Movie: Paranormal activity – An Experience worth Demanding
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By: Austin Takahashi
In the soon-to-be “Marijuana Land” called the United States (if they don’t do anything about it), lies a horror movie that has been the biggest shockbuster of the past decade: Paranormal Activity. Because of its independent status, Paranormal Activity could not get a nationwide release in the USA and was only granted very limited release in under ten states.
It was only screened in selected theaters in the selected states on midnights. After a week and less than a million dollars earned, word began to spread. People experienced the horror, and they told their friends about the movie, and their friends told their friends about the film.
So when the word got to me via the internet, I immediately researched more details about it. Movie site after movie site, I saw reviews about the film calling it, “The scariest movie of the decade” and stating that, “Nightmares are guaranteed.” Being a person who prefers the feeling of fear from a movie than the taste of a steamy McBurger, I had to watch the trailer.
One deep breath and two loud farts later, I saw the trailer on Youtube and felt the hype myself. Three days pass, then I discovered that the “Demand It” campaign, started by U.S. citizens who couldn’t watch the movie, was a hit! Over a million Americans demanded Paranormal Activity to be shown on their state. Due to the campaign’s success, Paranormal Activity was released nationwide in the United States of America on October 16, 2009!
Paranormal Activity is officially the first movie ever to get a nationwide release solely because the average movie fans wanted to! So far, Paranormal Activity has grossed over 9 million dollars even before its nationwide release. I’ve heard testimonies of people who drove across two states just to watch the movie. Imagine how much more money Paranormal Activity will bank when it gets its wide release. And did I happen to mention that the film’s total budget is only $11,000?!
I took the liberty of visiting the site of the campaign myself, and to my surprise, the campaign is a worldwide campaign! Even the Philippines can demand it! So fellow Filipino, fellow movie lover, and fellow human being, are you going to waste your precious time staring at garbage like Villa Estrella and Shake Rattle and Roll 23: The Kalamares Kreature?
Or are you going to www.paranormalmovie.com, demand it in your country, and feel good about yourself knowing that you did something cinematically good for our race?
The chances of Paranormal Activity finding a release date here is very thin, I’ll admit that. But trying won’t hurt, right? Besides, piracy is always just a jeepney away.
Philippine Cinema Sucks. And out of all the genres, the Filipinos (a race that sees undeveloped duck embryos as a snack) are worst at making horror movies. Every time a see a poster of a Filipino horror movie, I feel like sticking a chop stick down my throat until I puke out all the “Filipino” inside of me.
You are so rude. And you happen to call yourself Christian.
My apologies on that. I overlooked it when I was editing my contributor’s entry. Sorry for this. And just to clarify, I don’t watch horror movies sir. This was not my entry. I am deeply sorry for your frustration. If you’d excuse me, I’ll have to delete that part.
And thank you for pointing that out =)
I’ll have to do a better job of editing. Thank you!
Hi there. About an hour ago, Sean texted me and told me that some people were offended by the comments that I made in my post above. After revisiting my own work, I can clearly see why people find it rude, and I humble myself and apologize for my immature and unnecessary comments.
My posts are always full of puns and jokes intended to make a point, but I made the horrible mistake of being solely concerned with my personal intention rather then my reader’s interpretation. When I was writing the post above, I was reminiscing one of my most painful movie experience in the past decade, and again I apologize for letting my personal feelings take control of what I say and write about.
I would like to thank Sean for pointing out my error, because if he didn’t, I could’ve easily made another offensive comment without realizing it. I will try my best to watch my language and attitude not only in my posts, but also in my life.
Before I end, I would like to inform everyone that I made some extra research concerning our movies. Just this year, a Filipino movie, “Kinatay”, premiered at Cannes Film Festival. Roger Ebert (my favorite critic) called it “the worst movie ever to premiere at Cannes”. But to his surprise, , director of “Kinatay” won Best Director. And to add some champagne to the victory, he defeated one of my favorite directors: Quentin Tarantino. Roger Ebert was forced to make a public apology concerning his comment about the film.
I feel ashamed of myself for saying what I said in my post. But I am relieved that there are people out there willing to tell me that I have done wrong so I can improve. Thank you.
I definitely enjoyed reading your cool insights and learning from your blogsite. Thank you for sharing such interesting and informative article. – Pilipino Movie
That movie really scared the crap out of me though – it was not about ghosts anymore it was a battle against darkness and evil and feeling helpless… I definitely enjoyed reading your cool insights and learning from your blogsite. Thank you for sharing such interesting and informative article. – Tagalog Movies