A New Paranormal Era? - HorrorMovies.ca

Whether you hated or loved the movie Paranormal Activity, you can’t deny that the film was a major success. With a budget of 11,000 dollars, Oren Peli used his own home as the setting for a movie that absolutely terrified a lot of people on its way to making over 100 million dollars domestically. Aside from being impressed with the film, I feel that its impact on horror may be a bit bigger than everyone originally anticipated. Maybe this is a watershed moment for the genre, to try and distance itself away from the blood and gore effects of the “torture porn” popularity and over into atmospheric supernatural horror. Maybe it’s a flash in the pan that will be forgotten by this time next year. Of course only time will tell, but that doesn’t mean I can speculate till my eyes fall out of my head.

As we all have observed in our many outlooks on life and film (film life? Flife?) I’m pretty sure that we have all noticed that the horror genre works in cycles. Remember back in the early 2000s when zombies were all the rage? Movies like 28 days Later, Dawn of the Dead, and Shawn of the Dead revived a specific sub-genre of horror and thrust its sexy hips back in the pop culture zeitgeist. Of course for all of those really good zombie flicks that came along, you got five or ten Zombie Strippers, Undead, and Killa’ Zombies (oh yeah, I’m not afraid to go there). So, I really don’t think that it would be too farfetched of an idea that we are going to see a whole bunch of great ghost movies coming along… and more real terrible ones. I’m completely fine with this system and I understand how a convention or common theme can become old and boring and then move on to something else. However, I think that the Paranormal Activity is doing something a little bit more to the genre that just spring boarding one of these cycles.

I feel that in the very near future, the horror genre is going to be completely redefined. I’m not talking about a movie that comes along and is merely a good addition to the genre, I’m talking about a completely radical movement similar to what Night of the Living Dead and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre did back in the late 60s and early 70s. When those films were first released, they took everything that was great about the horror film up until that point and turned the notch way past 10. Add that to the fact that they were both brilliantly crafted films that added layers upon layers of societal commentary, it’s plain as day to see their significance looking back at the history of film. Of course there have been a bunch of great horror films since then, but nothing as boundary destroying. Now before you get all hibbity gibbity on me, I’m not saying that Paranormal Activity deserves to be in the same class as these two films, but it is a step in the right direction.

Horror has been a mainstream money making genre for a long time now and really there are no signs of that ever stopping. Small investments on films that often at least double in returns will never go out of style in the Big H (Hollywood, that’s what I’m calling it now). Throughout the years, these studio horror films have grown increasingly bigger and bigger. Paranormal Activity of course had a massive marketing budget as well as an aggressive viewer fueled campaign called DEMANDit that gave the studio an opportunity to hear the voice of the fans. If enough of them yelled and screamed, then the movie came to their town. All these things aside however, I feel that it is an important film because it completely deconstructs everything that a mainstream horror viewer has come to feel comfortable with.

You wanted big elaborate sets? Well Paranormal Activity takes place in one location, which was the private residence of the director. You wanted huge stars? Well Paranormal Activity had two no names that knocked it out of the ball park. You want a bunch of gore and special effects? Well Paranormal Activity had practically no CGI and almost no gore at all. You wanted a great atmosphere? Well Paranormal Activity… had… that (which is extremely important to any successful film). Your probably saying to yourself “Ok asshole, you made your point, but why should I care about that, you small time horror film writing jerk?” Well first of all, you have a lot of growing up to do and a lot of manners to learn. Secondly the point is that Paranormal Activity took everything that was absolutely essential to the story and trimmed out that wasn’t necessary. It was a bare bones film that showed the entire community that if you have a great idea, you can succeed despite having no money at all. I feel that this is the new starting off point for some fresh young horror film makers to step in and spin off in entirely new and creative ways.

I don’t want to be misunderstood here. I thought that Paranormal Activity was an excellent movie, but it will become a popular culture fascination, not a horror genre benchmark. It wasn’t even the best horror movie to come out this year (as you will see in my inevitable top 10 of 2009 later in the year). But it was a start. It was something that people could look up to, shoot for, and hopefully surpass. My most optimistic thoughts want me to see this as a gateway to the next revolution. Of course maybe I’m completely wrong. Maybe we are nowhere near the idea of a cinematic revolution. Maybe we just had one and I don’t have enough perspective to see it. What do you think?

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