Like the long-running Saw franchise before it, the Paranormal Activity films have become something of a Halloween fixture over the last few years, and that looks set to continue in 2012 with the news that Paramount are moving forward with a fourth installment in the series.

Considering the box office numbers for Paranormal Activity 3 – a worldwide gross of well over $200 million dollars for a film that cost just $5 million to make – it should come as little surprise that the studio is so eager to get another sequel into production, and it appears they are keen for the directing team of Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman to return to helm it.

Joost and Schulman, who are probably best known for their acclaimed documentary Catfish, succeeded the directors of the previous two films, Oren Peli and Tod Williams, for Paranormal Activity 3, in the process creating the most successful entry in the series.

The Paranormal Activity films have for the most part been rather effective low-budget horror movies, and it will certainly be interesting to see what direction Paranormal Activity 4 will take, not least because the third film served as a prequel that took cinemagoers back to the eighties to discover how Katie and Kristi first encountered the malevolent spirit that has long plagued their lives.

Paranormal Activity 4 is slated to arrive in cinemas on October 19th this year.

Source: Bloody Disgusting.

After doing tremendously well at the box office this year, and setting records with its first weekend release being the best opening of a horror film to date, it will come as no surprise that Paramount have announced a fourth Paranormal Activity film will be on its way this year.

The third film went straight to #1 at the US box office back in October, earning more than $50m. in its first weekend in the States from a $5m. budget, and going on to take more than $200m. at the international box office – earning more than forty times the initial investment. Forty times!

In their press release regarding their slate for the coming year,Paramountput out the following:

“In 2012, Paramount’s release slate highlights include “World War Z,” a zombie thriller starring Brad Pitt and directed by Marc Forster , “G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” the next installment in the global franchise starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Channing Tatum , a new chapter in the “Paranormal Activity” franchise, and “The Dictator,” starring Sacha Baron Cohen and directed by Larry Charles , the team behind “Borat.””

Nothing concrete in terms of details about the project, including who will be writing or directing, but it’s probably safe to assume that we can expect it in October this year, and no doubt a weekend or two before Halloween, when the first three films have each been released.

The original was written and directed by Oren Peli, who served as a producer on the sequels, which were directed by Tod Williams on the second, and the directing team of Henry Joost and Ariel Schuman on the third. Given that Peli returned as a producer for the sequels, it’s not unlikely that he’ll be back to produce the fourth, but no word yet on who’ll be taking the helm or penning the script.

I must admit that I’m still yet to see any of the first three, but I’ve heard some pretty great things about them, and so I’ve got just over ten months now to play catch-up. The box office takings of the third film definitely suggest that there’s clearly still very much a market for the franchise, and if they can turn a small budget into a big return and still make something good, then why not? More news as we get it.

Thanks to Collider for the heads up.

Nostalgia is all the rage and so we turn our faces back to the past for the latest instalment of Paranormal Activity to discover what went on all those years ago to cause the events of the first two films.

We’ve seen a lot of footage so far and it looks a fairly similar affair from the Catfish directors but, I imagine, that’s exactly what fans of the series want.

Coming Soon have their hands on a new spot for the film, which has some new footage including some David Blaining going on at the top of the stairs. Words has already started coming out from sneak preview screenings that it’s more of the same from the Paractivity team which is a shame as there’s certainly more potential in this cinematic bag of bones then a simple rehash gives it credit for. We’ll keep our minds open and spare trousers on standby.

Turn of all lights, and clip yourself good and proper.

More bump filled nights for fans of Paranormal Activity as the first teasers for the latest installment of the series are revealed, along with a new trailer.

Following the huge success of the low budget original last year’s sequel was bigger and not quite as effective, though there was a nice attempt to tie the stories of the two films together. Now we’re going back in time to the 80s to where it all began with the two sisters sodding around with evil forces and somesuch nonsense.

There was a decent first trailer to the film and then the first poster appeared. So far, so Ghostwatch. Now there’s another trailer from the Apple people which really makes it look like a big screen version of Ghostwatch and gives away a number of plot points that you may want to avoid.

Having said that it’s looking very similar to the whole set-up cameras, watch night-time shenanigans, get psychic in, record crazy stuff, end with people being thrown around etc of the previous two films. When you watch pay attention to the moment when the psychic looks into the cupboard space – there’s something on the wall which raises eyebrows and neckhairs…

But the story doesn’t end there. Three horror sites in the US were each sent a VHS tape and asked to film what was on the tapes and post the results. It’s your typical PR stunt for a film of this type but it’s a pretty fun one. As with all these clips it’s blink and you’ll miss it stuff. Can you see any faces in the fire?

