The crowd sat down. Adjusted their lap bars. The staff gave out the warnings. The passengers threw up their arms and cheered as the train left the station.
The roller coaster ride known as "Paranormal Activity" screened in 16 cities last night, with the Music Box Theater scoring Chicago's only midnight showing. An estimated crowd of 1,500 snaked around the block, those who RSVP'd in advance were allowed in.
Haven't heard of "Paranormal Activity" yet? It's a "Blair Witch"-style, found footage horror fest, about a young couple dealing with a possible demon in their home. The spirit seems to be following Katie (Katie Featherston, the next Heather Donahue) since she was eight years old, keeping her awake at night with its whispering in her ears.
Her boyfriend Micah (Micah Sloat) will have none of this. He's your stereotypical dude-bro who wants to get this demon on film. He buys a video camera, and the two begin documenting their lives in your typical haunted suburban home. The film is the supposed "found footage" that police were kind enough to share with Paramount Pictures. Of course none of this is real, but it was crafted well enough to suck last night's crowd in, scaring the you-know-what out of them despite the ridiculous amount of hype.
Chicagoans witness "Paranormal Activity," one of the 'scariest movies of all time'
Afterwards, hundreds of viewers stuck around outside the theater,
some physically shaking. One young woman broke out in tears when I asked her how she was feeling. The crowd was mixed into two camps - hardcore horror fans debating
the success of director Oren Peli and his $15,000 budget film, and
people looking to each other for therapy, reminding each other that none of this stuff happens in real life. Or does it?
I shot some video of their reactions, I'll have it posted soon. One gentleman told me that "Paranormal Activity" is a film that demands to be seen in a
theater among 1,500 strangers. After last night's packed free screenings
across the country, Paramount will no doubt be bringing this one to a
theater near you. They're asking fans to "demand" it play in their
town, no matter how small. You can do so here. In the meantime, watch the trailer...
12 Comments
tatonca said:
The word you are looking for is "ratchet" as in a tool that tightens... "I can say that it's a film that *ratchets* up the tension throughout"
Taft said:
If you are going to be the grammar police, you should really know what you are talking about...or at the very least, look it up:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ratchet%5B2%5D
Ratchet is also a verb, so adding an 's' to form a third person singular is quite proper, as in: tatonca really ratchets up the didacticism of the threads he/she participates in.
tatonca said:
Yeah, ummm, thanks for joining the party late - the author fixed the misspelling (likely a phoneticism of how they are used to pronouncing it)before you signed on. I don't even remember how it was spelled originally. Typically I define words based on their root not on their 'third person singular', and then provide examples from there, but whatever dude. Maybe you's do things different-like down in that thar US of A. In Canada, we're just, you know, helpful? Anyway, you have yourself a great day!
Marcus Leshock said:
Yes! Thank you! My fingers and mind must still be trembling. Good catch, fixed.
Jimmy Greenfield said:
Can't wait to see this.
Jason Chin said:
I was there last night too!
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/improvised-blog/2009/09/paranormal-improv-1.html
I had the complete opposite reaction from most of the crowd. I HATED it! I thought it was boring, trite and annoying. I was so bewildered by the applause that I kept asking total strangers if they liked it... I was just so surprised. Ugh. And, I loved Blair Witch Project.
Logan McCombs said:
I have got to see this! That freaking video freaked me out!
bakernet7 said:
"And as I right this, I'm getting chills all over again." Right this??? Are you really a WRITER???
Marcus Leshock said:
Wow. Sure looks like I'm not. That's a horrible mistake and I have corrected. Clearly I was having a bad day and this will NOT happen again. I'm embarrassed, thanks for taking the time to respond.
sugarkane said:
'...as I right this'? WTF? Did you go to journalism school? Does proper grammar mean anything to reporters today? GO BACK TO SCHOOL!
Marcus Leshock said:
Please see above. Thanks.
ashred13 said:
Ok, all of you people who rant about how the writer needs to go back to school need to shut up. Although, people in online publishing hope and aspire to being able to put out the same quality of writing/product that their printed counterparts attain, it is simply not possible most of the time. All of you haters out there need to realize that writing for the Internet is an entirely different animal in some aspects. The turn-around time for an Internet story is significantly shorter. Also, Internet posts don't get scrutinized as much as books, magazines, or newspapers. Often the writer is writer, copy editor, substantive editor, and proofreader all in one. Often times, writers are not editors. They get the prose out and then the editors make it clean.
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