Chapter 425: Chapter 425: Another Found Footage Film
With Halloween approaching, Hollywood saw a surge in horror and thriller films being released. Matrix Pictures, under Capet, had their headlining horror series, Saw, becoming an essential part of Halloween.
From the first installment released on Halloween 2003 to the sixth one now, the Saw series became the first signature series under Capet.
However, Matrix Pictures didn't stop there. They also released Hostel, Cloverfield, The Mist, and were currently filming Piranha 3D.
Found footage horror films were easy to fail at, but if they hit an original concept, it could yield huge profits.
Luckily, they had Charles as their secret weapon.
In a screening room at Capet Pictures, a rough and simple found footage horror film was playing on the screen - a homemade-style horror movie shot with a handheld camera featuring some ordinary newcomers.
The storyline was simple: a young couple named Katie and Micah moved into a new home in San Diego, but strange noises kept occurring in the house.
Katie told Micah that she had experienced paranormal events since childhood, so Micah set up cameras in their bedroom to find out if something supernatural was happening.
Katie also spoke with a psychic named Friedrich about her troubles. He told Katie that she was being haunted by a demon that feeds on negative energy and advised against disturbing the demon without a professional exorcist, to prevent a bad outcome.
Despite Friedrich's warning, Micah insisted on using the camera to find traces of the demon. At night, the camera captured various eerie events:
At first, the bedroom door moved on its own, lights flickered, and there were subtle unidentifiable noises. After a few days, these escalated to loud door slams and demonic screams.
One night, the camera recorded Katie standing by the bed, staring at Micah for two hours before she left the house in the middle of the night. The next day, Katie had no memory of her weird behavior.
Micah brought back a Ouija board to conduct a seance. The camera recorded the planchette moving on its own, followed by the board spontaneously catching fire.
Terrified, Katie begged Micah to stop trying to handle the situation on his own and contact the psychic, but Micah refused. Instead, he wanted to capture more paranormal events for a film.
Footprints, not human, appeared in the hallway, leading to a burnt photo of Katie.
Katie, scared by the increasing paranormal activity, tried to contact Friedrich, but he was abroad and couldn't come in person. He feared that any reckless actions might escalate the demon's wrath and didn't have a good solution.
One night, a mysterious force dragged Katie out of bed into the hallway. Micah found bite marks on her back, which scared him too. He decided they should move out immediately, but Katie insisted on staying.
That night, the camera captured Katie waking up again, staring at Micah for two hours, and then heading downstairs.
A scream from Katie downstairs woke Micah. He rushed to check, but then there was a painful scream from Micah off-camera.
After a period of silence, Micah was violently thrown towards the camera, which then picked up Katie's bloodstained shirt. Katie climbed over Micah, turned to the camera with a sinister expression, and let out a demonic roar...
In the end, the police found Micah's body, but Katie went missing...
"This film, if you can call it that," after the screening ended, Charles heard several cold sighs from the room and smiled as he introduced it.
"The director of this work, Oren Peli, is actually a video game designer with no formal film training. He made this with less than $20,000.
At last year's Screamfest, he was discovered by a CAA agent who recommended him to producer Jason Blum, who had ties with Miramax. Even after re-editing with Jason, Miramax did not pick it up for distribution. They wanted to showcase it at Sundance, but that also failed.
Jason Blum then sent copies to various film companies. I discovered it, and Matrix Pictures bought the rights for $350,000!"
Nick Marion, head of Matrix Pictures, continued speaking: "Initially, we planned to reshoot the film and release it on DVD, but Mr. Capet suggested a test screening first, and audiences were terrified. So, there's no need for a reshoot. We just need to add some scenes and re-edit. We can release it in theaters!"
Charles nodded, "Work closely with Jason Blum on the promotional campaign. The name's already settled, we'll call it Paranormal Activity."
Oren Peli's direction in Paranormal Activity had a gritty handheld camera style, leading to a rough visual experience and poor editing.
However, as a found footage film, Paranormal Activity made a virtue of necessity by making the camera's presence explicit, mimicking a documentary style to create a sense of fabricated realism.
Oren Peli's novel approach, combining relatable horror elements with a semi-open suspenseful ending, made the film's tension excellently crafted.
"We'll try to release Paranormal Activity next year," Nick Marion added.
Charles stood up and smiled, "This Paranormal Activity could replicate the success miracle of The Blair Witch Project! The marketing needs to be creative. This is entirely different from Cloverfield's found footage style."
Cloverfield was a found footage film in terms of technique; Paranormal Activity, at its core, was pure found footage.
He was confident that Matrix Pictures will manage Paranormal Activity just fine.
Back at his office, Phyllis Jones reported an invitation, "Sumner Redstone's birthday banquet!"
Sumner Redstone's birthday party, he's turning 85 this year?" Charles opened the invitation and saw it was scheduled for Friday evening at Redstone's grand estate in Beverly Hills.
"Alright, I'll attend," Charles said, eager to meet Sumner Redstone.
*****
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