Shocktillyadrop, DreadCentral, and Bloody Disgusting posted these so Big Thanks.

Despite its humble low-budget beginnings, the Paranormal Activity franchise has done a startlingly good job not only of making Paramount Pictures a lot of money, but also of consistently scaring the bejesus out of us around the last two Halloweens. This year looks to be no different as the aptly titled Paranormal Activity 3 hits cinemas, and in anticipation of the October 21st release Paramount has revealed a new poster for the Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost directed film.

Design-wise the poster sticks firmly to the simple look established by its two predecessors – basically a pretty uninspiring design with the main focus being a still from a video camera, which features a time-code on the right-hand side that helpfully informs us this film is a prequel set in 1988, 18 years before Katie went nuts and hurled her boyfriend into his expensive new camcorder. So there we have the younger versions of Katie and her sister Kristi tucked up in bed, and it’s about then that you take a sharp inhale of breath and notice the terrifying shadow on the wall between their beds.

Eek.

Paranormal Activity 3 is out in October, and I’ll be sleeping with the lights on until further notice.

(via Coming Soon)

Gustavo Hernandez’ debut film The Silent House (La Casa Muda) takes inspiration from a real life case which happened nearly seventy years ago, and the Uruguayan horror film has played to festival crowds and had a limited release over here in UK cinemas in April.

Now the film comes to DVD and we had the chance to speak to the director about his influences, the one-shot technique and the culture of remakes, particularly in the horror genre.

This film is based on a real event in the 1940s – but what other influences came to mind when you were developing it – both literary and cinematic?

We were influenced by films such as David Moreau’s and Xabier Palud’s Them (Ils) and Alexandre Aja’s High Tension (Haute Tension). Also by Edgar Allan Poe, John Carpenter, Kubrick and Alejandro Amenábar. There are always direct and indirect influences in our films and The Silent House is no exception.

Some of the most effective moments in the film do not rely on jump scares and shock – is this the horror you enjoy to watch? Films that are more psychological in the nature of their horror?

Yes, absolutely. The Silent House is a tense game with a handful of shocks. There are many moments when the viewers can be fooled by their imagination, looking down or perhaps sighing when the main character walks through the corridors while nothing is happening. I find that game very interesting. I’d rather suggest than show. This fear is very basic and very familiar to us. They live with us since our childhood. It’s like hearing a strange noise at home in the middle of the night. For a couple of seconds, our senses are alert and we try to convince ourselves that it was just the wind that caused that noise. We tried to replicate those seconds in the film as if it was something natural, to get the viewers to relate with what the main character is feeling.

How important is horror as a genre to you? You’ve started out working in this genre but are your future plans to stay directing horror films – are there other stories you are desperate to tell?

My second project is a tribute to this genre from an unusual viewpoint. It’s called The Funeral of Elbert Kurman and it also has an experimental element which has some aspects in common with The Silent House but it’s different from a filmmaking point of view. In my folders I have ideas for horror films, but also other genres, such as magic realism and more conventional films. I visualize film with a great degree of fantasy, and I like it. I love watching films that play with our imagination and touch us at some point. This is what I’m always looking for as a director. It’s difficult but it’s essential in film.

The lead performance from Florencia Colucci is very impressive and must have taken a huge physical toll on her – how was it directing her through the shoot?

It was tough for everyone but especially for her. We all had to be very focused, as the slightest error would mean we had to start all over again. It was a tense atmosphere for the actors and the technicians to live and work in. Some days were very frustrating. Florencia would end up in tears and I thought she was going to quit, as she was really exhausted. Luckily, she always showed up the following morning with her batteries recharged. We learnt from our mistakes to be able to move forward. Personally, I’m very happy with the acting, as it was very challenging, not only the acting itself but also the very detailed choreographies we designed, which were followed perfectly.

I don’t believe that the one-shot film was used as a gimmick here, rather I assumed it was as close to the unfolding of events on that night in 1940 – can you talk about your reasons for using the continuous format and if you are happy with or regret the decision?

I don’t regret it, no. Had the story of The Silent House been told in a traditional way, the movie would be forgotten and I wouldn’t be answering these questions now. Shooting the whole film in one take was a massive challenge but it was the best way I could think of to tell this story. I wanted the viewers to feel the same fear, feelings and emotions the main character was feeling. By getting rid of the ellipses and of the manipulation of time and space, you can make viewers live a different experience and get involved in the plot, carried by the main character, walking with her around the house and into her mind too.

In the West we’re in a remake and sequel obsessed culture – obviously your film has already been remade but what you’re appreciation of the horror genre at the moment – who are the directors and writers who have impressed you?

