By: Austin Takahashi
In the soon-to-be “Marijuana Land” called the United States (if they don’t do anything about it), lies a horror movie that has been the biggest shockbuster of the past decade: Paranormal Activity. Because of its independent status, Paranormal Activity could not get a nationwide release in the USA and was only granted very limited release in under ten states.
It was only screened in selected theaters in the selected states on midnights. After a week and less than a million dollars earned, word began to spread. People experienced the horror, and they told their friends about the movie, and their friends told their friends about the film.
So when the word got to me via the internet, I immediately researched more details about it. Movie site after movie site, I saw reviews about the film calling it, “The scariest movie of the decade” and stating that, “Nightmares are guaranteed.” Being a person who prefers the feeling of fear from a movie than the taste of a steamy McBurger, I had to watch the trailer.
One deep breath and two loud farts later, I saw the trailer on Youtube and felt the hype myself. Three days pass, then I discovered that the “Demand It” campaign, started by U.S. citizens who couldn’t watch the movie, was a hit! Over a million Americans demanded Paranormal Activity to be shown on their state. Due to the campaign’s success, Paranormal Activity was released nationwide in the United States of America on October 16, 2009!
Paranormal Activity is officially the first movie ever to get a nationwide release solely because the average movie fans wanted to! So far, Paranormal Activity has grossed over 9 million dollars even before its nationwide release. I’ve heard testimonies of people who drove across two states just to watch the movie. Imagine how much more money Paranormal Activity will bank when it gets its wide release. And did I happen to mention that the film’s total budget is only $11,000?!
I took the liberty of visiting the site of the campaign myself, and to my surprise, the campaign is a worldwide campaign! Even the Philippines can demand it! So fellow Filipino, fellow movie lover, and fellow human being, are you going to waste your precious time staring at garbage like Villa Estrella and Shake Rattle and Roll 23: The Kalamares Kreature?
Or are you going to www.paranormalmovie.com, demand it in your country, and feel good about yourself knowing that you did something cinematically good for our race?
The chances of Paranormal Activity finding a release date here is very thin, I’ll admit that. But trying won’t hurt, right? Besides, piracy is always just a jeepney away.
