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I really don’t understand it…there must have been some paranormal activity going on at the box office, because Paranormal Activity was the top weekend movie this weekend.  Overall, this was actually a terrible weekend for any movie to open….laughable actually.

Paranormal Activity is the Top Weekend Movie

There were so many things that I thought could have happened at this weekends movies, but I seriously never thought that this was even an option.  Somehow, Paranormal Activity took the number one spot at the box office this weekend.  Here is how everything played out:

1:  Paranormal Activity:  Grossed an estimated $22 million.   More than last weekend.  And this movie opened over 4 weeks ago.  I saw it and thought it was a terrible movie.  I really just don’t get it.

2:  Saw VI:  Grossed $14.8 million.  Comparing that to every other Saw movie opening (none of which EVER grossed less than $30 million on an opening weekend) I have to say that is pretty awful.  Obviously, Paranormal Activity was leeching would-be Saw movie goers.  They really should have re-thought that decision, as this years Saw movie is actually being better received than last years Saw V.

3:  Where the Wild Things Are:  Held its own and took the number 3 spot.

4:  Law Abiding Citizen:  Again, holding its own and not dropping very far from its opening weekend spot.

5:  Couples Retreat:  I don’t understand it…I really don’t.  There were just so many great options, and somehow this movie is still appearing in the top 5 movies of the weekend.

That means NONE of the other opening movies of this weekend managed to make it into the top 5!!

The only film that opened this weekend that made it into the top 5 was Saw 6!  There were FOUR  new movies that opened this weekend and only ONE made it!

Astro Boy only managed to bring in almost $7 million.  I never expected this movie to be a blockbuster or anything, but to not make it into the top 5 surprises me a bit.  I guess families were simply choosing Where the Wild Things Are as their family friendly flick of the weekend.

The Vampire’s Assistant brought in an absolutely awful $6 million (just over that actually).  This I guess isn’t too much of a surprise.  It really just didn’t have much appeal, other than those who might have wanted to see a movie that looks like a spoof on the Twilight movie series.

Amelia, the last new opening movie this weekend, brought in…are you ready for this?  A staggering (staggeringly low that is) $4 million.  There isn’t anything to even say…that just sucks.

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My guess is, this weekends movies just had too many competing movies vying for its own viewers.  You had a couple head-to-head match ups where one just didn’t stand a chance over the other.

You had the Astro Boy vs. Where the Wild Things Are

There was Paranormal Activity vs. Saw 6

Then there were the movies that didn’t really fall into a genre at all, and maybe were just hoping to bring in viewers based on star power or buzz.  The thing is, that only works when you don’t already have so many decent movies at the box office to compete with.

All in all, this wasn’t a very good weekend to choose your movie to open on.

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My Paranormal Activity Movie Review

Paranormal Activity... Not So Much

Alright, so I just went and saw Paranormal Activity last night.  Before I go any further and tell you what I thought, I just want to make something clear first.

I think Hollywood has taken horror movies in the wrong direction in terms of how they go about scaring you nowadays.  Scary movies now (for the most part…there are of course some exceptions to what I’m about to say) are all about gore, things “popping up and out” of nowhere and “twists”.

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The gore (you know, some guys abdomen exploding or something) is really more gross than anything.  Somehow, Hollywood is mistaking an audiences wincing at arterial blood spray because it is just plain gross, as wincing because it is scary…it isn’t scary, we just don’t want to puke.

The “things popping up and out” Again, you know this tactic…  Girl takes shower, girl gets out of shower, girl looks in mirror (nothing there), girl opens medicine cabinet mirror, girl closes medicine cabinet mirror…SCARY MONSTER IN MIRROR (insert loud obnoxious sound here).  Now, during a horror movie, everybody enjoys a good “jump out of their seat moment”.  The thing is, when that tactic is used as the sole source of “scariness” it just doesn’t make the movie scary, it just makes you spill your soda.

Lastly, the “twists”, not really a scare tactic so much I guess, but it could be depending on how it is used.

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Why did I bother writing all that?  Because I thought that Paranormal Activity was going to take me back to the good ole’days of scary movies…where you actually feel scared…where you actually feel uncomfortable…where you’re afraid to go home and turn the lights off…

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So, did Paranormal Activity accomplish making me feel scared, uncomfortable and paranoid?  No…not even close…  What it DID accomplish was making me feel as though I would at some point in the future feel scared, uncomfortable and paranoid…but that point never came.  It always seems as though that moment is just around the corner, you know, the moment where you are ACTUALLY scared.  Since it never happens, throughout the whole movie, you find that the only reason you’re even still watching it is because you’re afraid that if you leave you’ll miss the moment that makes the movie good.  Otherwise, you’d either fall asleep or just leave.

Now, there were some “creepy” moments, but they were the kind of creepy moments that should have been built upon and used to truly scare you.  The thing is, the whole movie ended up being comprised of “creepy” moments that weren’t take full advantage of…in fact, they weren’t taken advantage of at all.  There was no leveraging of those creepy moments into full blown terror.  They just fell flat.

The movie was 1/4 “creepy” moments, 1/4 “am I about to actually be scared?” moments (and you aren’t) and 1/2 dialogue (slow boring dialogue…not even dialogue that drives those creepy moments into your psyche for you to develop into “your own terror” so to speak)

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For me, this movie was a repeat of The Blair Witch project (which I didn’t like and was not scared by).  When I went to see The Blair Witch, it was with the sincere feeling that I would be scared while in the theater and upon leaving…however, upon leaving the only feeling I had was on how I could get back my wasted money.

I was left with the same feeling after seeing Paranormal Activity.  The thing is, when you go and see a movie that isn’t really hyped up and it turns out to be a terrible movie, you don’t feel like you’ve had something stolen from you.  You just chalk it up as another crappy movie.

However, when I go and see a movie like Paranormal Activity where the marketing makes it look as though I’m in for the best scary movie I’ve EVER seen and I’m left with NOTHING (and with this movie, you really are left with nothing), I feel like somebody has punched me square in the face and took my money from me.

And yes, I feel like somebody has punched me in the face and stolen my money…this movie is NOT worth paying to see…wait until it comes out on television and you have the option to change the channel…which you will.

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Lying in bed...afraid.

I’m not sure if Paranormal Activity will be able to take the number one spot out of all this weekends movies.  For it to be the top weekend movie, it has a lot it has to beat out…including a ton of “star power”.

You’ve got Gerard Butler in “Law Abiding Citizen”, Penn Badgley in “The Stepfather” and you’ve got that very impressive looking “Where the Wild Things Are”.

So, it looks like a battle… Movie Buzz vs. Movie Brawn

Does the buzz of Paranormal Activity have the power to beat out all the brawn brought to this weekends movies by the aforementioned topics and characters?

Even if it doesn’t, the movie is definitely a story of “David and Goliath”.  The movie which has been shot on an ultra low budget (no specifics really, but numbers ranging from $11,000 to almost $20,000 have been thrown around), managed to rake in 7.1 million last weekend.

You can do the math on what kind of a truly massive profit that is…good for them.

This is definitely a movie I’ll be going to see, that much is for sure.