I think Hollywood looks for ideas outside as a shortcut. From a commercial point of view, it makes financial sense to remake a film that has been well received, be it by the general audience or in different festivals. It’s faster and there’s no need to take any chances. After the so-called “Nouvelle horror vague” in France, the horror genre has declined considerably, without key figures for the new generations. It’s difficult to tell where it’s heading. I’m impressed by the new revival of the genre in Latin America, with some projects that would not have been released in a different time. It’s still early to talk about a collective movement, but I’m positive that very soon this part of the world will be a reference point when it comes to the horror genre.

The Silent House is released on DVD on the 1st of August.

Horror sequel The Amityville Horror: The Lost Tapes is heading into production this summer via Dimension Films and Miramax, with a release date scheduled for early next year.

What’s that you say? The 2005 remake of the 70’s original failed to make a dent at the box office, so why this new sequel? This time around, the ole’ “found footage” device (à la Paranormal Activity and its sequel) is being applied to the proceedings.

The haunted house sub-genre has seen resurgence of late. Aside from the ‘Paranormal’ films (series producer Jason Blum is also aboard here), Insidious has also done solid box office in the UK and over the pond.

Wonder how long it will be before a reboot of Poltergeist is unveiled, using the same narrative structure?

Via The Hollywood Reporter

Claiming to be based on a true story, The Silent House is a daring and captivating new Uruguayan horror film from director Gustavo Hernández.

The film focuses on Laura (Florencia Colucci) and her father, Wilson (Gustavo Alonso), as they move into an empty house in order to renovate it in preparation for its impending sale.

The owner leaves them with only one instruction: don’t go upstairs. However, when they suddenly hear loud banging coming from the upper level, Wilson decides to disobey the order and goes up to see what is going on. Laura is left on her own, waiting for her father to re-emerge.

Supposedly shot in a single take, Hernández uses this relatively unusual technique to his advantage, establishing a sinister, troubling atmosphere from the offset and allowing that to escalate and and expand in an inspired, torrid way as the narrative progresses. However, it comes with its own innate problems. Mistakes, such as the other people on set being glimpsed in reflections, damage the carefully constructed atmosphere and pull you out of the experience.

Nevertheless, bumps, groans and hide-behind-your-pillow shocks, all superbly shot and executed through a darkly lit hand-held mini-cam, make The Silent House one hell of a thrill ride, managing to keep the audience engaged and jittery throughout – something that hasn’t been achieved this exquisitely since the original Paranormal Activity invaded our cinemas.

We are given enough of the characters’ background to be able to fully emote and empathise with them, but the actors, Colucci and Alonso, aren’t experienced enough to maintain the level of dedication and skill needed to carry a film of this nature.

That said, The Silent House isn’t a character piece, and shouldn’t be judged too harshly for its lack of character development and shoddy acting.

Admittedly, the paradoxical ineffectiveness of the way the film is shot makes it clear the events that take place are theatrical, and the ending is perhaps a little too ambiguous for its own good, but The Silent House is nothing short of a bold, ingeniously executed and genuinely terrifying tour de force. Seek it out.

****~ (4/5)

Now that MGM has returned to a more secure footing courtesy of a $500m capital injection last year, they are finding the time to properly trawl through all of their various “stuck in limbo” projects to see what can be dusted off and shocked back to life.

MGM has already come on board with Paramount to co-finance Hansel & Gretel (starring Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton) and now they are putting word out that they intend to move forward with the following:-

• A reboot of Robocop. This was going to be a project for Darren Aronofsky who has since made Black Swan and signed on for The Wolverine. MGM want to get this moving towards production as soon as possible
• Mr Mom. This early 1980′s effort starred Michael Keaton as a stay at home dad and was written by John Hughes. It is perhaps not well known, but a good watch none the less.
• The Idolmaker. I cannot pretend to know much about this, but the 1980 film of the same name, directed by Taylor Hackford (Ray, Proof of Life, The Devil’s Advocate), was about a music producer discovering young talent. MGM are looking at a remake of this tale of a mercenary producer and his efforts to turn unknown teen boys into superstar teen idols.
• Hercules. Although the story of Hercules has had a whole host of cinematic incarnations, MGM are said to be looking at the idea of Hercules turning his back on the gods of Mount Olympus, becoming a merc and training up an army. Peter Berg (Battleship, Hancock, Friday Night Lights) is producing this project, which is still in development.
• Poltergeist. This may be a straight fourth sequel, or a reboot and given the success of jumpy supernatural films like Paranormal Activity, The Rite and (at least going by the trailer) Apollo 18, its resurrection comes as no surprise.

