(Thumbnail image from Paramount Pictures)
Made for just $15,000 the horror film "Paranormal Activity" is generating quite the buzz.
The movie, which opened nationwide Oct. 16, has already grossed almost $37 million at the box office. Some are dubbing it “the scariest movie ever.”
See for yourself. Here’s a clip from the theatrical trailer.
We have perspectives on the box office sensation from YouTube, FOX News, CNN, The San Francisco Chronicle, Slash Flim and Rotten Tomatoes.
FOX News has a perspective on how the movie used unique marketing tactics to become so popular.
“This movie started playing in college towns and doing midnight showings only, and it started getting buzz based on those showings only, but it also was marketed as an experience more than anything else… [...] And it used a lot of online buzz including Twitter. And also on its Web site, did something we haven’t seen very many times before, which is it let different viewers demand that this movie be shown in their hometown.”
There was a lot of debate at Paramount about whether the movie should have been released nationally. The San Francisco Chronicle explains how the movie made it to the big screen.
“So [Paramount] put a big number out there and said, 'Hey, let the fans decide.' That number was 1 million "demands," which Paramount said it would take to release the film nationally. [They] thought reaching that number would take weeks. It took four days.”
The movie is drawing comparisons to another low budget film with huge box office success, "The Blair Witch Project." CNN has a perspective from the director of that film and wonders if this template will become the norm in Hollywood.
“While these big screen breakouts rarely happen, "Paranormal Activity," a new thriller from Paramount, is breaking rules in Hollywood and getting noticed.
“You don’t need to spend a ton of money to turn a profit. That could be Hollywood’s new motto, says Daniel Myrick, especially in this economy where studios are counting pennies."
So is the movie worth seeing? Slashfilm.com, a movie-reviewing site, shot a quick video review right after seeing it and liked it.
“For the budget it is absolutely one of the most effectively scary movies I’ve seen in a long time. Even though some of the scares are predictable, you can kind of see them coming, the atmosphere, the way it’s shot, and the characters totally pulled me into it.”
With all of the positive reviews, still some critics didn’t like the movie. Popular film reviewing site Rotten Tomatoes had this to say.
“Ten minutes of this movie could’ve been on YouTube and it would’ve been an Internet sensation. As a feature length film, many viewers will be horrified with boredom at this drip of a movie.”
So do you think low budget films will be the new trend in Hollywood? And for those who have seen it, is "Paranormal Activity" one of the scariest movies ever?
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