Oren Peli
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Filmography
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The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Directed by Daniel Myrick
influenced Paranormal Activity (2007)
Visuals Plot Themes
Like horror classics ranging from Cat People (1942) to The Haunting (1963) to The Blair Witch Project (1999), it suggests its terrors rather than explicitly showing them, which leaves far more to the imagination and sends more genuine chills up the spine.
That's even less than “The Blair Witch Project,” the breakout hit from 1999 that “Paranormal Activity” will be most compared to -- for obvious reasons, though “Paranormal” is the scarier of the two.
Comparisons to The Blair Witch Project aren't entirely off base, either, in that Paranormal Activity is about a decade past its sell-by date with a tale of irritating technophilia that would have felt more current in the Y2K Ludditism of 1999 than it did in the resigned technocracy of 2009--explanation in part for why it's already out of the conversation and never stirred much outrage or controversy when it was causing audiences of teens to collectively fake-shudder the way festival audiences collectively fake-cathect.
It has been dubbed a phenomenon and compared to the 1999 low-budget sleeper hit The Blair Witch Project.
Granted, the movie is less inspired or original than The Blair Witch Project in its conjuring of offscreen spaces and forces, potent as these remain in the newer film, and it suffers by moving some of the occult "backstory" that Blair Witch savvily dispatched at the outset into the third quarter of the film, and barely seeming sure of why it's doing this.
Ten years ago, Daniel Meyrick and Eduardo Sanchez become overnight sensations when their no-budget shocker The Blair Witch Project (1999) captured the demise of three doco-makers; both Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza’s Spanish-language [REC] (2007) and John Erik Dowdle’s shot-for-shot English-language remake Quarantine (2008) utilised found-footage ‘wobbly-cam’ superbly; Matt Reeves’ big-budget Cloverfield (2008) did not.
The basic plot is pretty much a direct rip-off of the classic suburban ghost story " Poltergeist " (1982), and there are also elements obviously poached from the likes of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956 and 1978), " Signs " (2002), "Paranormal Activity" (2007) and countless other titles.
We're reminded of one superior movie ("Poltergeist"), then another ("Paranormal Activity"), and another ("Close Encounters of the Third Kind").
Stewart borrows liberally from two schools of horror: the classic Poltergeist / Close Encounters era and the more current Paranormal Activity films to craft a horror that somewhat resembles an episode of The Twilight Zone .
Daniel and Lacey can only manage confusion, and solutions borrowed from “Paranormal Activity” (surveillance cameras), “Night of the Living Dead” (barricading the windows) and every other modern horror movie (Internet searches, where “The Truth,” or at least “The Conspiracy is Out There”).
Where Legion and Priest attempted to offer the sort of action/horror blockbuster experience of a Resident Evil flick (low-hanging fruit…), Dark Skies instead takes the sci-fi premise of an alien abduction story and conveys it in the crescendo format of Paranormal Activity and all its many copycats within the found-footage horror (not so coincidentally, the movie is produced by the makers of PA, Sinister, Insidious, etc…).
Nothing coming after quite tops it in a film that borrows liberally from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Poltergeist, Paranormal Activity, Signs, and even The Birds.
We're All Going to the World's Fair (2022)
Directed by Jane Schoenbrun
influenced by Paranormal Activity (2007)
Visuals Themes
Taking inspiration from the aforementioned Candyman , some stylistic elements of Unfriended and Paranormal Activity (referenced), Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade , and a heavy helping of creepypasta, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair simultaneously is wholly unique and a fuzzy hodgepodge of ideas and an unclear sense of full direction.
Taking inspiration from the aforementioned Candyman, some stylistic elements of Unfriended and Paranormal Activity (referenced), Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade, and a heavy helping of creepypasta, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair is simultaneously wholly unique and a fuzzy hodgepodge of ideas and an unclear sense of full direction.
In lesser hands, all of this could become something of a Paranormal Activity meets Unfriended clone with just a dash of Japanese cyberpunk horror reminiscent of Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s 2001 classic Pulse .
Long stretches unfold from the vantage of the girl’s webcam, and Casey draws readily on the visual language of horror for her vlogs, at one point executing a reasonably chilling riff on the overnight surveillance thrills of Paranormal Activity .