Well, that seems like plenty to be getting on with. What do you think? Do any of those appeal? Let us know below.

Source: Variety.

Paramount Insurge, the new division set up to develop micro-budget films after Paranormal Activity’s success, has acquired an as-yet-untitled murder mystery film for worldwide distribution.

William Brent Bell (Stay Alive) is attached to direct, while Fernanda Andrade (Fallen), Simon Quarterman (Perfect Strangers), Evan Helmuth (Ready or Not) and Suzan Crowley (Christabel) will star.

A young woman is accused in the mysterious murders of three religious figures.

Production is expected to commence imminently.

Source: Deadline

I have a confession. I’m a bit of a wimp bloody coward. I’m afraid of the dark, heights, small spaces, flying, dogs, flying dogs, dinosaurs… The list is pretty much endless. I’m also not the biggest fan of horror films. So when I was asked by HeyUGuys to watch Paranormal Activity 2, then go ghost hunting afterwards, even I was surprised that I said ‘yes’.

After watching the film, we* were all already in something of a heightened emotional state, so when we arrived at the London Tombs, the venue for our spooky escapades, even the most cynical members of our group were willing to keep an open mind.

Entry to the tombs is by a heavy metal door, leading into a series of vaulted chambers, then (via the gift shop) into a holding room. Waiting for someone to brief us, it became very apparent which members of the group were students and competition winners, all of whom were sat quietly, while the contingent of journalists and bloggers plundered the box of cakes on the craft services table in the corner.

As we fuelled up on coffee and apple turnovers, we received a briefing. Over the next few hours we would get a tour of the tombs and an introduction to the ‘scientific’ equipment used in the ghost hunt. Then the lights in the tombs would be turned off, and we’d be taken into various rooms, each with a medium, who would try to contact the dead on our behalf.

The curious thing about the London Tombs is that they’re part historical landmark, and part live-action haunted house. This made for a somewhat peculiar tour, as our guide, Mark, the manager of the tombs spoke about the site’s use, dating back to Roman times, as well as notable ‘ghost sightings’ in the last few years; his descriptions enhanced by the numerous blood-soaked mannequins, Viking long boats and stuffed animals situated throughout the building.

Astute readers will have noticed some of the techniques being used to prime us for the forthcoming scare-fest: show us a scary movie, take us to a foreboding place, tell us spooky stories, then let the ghost hunt commence, and do so late at night, when our resistance to all this will be at its lowest. They even had the good sense to outnumber the inherently cynical press contingent with willing, believing volunteers in the students and competition winners.

Consequently, by the time we got round to our instruction in the ‘tools’ used by the ghost hunters, most of the group seemed quite willing to believe that they worked. This first became apparent when everyone used the divining rods, when an entire room of people chanted in unison ‘show me yes’, and the rods moved. As the chant changed to ‘show me no’, the rods moved once more. How much of this movement came from spirits in the room, and how much from unconscious movements of the users own muscles is unclear, but the movement was certainly different. Something similar happened when we used crystals pendants to answer questions, with the stone rotating one way for yes, and the opposite for no.

After this a few members of the group gathered around a table, and placed their hands lightly on a glass. As one of the ghost hunters asked ‘the spirits’ to move the glass around the table. Initially this wasn’t as successful as had been hoped, with the glass remaining stationary. Eventually a new set of volunteers convened at the table, and after a few more minutes the glass moved, tracing a circle around the tabletop.

Finally, we moved on to a brief run through of the more high-tech equipment. Essentially, this equipment consisted of an off-the-shelf EMF detector, commonly used by electricians, and a  radio receiver designed to pick up ‘white noise’**. The instruction in using these devices was swift and vague, and as such it would have been next to impossible to tell whether they ‘worked’ or not.

After another short break, and a brief pause to grab a night vision camera (and a few more apple turnovers), we began the ghost hunt proper. Before we did so, however, one of our group, Tom, experienced several of the lights temporarily going off in the toilet. Unfortunately, he was the only witness to this, but it was a good start to the shenanigans.

Heading back down into the tombs, the first thing that was abundantly clear was that the lights had been turned off. Yes, I may be an illiterate coward, stuffed full of apple turnovers, but even I can recognise darkness when I see it. We were first taken to ‘The Viking Room’, so called because it housed a partial replica of a longboat.

Within a few moments of sitting in the room, Tom, the chap who had the scare in the toilet, began to hear noises: screams, and growling from the corner. No matter how sceptical you are, and how easy it is to rationalise – we were under the London Bridge, and the ‘screams’ were police sirens, and the growling simply traffic driving over the bridge – it’s still somewhat chilling.

