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Plot Details Emerge On AREA 51, Oren Peli's Follow-Up To PARANORMAL ACTIVITY!
Beaks here...
It was inevitable that Oren Peli's AREA 51 would get spoiled before its (presumed) 2010 theatrical release, but I was hoping that the film might at least make it to the test-screening phase before the secrets starting spilling out. In doing so, I was also underestimating the scoundrels at Latino Review, who could probably track down a print of THE DAY THE CLOWN CRIED if you doubted them enough. (And, seriously, I doubt each and every one of you. No chance in hell. You're good, but not that good. Please put that in your masthead.)
While I admire the tenacity and resourcefulness of the LR gang, I was also a big enough fan of PARANORMAL ACTIVITY that I'm not going to read their entire review of Peli's forty-three-page outline - which, given the improvisational nature of his filmmaking process, is probably as close to a shooting script as the production is likely to have. So I leave it to you: do you want to know more than the basic premise (i.e. three teenagers discover spooky goings-on at the legendary Air Force base in the Nevada desert)? If so, here's a taste:
The “script” for Area 51 reads much like I imagine the “script” for Paranormal Activity did. It’s basically a scene-by-scene breakdown with a list of various props, actors, and the general interactions between the actors and their surroundings. There is no written dialogue, but within the action descriptions are general ideas that the actors will be using to improvise their lines with on set. Unlike Paranormal Activity’s single location, Area 51 is far more expansive in its setting.
And here's the rest.
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anybody who says they werent scared is being a contrarian douche
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Don't want to get your ass shoehorned in.
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Way over fucking hyped. It was no where near as good as they made it sound.
"People were walking out of the theatres>" Yeah, not because they were scared, but because it was kinda fucking boring. -
No, I'm not being a contrarian douche..It's the over hpp part that completly ruined the movie for me.
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I'll give credit that some parts were good, but I'm starting to really hate the whole hand held camera thing in movies.
Blair witch, Cloverfiled, Diary of the dead and now this. -
Surely they can knock this fucker out in a few weeks?
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Hopefully it will go around the Internet like a meme.
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They may have obtained and read the 43 page outline, but they sure as shit don't give you all the info from it, so you just have to take their word for it.
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please see subject. -mgmt.
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They're good guys.
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1. Have an idea for Film
2. Don't Write a script
3. ?????
4. Profit! -
Was the Ghost of the DVD column, seeing as how it's dead now.
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how original. you know what would be really cool would be technology and information. spooky aliens doesn't really cut it for this viewer. Substance i say. substance.
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the premise could be very creepy visually, save the alien reveal for the very end. It could be like Signs shot on handhelds inside a military base, yeah might work.
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Damn, I want to see that f-ing flick.
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I made this 30 sec spot for less than $200.
http://www.crashthesuperbowl.com/#/video/4955 or http://tiny.cc/a66Pp -
...but it sure smells good!
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I only paid $5 to see a matinee of "Paranormal Activity," and still feel like I got ripped off. Never again. If "found footage" is the gimmick at the heart of any other film, it's getting skipped. That was the lasting effect of "Paranormal Activity" for me. Never, never, never again.
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"Where do you think you Aliens are puttting that thinnnggg...."
*ZOINK*!
"Yowsa"!
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since you would need to see them to believe them. Besides, the coolest alien jump scare was in Signs. I hate that movie, but at least that worked. I liked Paranormal activity even though you can only get one viewing out of it.
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That sounds like a recipe for Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows. It's sad really. A semi-talented amateur filmmaker catches lightning in a bottle- makes a pile of cash for an exploitative studio. Then tries to replicate the success of the first movie, not realizing it was a once in a lifetime piece of luck. They fail miserably with the second movie and find themselves back in anonymity- worse off than a first time filmmaker because no other studio is willing to ever back them again.
Just ask what happened to the Blair Witch filmmakers, or the director of Primer, etc. Cannot get arrested in Hollywood today... -
I mean seriously, what was the big deal? NOTHING HAPPENS for at least 1/2 an hour, then it's just a bunch of thumping, then the girl wandering around in a daze, then the finale which was SOOOO predictable.And apparently the demon was a baby Godzilla with it's ridiculous 3-toed footprint. *GROAN*Are you people just pussies? Is that why you thought it was scary?