As much as Casey wants to live in her own “Paranormal Activity” sequel, “We’re All Going to the World’s Fair” does not take the path of least resistance.
Y logra inducir a su público a un estado de comprensión absolutamente excéntrico, en el que, previo abandono de toda forma cinematográfica estándar —y que trae a la mente no pocas referencias fílmicas, ya sea por lo estilístico o por lo expositivo, que van desde David Cronenberg con su Videodrome (1983) y su body horror, pasando por piezas tan diversas y opuestas como PVT CHAT (Ben Hozie, 2020), Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2007) o Nerve, un juego sin reglas (Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman, 2016)—, penetra en el zeitgeist de nuestros días y obliga a que se la contemple con cierto dolor, haciéndose uno cargo de su sentimiento de pérdida, de su escisión, de su inasible tristeza.
What we have here, as in Paranormal Activity (whose director, Oren Peli, is a producer here), is not a haunted-house movie but a haunted-person movie.
The early portions of the film slightly resemble a far more stylish take on the Paranormal Activity (2007) approach, which is not surprising since that film’s director, Oren Peli, is one of this film’s producers.
They're joined by the folks behind "Paranormal Activity," including writer and director Oren Peli, on hand as producers, and "Insidious" owes more to that film than the torture-porn of "Saw."
This is repetitive, and a bit reminiscent of Paranormal Activity , the superlative horror film directed a few years ago by Insidious producer Oren Peli, but it works at creating a damn nice feeling of the creeps, primarily because Wan and cinematographers David M. Brewer and John R. Leonetti do a fantastic job of bathing the Lamberts' two homes in such icy gloom, trumping up the dark wood and underlit corners so egregiously that it would be corny if it didn't' create such a forbidding atmosphere.
It takes some time before the influence of those films is felt, since it opens more like "Paranormal Activity" - that movie's director Oren Peli's name is listed conspicuously as producer.
This latest shocker from the original “Saw” buzzers, director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell , flaunts an adequate measure of the duo’s trademark borderline-camp humor while channeling as if by Ouija board the unholy likes of “The Exorcist” and “Paranormal Activity” (whose director Oren Peli serves here as a producer).
The Devil Inside (2012)
Directed by William Brent Bell
influenced by Paranormal Activity (2007)
Visuals Plot
There's a lot of downtime in which to consider issues like this in The Devil Inside, a film co-written and directed by William Brent Bell (Stay Alive) that obviously aims for the same lower-budget found footage niche as the Paranormal Activity franchise.
Ripping off The Exorcist while adding the "found footage" scam from the Paranormal Activity franchise, The Devil Inside manages not only to scrape the barrel's bottom but to drill a hole in said bottom and funnel deeper into the scum.
Speaking with co-writer and director William Brent Bell about The Devil Inside, he explained they were less going for a found-footage film in the style of Paranormal Activity than a true-crime documentary about a homicidal exorcism and its aftermath.
Unstoppably, that is, until The Devil Inside, the latest on-the-cheap pick-up from Paramount Insurge, the studio’s indie genre label formed after the massive success of the Paranormal Activity films.
It’s a clearly a B-grade Paranormal Activity rip-off with extra holy water and genuflection.
Though Host certainly leans into horror movie tropes that existed before it – you can see shades of The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity and Unfriended here – Host is put together with such ingenuity, particularly given the whole lockdown situation, that it’s difficult not to be somewhat in awe of what Savage and his extraordinary cast and crew have achieved.
Host builds suspense in the style of the Paranormal Activity films, strictly limiting point-of-view through laptop screens as the danger signs escalate.
Where Paranormal Activity and Cloverfield had mass audiences eating it up, the acclaim was more divided when it came to films such as The Last Exorcism and Unfriended .
Host does not bring a lot of originality to the table; in fact, it borrows quite heavily from other popular horror films, namely Paranormal Activity and Shutter .
And it’s not hard to see why, as Savage’s Host , armed with that same DIY spirit of found footage forebears The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity , is a highly effective scare-fest.
Begone Blair Witch , pack up your poltergeists Paranormal Activity , because there’s a new champion of found footage horror – one especially for the pandemic generation.