Next we were shepherded into the adjacent room, where we carried out a séance. To make this a little more creepy, this was held in a room with heads on spikes, and a terrifying, life-sized model ox. As we stood round, holding hands, out medium tried his best to call forth the spirits of the tombs. Meanwhile, Tom, our excitable ghostly lightning rod, had returned to the Viking room with another medium, to try using a Ouija board. As Tom ‘spoke’ with a barely-literate ghost child (aged eight, apparently),  one of the people involved in our séance was hit by a falling stone. This may seem like something fairly minor when relayed as an incidental sentence in a long account of the evening, but it sent a chill through those involved.

So far so Most haunted. Excitable people, running around in the dark, finding ghosts and ghouls where there is nothing but an excitable group, an easily explained sound, and a slowly crumbling building. Nothing we had seen so far was beyond explanation, and much of it was almost certainly a product of group hysteria.

Then it was on to the next  room, a long corridor, decked out to look like a medieval street.  At first we held another séance. This time, the medium asked ‘the spirits’ to rock people back and forth, and to raise their hands. Much like with the Ouija board, this sort of ‘request’ acts as an instruction to tired, susceptible people, who act upon it in an almost unconscious fashion.

After this we were asked to sit along the corridor, spaced out on either side, a few feet from one another. Sat opposite Ryan Lambie from Den of Geek, and Kelly  Alyse from Blogomatic3000, I was filming on a night vision camera. Initially, this was somewhat mundane, but then the medium mentioned seeing a fog down the corridor. At the same time, my camera, a small mini-DV camera, with an auto focus, that was trained on Kelly began to blur. As I panned round to my left, I had a pristine shot of Ryan, and to the right, a clear shot down the corridor, but for a few seconds Kelly was out of focus. I have no idea why.

Keep an eye on the site over the next few days for a chance to see footage from the event.

*A motley collection of journos, bloggers, students and contest winners

**Radio static.

The sequel to last year’s surprise horror hit Paranormal Activity (imaginatively entitled Paranormal Activity 2) has scored the highest-grossing opening weekend ever for a horror movie, pulling in an estimated $41.5 million.

The original ended up making an incredible $107m (against a production budget of $15,000!), and the sequel is another success story in low-budget, astutely marketed Hollywood filmmaking.

Interestingly, the number 2 entry Hereafter (another supernatural tale directed by the legendary Clint Eastwood and starring box office friendly Matt Damon), has failed to make much of a dent with just $12m in returns this weekend, having expanded nationwide this week. Could this be a sign of things to come in regards to big studio product vs. no-name indie features?

Rounding out the top three is Jackass 3-D, which has climbed to $87.1 million in ten days, easily beating Number Two’s $72.8 million to become the highest grosser of the franchise. Another success for 3D!

Info from Box Office Mojo.

We’re only a month away from the second round of Paranormal Activity, and the marketing machine is doing well in building up the tension for Tod Williams’ film.

In particular a series of viral videos pertaining to Paranormal Activity 2 have been sent out to various websites and today Dave was sent a memory stick in a brown envelope and on it was this short video below.

We’ve seen a few of these videos already and these are worth checking out and hidden in them are a few frames which deepen the mystery and are very freaky in isolation. This video we got sent is more of the same…

Here’s the video, and a few screengrabs we managed to pick out – there may be more hiding away so if you find any more let us know,

Hallowe’en is almost upon us, and with it comes another bout of Paranormal Activity.

Tod Williams takes over from Oren Peli to direct the sequel which, from what we’ve seen, seeks to scare seven shades of spooky out of us with the same home video footage as the first. This time there’s a baby involved. And a dog. But we can expect the same shocks and suspense as the first.

Click here to see the other trailers and clips already released for Paranormal Activity 2, and it’s a veritable Easter parade with eggs aplenty at the mercy of your pause button.

Not wishing to deviate from the tried and trusted formula a few more videos made their way online today and they too contain images which in isolation are pretty unsettling – when I was taking a screengrab of the first clip for the thumbnail for this post I managed, by complete accident, to capture this image -

Lasting only a frame this image is surely one among many packed into these clips, so get hunting.

Bloody Disgusting got this video in the post, and suitably creepy it is too,

This one comes from UGO,

And in an interview with THR Paranormal Activity director Oren Peli talks about Dreamworks’ original plans for the first film and how the ending of the film was shaped by a suggestion from Steven Spielberg.

With Paranormal Activity 2 due for release next month in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, Japan has decided to go into production with a local language sequel to the 2009 horror smash.

