I'd stop fucking with the demon and go set up camp in the nearest Catholic church. But I suppose that was just Micah... stubborn, clueless and way too curious for his own good.

[Ananas]

Alright, wasn't sure what it was made for... knew it was very little though. Yeah, won't be some #1 film at the box office or anything, but it'll bank tons. I mean, already profitted $6.99 million? Whereas something with a $100 million dollar budget will take a few weeks to break even. And then DVD sells in the future where most movies do their true business. Crazy. And always makes me wonder why studios try and do huge budgeted movies when they don't NEED to.

Not quite. There are a couple things draining on that. For one, the studio doesn't take 100% of the receipts for a screening. Deals tend to vary by film, but rarely does a film net the studio more than 80% of receipts opening weekend. There are also overhead costs like print costs and promotions. They may not be during prime time (at least I didn't see any during prime time) but they have been running TV spots for the last week. I'd personally be surprised if the promotional costs weren't in the millions. And then of course you have the actual cost to DreamWorks of buying this independent film. Don't get me wrong, it wouldn't shock me if it is already profitable (and it most certainly will end up profitable); it's just that the profit margin at this point is likely negligible.

And to that end, courtesy of Nikki Finke:

Paramount's pre Halloween hyped Paranormal Activity made $6.25M Friday from a wider release onto 760 screens for #3 and a probable high teens weekend.

Where it goes from here now is entirely dependent on how good the flick itself is. If the word-of-mouth spreads, it could easily be a Saw-like breakout hit.

[ACCBiggz]

Yeah, totally forgot to do overheads and so forth, but regardless the point stands of how profittable it is/will become.

[King.]

The body drag is easily the most jaw dropping moment. When she gets dragged out and hits the floor it's timed perfectly that you think it's over, and then she just keeps going out the door and down the hallway. That was the only moment I've ever experienced in a movie theater where everyone in the audience was just making guttural worried noises during the whole ordeal.

[wolves]

The body drag is easily the most jaw dropping moment. When she gets dragged out and hits the floor it's timed perfectly that you think it's over, and then she just keeps going out the door and down the hallway. That was the only moment I've ever experienced in a movie theater where everyone in the audience was just making guttural worried noises during the whole ordeal.

That got everyone in my theater too. Honestly I thought that when Micah ran down to get her, that's when his body was going to come flying back. I think that could have been an absolute frightening moment. I was reading last night about the alternate and original endings. It seems like people are back and forth on what should have made the final cut. Hopefully they're on the DVD release which hopefully also comes with commentary and a making of. If it does then it's a sure fire must own. I've actually been thinking about the movie a lot since seeing it last night and I think I'm actually liking it more and more after seeing it. I may actually go see it again now.

[HailtotheYo]

Hey Zero, what are your thoughts on what my friend and I decided was the most peculiar moment of the film:

The Ouija board catches on fire and extinguishes itself, on camera, plan as day and Micah never mentions it. He's really interested in what the board was spelling out, and what image seems to be burned into it...but not the fact that the fucking thing lit itself on fire? Very odd to me.

Yeah, that was my biggest gripe with the film. He mentions it to Katie at one point, "do you want to know what happened with the Ouija board" or something like that, but once I saw a fucking Ouija board catch on fucking fire, I'd stop fucking with the demon and go set up camp in the nearest Catholic church. But I suppose that was just Micah... stubborn, clueless and way too curious for his own good.

Eh, that part of the thing really didn't latch on with me like it did with you guys. I didn't think anything more of it than a point to illustrate Micah's "boyish/childish" fascination with things and her absolute inability to fathom how he could feel that way. They did hit it indirectly so it isn't like they flat out ignored it. Since they both left the house when it happened and Micah "saw it on the tape" I can see how it wasn't just out and said.

The more 'odd' thing to me was Micah's flat out not recognizing her two catatonic/zombified states. He missed them in two completely different ways. First on the swing, he sees she's 'out of it' but isn't able to do the math. It was apparently butt fucking cold and her body wasn't even reacting naturally to it. Then, in the bed when she's saying 'better if we stay' he completely swings and misses on the fact that she's wigged out (probably taken over at that point).

and yes, the drag out of the bed was fanfuckingtastic. my theatre also particularly enjoyed the psychic coming back and basically saying 'fuck this, I'm out'

I personally feel that the best part of the movie entirely, was that they kept the entity, an entity. They never showed and never tried to show the evil. They left it what it was, and I fell that is what made it the most effective. Leaving everybodies imagination on overdrive is far better than giving them a picture. Sure drop hints with the demonology and talking about these types of hauntings, but nothing more than a shadow ? Fantastic job.

[HeartlineTwist]

This movie made its production budget on every SCREEN it played on before it hit the wide/expanded releases.

[TKz]

So uh, just, fyi, to anyone who hasn't been able to see this... a certain swashbuckling group of scoundrels have made a high quality copy available to acquire from their bay. >_>

Which means I'll actually be able to watch the damn film, I'll have my thoughts up later.

[Herr Matzat]

I liked it a lot. Weren't really scared but loved the pace and buildup. It´s a great movie to watch with a girl.

Oh yes, and people being silly in a horror movie is a point you can pritty much make in every horror movie. Some get hurt more by it, this one in my opinion did not.

Edited October 21, 2009 by Michael Matzat on a Plane

[Maxx]

Paranormal Activity kicked Saw VI's ass this weekend.

Paranormal Activity, 1,945 screens, estimated $22 million this weekend.

Saw VI, 3036 screens, estimated $14.8 million this weekend

Hopefully this will keep studios from being skittish about releasing any horror films against Saw, and hopefully that terrible franchise starts going straight to DVD after VII.

[Herr Matzat]

From what i know Saw is suposed to end after the ninth movie. With a conclusion and all.

[Gazz]

From what i know Saw is suposed to end after the ninth movie. With a conclusion and all.

Nine!?! *sighs*

Anyway, on topic, excellent movie. One gripe

Zero mentioned it earlier, Micah doesn't seem particularly bothered by the Ouija board spontaneously combusting or the three-toed footprints appearing out of nothing on his bedroom on camera. But he watches a youtube video of some girl going mental thirty years ago and he's shitting his pants?? Considering the budget, this had some great effects, especially the drag down the hall, that was awesome. I fully expect to be seeing portions of this movie attached to spam emails for many years to come in the same way every time there's a plane crash you get a mail full of screencaps from the 'Lost' pilot episode where you can see Kate in one of the seats.

[KrisClassic]

I thought it was a great suspense movie. I had a few gripes with the way certain reveals were done (IE I think they spent too much time in the earlier parts with just sounds, I would have liked to see a shadow or two, if only for a second. What really bothered me though, this girl is supposed to be scared shitless and want to leave the house and whatnot, yet she is fine studying?