What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: I picked up on nods to Scanners , RoboCop and, erm, Paranormal Activity vibes.
By the time 2012’s “V/H/S” arrived, we were knee deep in “Paranormal Activity” sequels and countless POV possession thrillers with no end in sight.
The first V/H/S movie came out in 2012, arriving at the tail end of the low-budget found-footage horror craze ( Paranormal Activity and REC came out in 2007; Cloverfield was 2008) and capturing the last moment in culture before VCRs became totally obsolete.
Barrett proves the most ambitious in this respect, filming “The Empty Wake” from three (mostly) stationary cameras, and building tension from the way he cuts among them; it’s a variation on the wonders the Paranormal Activity franchise has worked with fixed angles and restricted point-of-view.
The Blair Witch juggernaut was over before it really got a chance to begin, and the found footage conceit languished until around 2007 when Paranormal Activity and REC proved that there was life left in the sub-genre yet.
Cheap frights — characters keep sneaking up on each other while they’re filming, with deafening sound effects accompanying them bumping into each other — and a selection of horror stunts borrowed from the “Son of Blair Witch,” aka the “Paranormal Activity” movies, deliver the only hair-raising moments.
Indeed, the movie as a whole finds itself caught between styles, evoking neither the amateur authenticity of The Blair Witch Project (and successors such as Paranormal Activity) nor the crafted sheen of a typical studio project.
Confidant and succinct, the preamble should remind viewers of “Paranormal Activity,” “Cloverfield” or any number of found footage films released post-“Blair Witch,” all of which hastily explain just how this footage could eventually be found.
But that doesn’t erase the 17 years in between, during which countless horror films (the [Rec] series, the Paranormal Activity series and Cloverfield, for example) have mined similar territory.
Underneath the low-budget simplicity of the concept, writer-directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez created a nerve-rattling, painstakingly complex mythology encompassing an almost sci-fi approach to warps in time and space (borrowed by the makers of the more recent found-footage franchise Paranormal Activity).
Unfriended (2014)
Directed by Levan Gabriadze
influenced by Paranormal Activity (2007)
Visuals Themes
Like those of The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity — both of which inspire scenes here — Unfriended's techniques are certain to be copy-pasted into imitators, some of which might improve upon it.
Jason Blum , producer of such low-budget winners as the Paranormal Activity and superior Purge franchises, obviously hopes to start another, praying the teen audience will “friend” this concept — which was directed by Levan Gabriadze but felt more like it could have been helmed by Mark Zuckerberg.
After what feels like 18 "Paranormal Activity" movies, it's hard to make found footage seem fresh, but "Unfriended" manages it by keeping its audience plugged in like a character.
Like The Blair Witch Project, which turned the first person POV found footage approach into a now well-worn waste of time, and Paranormal Activity, which mounted a similarly styled camera on a tripod to capture the spooky goings-on in a couple’s suburban home, this macabre novelty finds a group of friends haunted by the spirit of their dead girl, a friend who killed herself over cyberbullying.
But, like the Paranormal Activity movies (the supernatural; home surveillance; found footage; Jason Blum), the simplicity of the premise becomes the appeal of fearing it.
Director Levan Gabriadze takes the played-out found footage genre of the Paranormal Activity movies and gives it a fresh spin.
The Invisible Man (2020)
Directed by Leigh Whannell
influenced by Paranormal Activity (2007)
Visuals Themes
Writer/director Leigh Whannell ("Saw," "Upgrade") aces adapting H.G. Wells’ nineteenth century novel for the modern #MeToo age as a paranoid thriller, low budget effects à la “Paranormal Activity” effecting big chills, Elizabeth Moss excelling as a woman with only herself to turn to.
It’s horror on a psychological, “always watching” level that pulls from Oren Peli’s Paranormal Activity (early mind games) to Whannell’s own Upgrade (later action sequences).
As he showed us in Paranormal Activity , Whannell knows that the root of fear and horror lies in the things we don’t see rather than from those we do.
Like the malevolent demons of Blumhouse‘s signature Paranormal Activity franchise, he remains mostly an unseen, evil force messing with his ex’s mind.
And the “evidence” of Cecilia’s unseen stalker is mostly relegated to simple, practical effects that would not be out of place in a Paranormal Activity movie, but that only makes Cecilia’s plight more traumatic.