Bloody Disgusting are reporting that Japanese distributor-come-production company Presidio Corporation has tentatively scheduled Paranormal Activity: Tokyo Night for a December release.

A direct sequel to the Oren Peli original, the spin-off will follow a Japanese exchange student who returns home having completed her studies in San Diego. Unbeknownst to her, she brings the entity that consumed Katie Featherston back to her family home.

Continuing the found-footage fad, the film will chronicle the young woman and her attempts to record the the supernatural force which her family must inevitably defeat. Cue bad things.

More news as it comes in.

The Last Exorcism received its UK premiere last weekend at Film4′s Frightfest and went down a storm, you can read our review here, and it’s great to see a horror film provoking a lot of debate, not only over the issues contained within the film, but also about how horror is evolving as a genre.

Our good friends at Upbeat sat down with Eli Roth and Daniel Stamm, who produced and directed respectively, as well as the stars of the film Ashley Bell and Patrick Fabian to talk about the film.

Our man at Frightfest also spoke to Roth and Stamm earlier this week and his enlightening report can be read here.

Here’s the interview video – the film opens in the UK today – it’s really worth catching on the big screen.

At the time of writing this review it’s been almost 24 hours since I watched The Last Exorcism.  I’ve spent that time thinking about the film and trying to figure out what exactly my thoughts are on it, and how I really feel about it.  For a film to have that affect, you could say that in itself is a success.

The Last Exorcism follows Reverend Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian) as he documents his experience as he conducts one final exorcism.  You see, Rev. Marcus has been a preacher his whole life.  He performed his first exorcism at the ripe old age of 10 and had been doing them thoughout his life ever since.  He has his reservations about his chosen profession and questions his faith and religious practices.  You get the sense that the good Reverend is disenchanted with his profession.  He proves his point that his flock will praise anything he says by throwing in a banana bread recipe into his sermon.

As Rev. Marcus discusses his work with exorcisms he cites a newspaper article that reports on an exorcism gone wrong that resulted in the death of a child.  Wanting to expose exorcisms to be the fraud that he believes they are, Rev. Marcus agrees to do one final exorcism and enlists the services of a documentary film crew to capture the entire process.  Responding to a letter written by a concerned father, the team heads out to a farm in the backwoods of a small Louisiana town.  There they meet the father, Louis Sweetzer (Louis Herthum), his 16 year old daughter Nell (Ashley Bell) and his son Caleb (Caleb Landry Jone).  Louis tells Rev. Marcus that he believes his daughter to be possessed by demons and requests an exorcism be done.  His belief is fueled by the deaths of his livestock and the animal blood that covers Nell’s clothing.  Nell, of course, remembers nothing of these events.

After listening to the family’s story, Rev. Marcus decides to do the exorcism and as he prepares, the film crew records the entire process.  This part of the film shows us that Rev. Marcus truly doesn’t believe in what he’s about to do.  He’s set out to prove that exorcisms are nothing but smoke and mirrors.  The exorcism goes according to his plan, but he’s not prepared for the events that happen after he and his crew leave the farm.

I can’t say much else without spoiling the film, so I’ll stop there.  If this film proves anything it’s that it is possible to tell a creepy horror story effectively even with a PG-13 (15 rating in the UK) rating.  A film doesn’t need to be full of blood and gore in order to be scary.  While there is some disturbing imagery in this film, it doesn’t cross the line into gratuitous gore, which is nice.  Subtlety is key in horror movies.  It’s the suspense that is scary. In that respect this film delivers for the most part.  What really brings it home are the performances by Patrick Fabian and Ashley Bell.

Ashley Bell plays Nell and her performance is so organic you wonder where the actor ends and the character begins.  Nell has a naive innocence about her and the fear of what’s happening to her is tangible.  You feel sympathy for her but you’re scared of her at the same time because you don’t exactly know what’s going on with her.

Patrick Fabian bring a smarmy charm to Reverend Marcus.  He’s intriguing and charming, but when you see the discontent and how he proves his point, he shows some unpleasant qualities and you can really see how he thinks his entire profession is just a farce.  As the film progresses however, you can see him transform back into a man of faith that is driven by the need to help this young girl.  I found myself liking him and disliking him at the same time.  Fabian is a craftsman in his acting and it’s evident here.

The film is shot entirely from the hand held camera that is following Rev. Marcus.  I’ve had both good and bad experiences with this.  Paranormal Activity and The Blair Witch Project both gave me headaches but I didn’t have any trouble with Cloverfield.  I didn’t have an issue with this film either which I was thankful for.  The shaky camera work was held to a minimum but there were a few bits that were a tad jarring.  I have to give real credit here to the director Daniel Stamm.  The film making was very fluid and it didn’t feel like a movie, it felt more like you were there with the crew experiencing the events as they were unfolding.

