It’s official. The flick once crowned the scariest movie of all time is now the first R rated thriller to broach the $100 million dollar box office barrier in the last decade. Quite a feat for first timer Oren Peli and his paltry $11,000 home-movie PARANORMAL ACTIVITY!
And even better foresight goes to Paramount, who, as a result of hugely successful festival screenings and word of mouth buzz, quickly snatched the film and distributed the thing more efficiently than a syphilitic hooker. Props to them boys (and girls) as well!
For those who haven’t seen PARANORMAL ACTIVITY (like myself), it depicts the turmoil a suburban couple endures after a cadre of supernatural occurrences plague their newly found home. It stars relative unknowns (before, not so much now) Micah Sloat and Katie Featherston, and was shot in Peli’s own home.
It’s pretty crazy what rabid fanfare and online petitioning can achieve. Such a financial coup is as much about all of you who protested to get the film played in your town as it as any artistic merit the film may have. Making that statement without seeing the flick may be unfair (or not, just check Mr. Arrow’s review), but the success of the film is much more about its key marketing push and ultimate fan demand.
Either way, it’s a hell of an achievment!
Peli’s next film is the E.T. mystery AREA 51.