The film occasionally resembles the “Paranormal Activity” franchise, where we stare at the screen for any sign of movement.
The mirror problem stems from the evil antique at the center of this intricate horror story from the producers of "Insidious" and "Paranormal Activity."
Appropriately being co-released by microbudget fear factory Blumhouse Production — its founder, Jason Blum, helped turn the scrappy productions “Paranormal Activity” and “The Purge” into profitable franchises — much of the new movie’s chilly atmosphere involves the experiences of two characters in a room with one very ominous mirror.
Sure the film’s central, malevolent mirror is able to alter the perception of those caught in its grasp, but this is really more of a gonzo elaboration of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining than yet another Paranormal Activity style spooker.
Just to name a few, we’re talking about “Paranormal Activity” (2007), “Paranormal Activity 2” (2010),” “Paranormal Activity 3” (2011), “Sinister” (2012), “Paranormal Activity 4” (2012), “The Purge” (2013)”, “Insidious: Chapter 2” (2013), “Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones” (2014) and now “Oculus”.
He has turned an enormous profit on similar films in the Paranormal Activity series, Insidious: Chapter 2 and The Purge .
Jason Blum, who produced Oculus, also produced Paranormal Activity 1, 2, 3, 4 and the upcoming 5 as well as Sinister, Insidious, and more.
The Gallows (2015)
Directed by Travis Cluff
influenced by Paranormal Activity (2007)
Plot Themes Visuals
There is exactly one truly creepy sequence in the entirety of The Gallows, the latest in a string of exhausting horror flicks courtesy of producer Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity, Insidious, Ouija).
And so, unfortunately, for every truly chilling examples of the genre (The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity, [REC]), there are several sequels, imitators, and remakes (Paranormal Activity 4, [REC] 3: Genesis, Quarantine) that continue to dilute the potential of the format.
A quick $5 million spent and you can reap untold, Paranormal Activity-esque rewards — and for some reason, the gullible genre crowd buys into it every time.
That’s about the only thing working for “ The Gallows ,” a routine found-footage chiller of interest mostly to those who weren’t yet old enough to catch “Paranormal Activity” in its theatrical release a mere six years ago.
The movie is never as ingenious as the first Paranormal Activity movie, and it doesn’t resonate with any deeper themes like Unfriended , a better film that’s scarcely more sophisticated in its techniques.
And some of the "Paranormal Activity" movies have found new ways to exploit it (particularly by using a fixed-viewpoint camera that involves audiences, making them search the frame for frights).
To that end, the notion of this screenwriter teaming up with Matt Reeves for “The Batman” could yield some excellent results, but “Project Power,” especially from these “Catfish” and “Paranormal Activity” filmmakers ultimately feels like a big let down— a captivating idea about the way the system preys on the disadvantaged and the constant exploitation and appropriation of black and brown voices, that fizzles out fast once the high of its concept wears off.
Directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, who made the third and fourth installments of the Paranormal Activity franchise, the kinetic energy running through the veins of Project Power keeps the movie pumping at a chaotic tempo.
I don't know if that's what inspired screenwriter Mattson Tomlin to write the spec script "Power," but co-directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman (who together directed the third and fourth installments of the "Paranormal Activity" franchise along with the 2016 film "Nerve") have now brought that into existence in "Project Power."
Directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman made their mark with the internet trolling movie “Catfish” and followed it up with entries in the surveillance camera-powered “Paranormal Activity” horror series.
Directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman (who helmed a couple of Paranormal Activity movies) seem fixated on boosting their movie’s horror cred with exploding viscera and more IPM (impalements per minute) than any film in recent memory, which just gets in the way of the storytelling, and isn’t even totally hilarious like it is in Deadpool .
Not that they’re particularly known for their restraint (they’re most famous for the documentary Catfish , but they also helmed Nerve and a couple of the Paranormal Activity sequels).
The “Paranormal Activity” series has reminded us how much can be done with “live” effects — sleight of hand rather than CGI — and “V/H/S” takes it even further in a variety of clever ways (although it uses some computers, too).