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They would not get close due to the fact the AF uses "deadly force" to prevent anyone from getting near who is not authorized, not counting heat sensors, motion detectors, etc.
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Move on.
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let me guess: lots of bickering and snarky comments. sick of them.
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I'm curious, what movie have you seen that you did find scary?
my contest entry:
http://www.crashthesuperbowl.com/#/video/4955 -
Jaws, Halloween, Prince of Darkness, The Thing, The Ring, Texas Chainsaw Massacre (old and remake), etc.Apparently the threshold for being "scary" to some is:*THUMP* "Did you hear that? OMG WHAT WAS THAT!?" (repeat for 1 hour)
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PARANORMAL ACTIVITY sucked bad. BLAIR WITCH was much better because of the way it was filmed. The scene where the two filmakers are in the tent and the third (kidnapped) one is howling out in the distant darkness is freaky. Then when they find his teeth wrapped in a shirt outside the tent? Br-r-r-r-r. BLAIR WITCH really gave the woods a scary feeling. It had a slice of THE WENDIGO in it (the story by Algernon Blackwood, not the movie.)Another movie that manages to scare the piss out of me to this day is THE EXORCIST."Dimmy, why you do this to me?"Holy shit!
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However, Possessed Girl was packing some serious guns. Glorious. The mediocrity of the movie might have been unobjectionable until CGI-assisted "scary face" popped up in all its bullshittery. Knott's Scary Farm-level lame.
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Just throwing it out there, but I think the original 'Poltergeist' was pretty scary - and it was just PG.
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Those who "liked" Paranormal Activity show how shallow and poorly scripted movies win over the masses. This movie will be just as slow and pathetic as PA was no questions asked.
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You'd shit your pants if you were home alone in bed and something slammed your bedroom door or slammed up against your wall repeatedly.
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Fett,
If you are saying you wouldn't be scared if that stuff happened to you, you sir are full of shit. -
In the context of movies the movie was lame, predictable and ungodly slow. He isn't tackling this from a real life standpoint but simply the theatrical point.
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You'd shit your pants if you were in a car wreck. Does that make Ronin absolutely terrifying? *eyeroll*
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I know you Twittering teenie bopper Saw fans have a hard time focusing on something that doesn't cut to different scenes every millisecond or have loads of torture porn.
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I think the genius of Paranormal is way off the radar of some people. Kind of like when art changed to a more modern style, you had people looking and saying... it looks like a kid did that... You either get it or you don't. And if you get it, the older movies which were scary for an older culture just don't cut it anymore... there is a new way of conveying a mood and identifying with it, and Paranormal did it brilliantly. Of course I saw it before mass distrib, but I can tell you the entire packed theatre enjoyed it and was scared to the point of being chilled and gasping. That wouldn't happen if you showed the same theatre Jaws, Hallowen, etc at this point in time.
To be fair, out of FETT's list only Halloween, The Ring, and the original Chainsaw were truly horrifying or scary for me. The new Chainsaw was really bad especially for the second half. What's funny is the only part of Prince of Darkness that scared us in the theatre back then was the part that was like the Paranormal or Blair Witch... the transmission footage.
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Prince of Darkness is creepy through and through. I frankly didn't find the transmission footage scary, maybe a bit creepy. And no I'm not talking about gore or effects. Prince of Darkness had a well thought-out STORY.Maybe if you could explain how spreading powder on the floor was supposed to ward off the demon that would explain to me what I'm not "getting" about Paranormal Activity. This is the problem with not having an actual SCRIPT to film.The fact is that "bumps in the night" scare the holy fuck out of you. Instead of just admitting what a pant-wetting pussy you are, you try to say we're all stupid for not crying for our mommies at bumps too.Sorry, but I prefer an adult story that makes sense. It takes more than a slamming door to make me tear up and beg for mercy.
