Saw VI flops, Paranormal Activity reigns!
OK, you’re probably wondering why there’s a pic of The Blair Witch Project slapped on a post discussing the poor box office performance of Saw VI … Here goes:
Saw VI has been beaten to the no 1 slot in the US by low budget shaky-cam Blair Witch “rip-off” Paranormal Activity (I use the term “rip-off” loosely as horror purists swear that The Blair Witch stole the documentary film idea from the awful Cannibal Holocaust).
The latest in the franchise, which has ruled the Halloween box office for the past five years earned a pathetic $14.1m. While some of you may be thinking that’s not a bad effort, it’s the worst performance from all six Saw movies so far in the US and UK! You just need to look at the $30m the woeful Saw V took, only a year ago, to get an idea that the Saw franchise’s popularity is fading fast.
Slowly getting to my point, I don’t think it’s neccessarily due to the fact that Saw VI may be a bad movie (I haven’t seen it and won’t bother until it hits DVD). The ‘Torture Porn’ sub genre has had it’s 15 minutes, and now it, along with the Asian-remake trend that heavily featured dead, wet ghost girls, is going to have to take a back seat for a while.
Slasher movie Halloween 2 also performed below par in my opinion, considering it’s Halloween (although that may have something to do with the studio releasing it in the US in August!). I think we are entering a new favourite subgenre phase: the paranormal/supernatural era is upon us! … Maybe.
Paranormal Activity has made over $60m in five weeks on a paltry budget. Exactly 10 years ago The Blair Witch Project experienced great success also. Both movies feature shaky handheld camcorder action with protagonists who are out to prove that unexplainable forces are responsible.
Now, I’m not saying that every Tom, Dick and Harry will be grabbing their camcorders again like Dawson Leery and shooting everything around them in the hope that they will capture something creepy. What I am saying (and hoping) is that I think we may now get to experience a few creative movies from minds who hope to scare audiences with suspense and terror rather than grossing them out with gruesome death scenes. After all, we have to put up with remake after remake (some good, most bad).
Maybe, just maybe, Paranormal Activity has kicked young filmmakers up the ass and convinced them to try something a little extraordinary. Check out The Fourth Kind, starring Milla Jovovich. This is another upcoming mystery/thriller/supernatural effort. I pray it does well.
- morganonyx
