Viral Campaign For Horror Genre Found Footage Style
Paranormal Activity 2 (2010) was delivered to its audiences on the back of the same successful system of viral hype executed by the original. Paramount delayed press screenings and reviews dictated by horror genre film convention-put out a frightening trailer and leave the buzz to grow particularly online. This trend has become synonymous with the found footage style films.
Audiences were empowered to vote for special midnight screenings in their towns, building further anticipation and a sense of communal involvement. Perhaps the most buzz was created after Cinemark received complaints that the trailer for PA2 was too frightening for viewers of Twilight Saga: Eclipse. News travelled fast as Chinese whispers finished with "PA2 trailer banned".
First a teaser trailer, then Paramount released an expanded trailer which when analyzed showed creepy images embedded in the video. Image and video form the emphasis of cinema verite in Paranormal Activity (e.g. the replay of video footage).
Random viral files with more teaser footage appeared on the net creating more buzz. That was all the hype that rushed me to an advanced screening 12-pound ticket in Leicester Square to see if this found footage horror craze was real.
Paranormal Activity: Most Successful Horror Genre Franchise Ever
The original (2007) no 1 US box-office 41.5 million opening weekend hit was the most successful debuting horror genre flick of all time, dethroning Friday The 13th. It shows how far the genre has come since The Blair Witch kicked it all off with a $20 odd million debut. Found footage style with cinema verite elements, PA2 is structured on cinematic silence with ques of poltegeist gotcha! moments.
Up to 60 minutes, we are in poltegeist bump mode, with an acceleration of doors opening and bumps caught on video which the couple play back the next morning to see what's going on in the house. After the ghost specialist exits cinema verite takes hold with katie possessed. A bold claim it may be, but demon posession presented in found footage style is more real and terrifying than The Exorcist, although on reflection it may be superficial terror as its pschological grip seems to float away soon after the screening.
Paranormal Activity 2 Solidifies Found Footage Style As no 1 Frightfest.
Takes place mainly as a prequel before the events of Paranormal Activity, but the end takes place following 1st installment Micha's death.
Cinema verite leads to the presence of more cameras--but PA2 disposes of video analyse in the mornings-a neat structuring device in the first part. Generally there is less cinema verite in this second installment owing to the established presense of the camera all over the house.
Kristi, Katie's sister and her beefbot sceptic husband are the victims along with stepdaughter Kylie, ultra vulnerable toddler Hunter, plus their German shepherd--the last two are overused gimmicks.
The suspension takes too long to build here, despite that it follows exactly the same buildup , stages and conclusion. I feel cheated to pay to watch 40 minutes of Big Brother 2am footage with the highlight being a pot falling off its hook. Once found footage style brings in demonism we are in terrifying business, but the suspense was built up long before 60 minutes.
In this prequel sequel, the queue for a shift to demonic possession is kylie's hand held footage. Until now, the footage is provided by the installed cameras all over the house.
Kristi is turned over by her husband and contorts into a hideous demonic snarl worthy of Asian horror chills. In a genuinely shocking final ten minutes, Katie appears, snaps the husbands neck, marches upstairs and smashes Kristi into the camera - a great cinema verite moment in the horror genre- with so much power the blood splatters a huge patch on Katie's shirt. She grabs the baby and leaves.
The backstory of how these two installments interweave and the demonology explored by Kristi that explains whats going on can be looked up through interviews with director/producer Oren Peli and cast or will require a few viewings. With or without, its not necessary for full enjoyment.
Worth seeing alone for the ten minute herrrres Katie finale. This is a worthy addition in the found footage collection, first popularised by the Blair Witch Project, and the now reigning horror trend in post blockbuster release schedules. Its extremely successful viral campaign however doesn't hide that Cloverfield has more pschological impact on the viewer. Its great that cinema verite versus direct cinema is being seen by popular audiences here. I'm watching with interest for more experiences in using cinema verite to enhance realism in the horror genre.
Sub Genre Comparison: Found Footage Style
Cloverfield, Paranormal Activity, PA2, plus 2010's The Last Exorcism all claim US box office no 1 spots and big opening weekends. Pa 2 took 41.5 opening weekend, the biggest horror opening ever and the chilling and personal favourite entry--the reinvented monster flick Cloverfield which made audiences camera sick taking 41 million, making two of the top three horror flicks of all time found footage. The Last Exorcism (2010) most recent found footage installment shared its glory with heist film Takers to rack in a twenty one million opener, but still a no 1 spot. Quarantine (2008) was a zombie faux doc box office no 2 with fourteen million. Found footage authentic hype is still hot off the press, and great profit making with production budgets as low as the tens of thousands.
The Last Exorcism takes cinema verite fully into the faux documentary, advancing the sub-genre and with a good box office take and opening weekend. Its creative version of faux documentary allows for sliced footage to be more rigourously edited---an promising evolution in faux doc. Found footage has conquered the torture sub genre opitomised by the Saw saga.
Paranormal Activity 2 dethroned Saw V1 for box office no 1 , while the franchise has performed better than most of the Saw entries combined . The sub genre will dominate the winter box office for many years.
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