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Trust me, I don't have a "juvenile" understanding of how film works. Prince of Darkness might have been scary to me in elementary school, but so was the Bigfoot episode of Six Million Dollar Man. If all you saw were bumps in Paranormal, than you are not getting it. It is very well structured, more so the Prince of Darkness which was a fun movie, but really just undisciplined like junk food. I like They Live as well. How can you complain about powder on the floor and not about a mirror being a pathway for the Devil to reach out?
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Ever hear of a little story called "Through the looking glass"? Yeah, probably not. That require some modicum of intelligence. The mirror has LOOOOONG been associated with other dimensions or perspectives, including introspection. carpenter uses the mirror as a symbol to evoke not only this long-standing tradition, but to also imply that Lucifer comes from within us. Of course, you're probably a pre-menstral little girl so you can't grasp concepts like this. Hell, you don't even understand WHY I was criticizing the powder since you make such a nonsence comparison. My point about the powder is that it is a MacGuffin (look it up). The mirror in PoD is not a MacGuffin.The "plot", if we can call it that, in Paranormal Activity trips along like a one-legged retard. Things do not progress normally because there isn't a script, just a series of events the director wants to capture.Put down your drool cup for a moment and I'll try to explain. The first time they hear a thump, they go down to investigate. There, of course, is nothing there. Yet, everytime they hear a thump.....they go investigate. Does that make sense to you?The girl just takes the psychic guy's word that this spirit will follow her wherever she goes. They never go to a motel or to either of their family's homes, etc. They never try any sleep medication that could keep her from sleepwalking. They never go see a Doctor, even when her hand is cut and freely bleeding. I could go on but what's the point? Yopu're probably just spacing out and wondering what's causing your asshole to itch anyway.But even more than this is just how cliche this film is. Anyone who's seen The Amityville Horror has already seen this film anyway, and done FAR better by the way. And of course there is an undeniable Blair Witch connection right down to the near-constant bickering.I saw this movie with my girlfriend and by the end we just couldn't understand the hype because we were both very dissapointed. You could just lop off the first 30 minutes of this movie and nobody would even notice because NOTHING happens. Nothing remotely dangerous happens until the last 5 minutes. That's scary?As far as "psychological horror", I recommend Open Water. A FAR more disturbing and realistic story.
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that came out a few years ago>
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Of The maginarium of Doctor Pernassus: "To gain everlasting life, Parnassus had struck a bargain that would one day mean handing his daughter Valentina (Lily Cole) into the clammy clutches of Satan.
The only way out for the Doctor is if he and his troupe can lure five mortal souls into his imaginarium: an alternate world which can only be entered via a magic mirror."Yeah Satan and mirrors is a stupid idea. *eyeroll* -
is very elementary. Your notions of plot, dialogue, etc and your steadfast conviction in their value by the book illuminates you don't really get why a movie could work or does not work. If you think either Amityville Horror film was a good movie because if script/plot/structure, you've lost all credibility with me. Well you already listed off Prince of Darkness and The new Chainsaw, so I can't take you seriously. I've argued back and forth with people who slam The Exorcist as not being scary either (what's so scary about a little girl throwing up? And it's boring). They just don't get it because their minds are not processing it and putting together the situation. It's like Stephen King complainig that The Shining was not a good film and not scary because Kubrick did not understand the horror film genre. In reality, King was being so conservative on his scope of putting two and two together that he was deaf dumb and blind to the genius interpretation put out by Kubrick. I think you are the same way. I don't think you understand this movie, and you are getting very emotional about your lack of perception.is very elementary. And so is spastic insults like "pre-menstral little girl" that I'm a "Your notions of plot, dialogue, etc and your steadfast conviction in their value illuminates you don't really get why a moive could work or not work. If you think either Amityville Horror was a good movie, you've lost all credibility with me. Well you already listed off Prince of Darkness and The new Chainsaw, so I can't take you seriously. I've argued back and forth with people who don't think the Exorcist is scary either (what's so scary about a little girl throwing up?) I don't think you understand the movie, and you are getting very emotional about not understanding why people would value it.
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digital error above with the cut and paste.. I'll redo below.