Clocking in at 87 minutes the film moves pretty quickly once the crew gets out to the Sweetzer farm.  It’s not all doom and gloom as there are bits of humor thrown in through out.  From the banana bread recipe sermon, to the seldom heard and never seen camera man, you will get a few chuckles.  Even with those chuckles, you still get the creepy factor.

I’ve been trying to decide on if I liked this film or not.  The result I’ve come to is that I’m more indifferent to it than anything else.  I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it either.  But I have thought an awful lot about it and like I said, that in itself is a success.  I haven’t been able to discuss it with anyone else who has seen it so if you have, please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts.  I’d love to get someone else’s take on it.

Thanks to Bloody-Disgusting, we have some news regarding the remakes of two of Stephen King’s best loved stories, It and Pet Sematary. Unfortunately, along with Misery, these two are also probably the best King horror adaptations to have hit screens (but only because Stand By Me and The Shawshank Redemption dont count). They are certainly the two that scared the holy bejeezuz out of me the most when I first saw them, and every subsequent time. So news of a remake for both is something of a double-edged sword- part of me welcomes a new take on the stories, but the other part will always be suspicious of the Hollywood remake machine when the originals were good enough. The sad fact is that modern horror remakes largely don’t work.

Bloody-Disgusting have today reposted an interview that originated at fan-site Lilja’s Library with David Kajganich, the scripter charged with bringing both remakes to the screen. First Kajganich spoke of the Pet Sematary redo:

After I turned in my first draft, Paramount went through a top-down regime change and I was given a new executive who had creative ideas I just couldn’t stand behind. They wanted to appeal to younger audiences, so there was talk of making a teenaged Ellie the main character, and etc. It was really heartbreaking, but that’s how the process works sometimes. The studio was gracious enough to let me out of my contract and the project was dormant at the studio until very recently.

Hang on, a teen thriller remake?! Is he kidding? Thank God the project is dormant… but wait, he has more:

The current news is that Paramount has restarted the process with a new producer and writer (Lorenzo Di Bonaventura and Matt Greenberg; both previously announced. I wish I could tell you something about their approach, or how it’s going, but I’m entirely out of the loop now.

Oh, no. Hopefully Paramount have the sense to kick out the executive’s “creative ideas” before the remake begins to circle the drain already. Everyone who has heard Kevin Smith’s Superman story knows that film execs and creative ideas just don’t mesh!

There is one scene in particular in the original Pet Sematary that still really gets to me- for everyone who has seen it, it’s the knife to the Achilles tendon moment. It is easily the most disturbing piece of cinema I have ever witnessed, and I still feel the tiny icey fingers of fear walk up my spine when I think about it now. The whole film just works for me as a good old fashioned horror flick.

So to be told that the remake was originally conceived by Paramount as a teen horror, with a teenage Ellie as the lead is a bit of a kick in the teeth. Hopefully the attachment of genuinely scary King adaptation 1408′s scripter Matthew Greenberg will indicate that it will in fact by a more mature project than Kajganich was lead to believe.

Forgive me if I’m wrong, but in my opinion it is pretty damaging to only cater to a specific demographic within the horror genre- if it is scary it works, and having a more universal appeal means it will be seen by more audiences. The box office succes of Paranormal Activity has at least proved that.

The second, more exciting looking news from the interview is that Kajganich wants to give the original It adaptation a faithful and respectful remake for Dan Lin and Roy Lee (who will also oversee the new Lego Movie) at Warner Bros:

In all of my talks with the studio, it has only ever been discussed as a single feature film. The book’s length is clearly more suited to a mini-series—and I understand very well why they went that route the last time around—but I think the book’s content is really more appropriate for cinema. I told the studio from the beginning that I felt I needed to be able to write for an R rating, since I wanted to be as candid as the novel about the terrible things the characters go through as kids. They agreed and off I went.

Kajganich goes on to compare making the remake to the original  TV mini-series:

I think the biggest difference is that we’re working with about two-thirds the onscreen time they had for the miniseries. That sounds dire, I know, but it doesn’t necessarily mean two-thirds the amount of story. I’m finding as many ways as I can to make certain scenes redundant by deepening and doubling others. To me, this is an interesting process because it has the effect of thematically intensifying the whole, but it can lead to dramatic surprises. Certain scenes I thought would be crucial to the coherence of the whole ended up cut, while other scenes, which were somewhat cursory in the book, ended up being pivotal in the script.

I know I’m being vague, but there’s not a lot I can tell you at this point about the specifics, since we’re still very much in development on it. I’ll just say for now that we’re really swinging for the fences.