The "Paranormal Activity" series has reminded us how much can be done with "live" effects -- sleight of hand rather than CGI -- and "V/H/S" takes it even further in a variety of clever ways (and uses some computers, too).
The so-called Found Footage film has now become its own genre following the smash successes enjoyed by “The Blair Witch Project” (1999) and “Paranormal Activity” (2007).
After six shorts full of shaky cam and thin plot lines (enough to power all of the even-thinner Paranormal Activity series), you might be ready to let them put it to rest.
Eight years later, Paranormal Activity proved it could be a billion-dollar gold mine.
At a juncture where Hollywood has already parodied horror to death (“Scream,’’ “Scary Movie’’) and taken its conventions to their most bloody (“Saw’’) or lo-fi (“Paranormal Activity’’) extremes, what space is left for the indie sensibility to make its mark on the genre?
Happy Death Day 2U (2019)
Directed by Christopher Landon
influenced by Paranormal Activity (2007)
Plot
Landon, who was a writer on Paranormal Activity , remains gifted at using rhythm and repetition to get laughs, and establishes a sense of visual and stylistic continuity with the original.
Jason Blum's Blumhouse Productions may have produced a trio of Oscar-nominated movies-- BlaKkKlansman, Whiplash and Get Out - but the meat in the company's grinder are such low-budget horror film franchises as Insidious , The Purge and Paranormal Activity , that, occasionally, are more clever than they need to be.
Blumhouse Productions is responsible for putting out big horror hits on micro budgets ranging from "Get Out" and "Split" to "Paranormal Activity."
Writer-director Christopher Landon, woh directed the first “Happy Death Day” and a few of the “Paranormal Activity” sequels, references early on the inspiration for this sequel: “Back to the Future Part II.” It’s a fair comparison, because Landon takes the structure of the first “Happy Death Day” and tweaks it in some creative ways to bring a fresh perspective — and a new mystery — to the familiar scenario of the first movie.
Landon, who’s no stranger to the genre or Blumhouse having written quite a few “Paranormal Activity” films and directed “The Marked Ones,” has also taken over writing duties here from Scott Lobdell.
But, boy, are they ever in the sequel “Happy Death Day 2U,” written and directed by Christopher Landon, who directed the original film and penned several films from the “Paranormal Activity” franchise.
Sure, he borrows heavily from the last great modern haunted house film – Tobe Hooper’s Poltergeist (1983).
Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015)
Directed by Christopher Landon
influenced by Paranormal Activity (2007)
The movie marks the directorial debut of Christopher Landon, who was involved in writing three of the Paranormal Activity movies and the series’ offshoot, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (2014).
Director Christopher Landon’s background is in the horror and suspense genre (he wrote Blood and Chocolate, Disturbia and four of the Paranormal Activity franchise flicks), but this is his first attempt at comedy… and hopefully his last.
Christopher Landon , who penned the Paranormal Activity sequels and directed The Marked Ones, approaches Scouts Guide as equal parts Superbad and outbreak tale, and neither side ends up particularly appealing.
He wrote the scripts for Blood and Chocolate, Disturbia, and five Paranormal Activity movies; he also directed 2014’s Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones.
Taking a break after writing four back-to-back “Paranormal Activity” sequels (and directing one of them, 2014’s “The Marked Ones”), helmer Christopher Landon serves up a more straightforward slab of horror-comedy hackwork with this frenzied tale of three beige-uniformed buddies trying to fend off a small-town zombie outbreak.
Landon is known for penning the 2007 thriller Disturbia as well as co-writing a number of Paranormal Activity films, but with Scouts Guide – think Project X meets Zombieland meets Attack the Block – the director makes an impression with a fast-paced and fresh approach that keeps up with his young, breakout cast.
Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932)
Directed by Robert Florey
influenced Paranormal Activity (2007)
Plot
It seems more likely that this is merely recycling the kind of growing obsession of the hero we’ve seen for years in movies like Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932) and Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943).
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)
Directed by Roy William Neill
influenced Paranormal Activity (2007)
Plot
It seems more likely that this is merely recycling the kind of growing obsession of the hero we’ve seen for years in movies like Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932) and Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943).
William Castle — the horror producer who wired movie seats to produce electrical jolts during screenings of “The Tingler” in 1959 — would be proud.