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is very elementary. Your notions of plot, dialogue, etc and your steadfast conviction in their value by-the-book illuminates you don't really get why a movie could work or does not work. If you think either Amityville Horror film was a good movie because of script/plot/structure, you've lost all credibility with me. Well, you already listed off Prince of Darkness and The new Chainsaw, so I can't take you seriously. I've argued back and forth with people who slam The Exorcist as not being scary either (what's so scary about a little girl throwing up? And it's boring). They just don't get it because their minds are not processing it and putting together the situation. It's like Stephen King complaining that The Shining was not a good film and not scary because Kubrick did not understand the horror film genre. In reality, King was being so conservative on his scope of putting two and two together that he was deaf dumb and blind to the genius interpretation put out by Kubrick. I think you are the same way. I don't think you understand this movie, and you are getting very emotional about your lack of perception.
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Jesus CHRIST! People "value" this movie because they are bed-wetting little panzies. I have been a professionally published writer. What makes you think you understand narrative more than I do? Shit you can't even make a post without pasting over half of it.
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I am very much a fan of many of the movies you like, but I witnessed an entire theatre be more and more terrified at my viewing of Paranormal. And if you try to dismiss that than you are calling the world flat.
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Nov 11, 2009 3:25:00 PM CST
Wal-Mart is the biggest shopping chain in the world...
by revenge_of_fett
Does that mean I can't criticize it?I think a theater full of quivering panzies can ratchet up the tension in a movie. That doesn't mean it's actually very scary.
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I meant in the arena of movies. Just compare his cinematic version of The Shining (1997?) to Kubrick's. Trust me, I think King is the Spielberg of fiction novels. A true great. But dogging The Shining by Kubrick is foolish.
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Because Kubrick fundamentally changed the focus of his book for the movie. King was telling a haunted house tale, Kubrick told a descent into madness story.
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that is reinterpreted or changed makes artists react irrationally and emotionally. Then years down the road they admit that the new idea might have been good. King did.
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It's ridiculous to think there are aliens at an air force base. But even more crazy is that their buddies with the military helping us make vehicles just to be nice. I'd be more intrigued if there was just something alien being kept at the base. Not people playing poker with greys.
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I would like to personally thank all the men and women serving in our Armed Force, past and present, for their service to our country. It is VERY MUCH APPRECIATED!
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Nov 11, 2009 7:14:13 PM CST
Vererans Day, honoring all vets that lost their tongues
by mattmanbegins
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Nov 11, 2009 8:09:59 PM CST
the only to end the found footage movie scene is to make
by u_banned_me_down_the_stairs
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Nov 11, 2009 8:10:22 PM CST
a movie about a group of wannabe making a found
by u_banned_me_down_the_stairs
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and shit goes wrong and horror gets real.
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the premise would have to be something new something undone in the found footage film fakes out now. You cant do the ghost thing, or the alien thing, or the dead, or the exorcistic shit, or vampires, because they suck, or a serial killer because the legend of leslie vernon. Something undone, but the best part is it never gets any real time because something real, or someone fucked up starts the real show. Maybe a snuff film plot.
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Nov 11, 2009 8:17:23 PM CST
it could be like the film that is being made
by u_banned_me_down_the_stairs
while it's being filmed by someone else, but it's all lowbo. it's just a group of kids making their own tcm like movie on a no nothing budget, and the film about the film is the real film, it's the camera that stays on when shit goes bad. Take it and rape it. You know it the next logical step.
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Google it and receive enlightenment.
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Two words: Nightmare Hall. Also, not as played out at Area 51, which is pretty much a cliche at this point. The Mesa in Dulce, NM is still largely the stuff of legend, is for the most part accessible, and is fertile ground for this sort of thing. Using Area 51 totally fucks this thing from the get go. But then... I've said too much already...
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it will be a little green man, soon to be followed by, Oren Peli's version of Dracula, with vampire's doing the opening and closing doors, etc, etc.
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you never returned my call about the time travel project - what's up with that?
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stunt where you could enter your name on the PA site and get your name in the end credits? Hell, I did it, and I never even saw the movie.
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The last 10 minutes was all you really needed to see. And as I understand it, that wasn't event the original ending. So the only good part of that flick was tacked on at the last minute. I'll say it again, thank God I don't have to pay for these.
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