At least Kajganich’s passion shines through in his responses: if he is indeed the man to redo It, I’m happy enough- I don’t think there can be a better choice at this point. The writer had already gone on record at Dread Central to confirm that the new adaptation will honour the original King text:

The remake will be set in the mid-1980s and in the present almost equally- mirroring the twenty-odd-year gap King uses in the book- and with a *great* deal of care and attention paid to the backstories of all the characters. I think the real twist here is that my pitch to WB- which they’ve assured me they’re on board for- is that this will not be PG-13. This will be R. Which means we can really honor the book and engage with the traumas (both the paranormal ones and those they deal with at home and school) that these character endure… I plan to be very protective of the book… The reality, though, is that WB wants to do this as a single film, so I will have to kill a few darlings to make that happen. You have my promise, though, that I will do this with the utmost humility and respect for King’s work. He’s the King, after all, and I intend to continue to pledge to him my allegiance.

Obviously, the real sticking point is the casting. Tim Curry was insanely good as Pennywise the Dancing Clown, partly thanks to his almost unbearable theatricality, but mostly because he looks so darn odd. What price on someone like Jackie Earle Haley getting a call this time around? He certainly has the voice. Or perhaps a more left-field choice- Jim Carrey anyone?

It is penned for release in 2011.

With the Saw franchise now a Halloween tradition despite succumbing rather heavily to the law of diminishing returns it seems as if Paramount are capitalising on the roaring success of Oren Peli’s micro-budgeted Paranormal Activity by scheduling the release date for the sequel for October 22nd, 2010.

Heat Vision have the scoop and highlight the link between the Saw franchise and the new Paranormal Activity director, the man who made his debut with Saw VI, Kevin Greutert. He will team with screenwriter Michael R. Perry to create the sequel while the creative team behind the original will be on production duties.

It all seems eerily familiar to the Blair Witch Phenomenon, with the Book of Shadow sequel falling under the weight of critical and commercial expectation and though it had a few good ideas the Blair Witch association (and it was no more than this) dragged it to hell.

What I find more intriguing is Paramount’s other initiative to replicate the success of Paranormal Activity by spending $1 million dollars a year to produce a dozen or so low budget films. Will this point to the multiplex offerings of the future with fewer original big budget films appearing amidst the furious rush of sequels and remakes, and undercut by a deluge of low budget/high-expectation films with internet driven campaigns to provide free publicity and ‘on-demand’ release schedules.

Whether this will mean that we’ll get to hear more original, fresh voices in front of and behind the camera, with full studio backing and distribution is unclear. Certainly if the rebakery is churning out profitable films, why not spend a fraction of the cost of just one of these to finance and put out a dozen new films, in order to discover the next big thing?

The success of Paranormal Activity 2 may not be the legacy of the series, but the way movies are made and distributed.

The fantastic friend of quality films that is the Genesis Cinema in Whitechapel has brought to our attention that they are again showing some classic films and hosting some brilliant sounding events in the coming month due to the success of their excellent 80′s film series back in October and it’s all starting off with the special screening of the classic Coen Brothers film “˜The Big Lebowski’.

Big Lebowski is a phenomenal film and my favourite film of all time, it’s also created one of the biggest cult followings spawning the Lebowski-Fest Festivals which celebrates all things Lebowski and also the creation of the religion of Dudeism.

This film should not be missed on the big screen as it may change your life!

So get down to the Genesis Cinema, 93-95 Mile End Road, Whitechapel on the 10th December at 8:30pm to witness this film and if you dress as the Dude you get a 2-4-1 cocktail voucher with the best outfit winning an iPod Shuffle, Far out man.
More details and ticket information here.

New Years Move Marathon

Also coming up is the equally excellent sounding New Years Eve event being held at the Genesis Cinema where they are hosting a New Years Eve Horror All-Nighter showing 17 films on 5 screens in one night, the films listed are Paranormal Activity, Zombieland, Shaun of the Dead, 28 Days Later, Saw VI, Hostel, Wolf Creek, Drag Me to Hell, The Ring, Dawn of the Dead, Martyrs, Jennifer’s Body, Dog Soldiers, Eden Lake, Descent 2, Orphan and Switchblade Romance.

An excellent selection of horror movies lined up then with Zombieland, Shaun of the Dead, Paranormal Activity, Drag me to Hell and 28 Days Later the stand out movies and with live music, comedy and other weird and wonderful performances it’s something that sounds a great original New Years Eve party.

Doors open at 7pm and you stay as long as you can handle, you can book tickets now and find more details here.