Katie Featherston Paranormal Activity 4 Interview

I caught up with actress Katie Featherstone at a gala screening of Paranormal Activity 4 to find out how it feels to be returning for another round of found footage thrills, what the chances are of yet another Paranormal Activity film and what she would like to do after the franchise finishes.

What’s your favourite scary movie?

KF: The one that scared me the most growing up was Candyman starring Tony Todd.  That’s the one I watched multiple times in junior high with my best friend and tortured her.  She was a good friend so she always watched it with me.

Paranormal Activity is such a big part of the found footage horror phenomenon.  What do you think is the appeal of these films and can the trend last forever?

KF: I don’t know if it will go on forever.  Everything goes in phases so it will go on for a while I’m sure.  The great thing about it is that it is a really intimate way to tell a story.  It’s really kind of voyeuristic which I think for a scary movie if it’s done well can make it even more frightening and it gives it even more of a sort of right-in-the-room with you kind of feel.  So we’ll see how long it continues as long as fans stay excited!

When you made the first film, did you have any idea you would be here for a fourth film?

No we made the first film and we never knew if it would be seen in theatres.  We didn’t know if it would make it to a festival.  We didn’t know anything.  We just focussed on doing good work and so for that movie to be a success and for us to be here celebrating a fourth film is really incredible and it’s all down to our amazing fans.  They really stuck by us from the beginning and all the way through which is why an event like this is really fun.

What do you do differently to keep things fresh and keep the shocks and scares coming in this fourth film in the series?

I think you have to maintain the integrity of where the franchise started and keep with those same kinds of scares.  You just amp it up a little bit and tell the story in a way that continues to be interesting by utilising new kinds of technology but still remaining true to the style.  So it’s the same kind of movie but it’s just the world’s a little bigger and scarier. 

Has your belief in the supernatural increased after doing these films?

I think that there are definitely spirits or ghosts.  There certainly unexplainable things in this world that kind of make the hair on the back of your neck stand up.   But I had that belief before these movies.  It’s the same as it was.

There are often stories about spooky things happening for real on horror film sets.  Were there any experiences like that on these films?

We are the most boring.  We have so much fun making these.  It’s like a giant family… coming together and making this fun, scary movie.  It’s scary to watch but it’s just joyous to make.  So nothing too freaky or scary.  Maybe if you ask the other kids, because their imaginations run wild.  They had some times when they scared themselves!

And how do you find it working with kids rather than adults?

It’s amazing!  They have such interesting and explosive imaginations.  It’s such a great thing to be around especially when you’re doing something so improvisational and so rooted in the moment.  They’re great at really scaring themselves which makes it more fun.

And what would you like to do once the franchise ends?

Next on my bucket list is comedy.  I’d love to do a single camera comedy or do an indie comedy movie.  I’ve got a couple of things in the works that I’m excited about that I’ll be talking about once it’s confirmed but comedy is next on my list.

So is there scope for the Paranormal Activity series to continue after this one?

KF: There are certainly many, many ways that the story could go and I know that they’ve talked about what those ways are.  But I have no idea if they’ll make another one.  I always try to think of the one I’m doing as the last. Because who knows?  You never know if there will be another one.  I certainly don’t.  But if they made another one, I hope they ask me to be in it!

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Top 10 Found Footage Horror Films

Found footage horror is a much-maligned sub-genre but with more and more of these films appearing in cinemas every year, there seems to be no sign of the technique running out of tape anytime soon.  Recent efforts have taken the horror out of found footage with the superhero themed Chronicle and partying teens of Project X but horror is still very much at the heart of the genre (just ask anyone who sat through Project X).  There may be more straight-to-DVD offerings than you could point a shaky camera at but the films that use the found footage aesthetic well, and in interesting and often new and exciting ways can be hugely profitable and offer audiences a unique and immersive thrill like few other horror films. Time to dust off those lost tapes and take a look at the best found footage horror films of all time.

10. TrollHunter (2010)

You’ll believe it when you see it ran the tagline for this Norwegian found footage oddity. Not quite, but the sight of giant trolls tearing through the countryside is made slightly more believable by the clever mythology and handheld camerawork of the documentary crew that decides to follow the titular troll hunter. On a low budget, director André Øvredal has his characters capture the fantastical sight of these awe-inspiring but ugly creatures as they attempt to make a documentary about Otto Jespersen’s grouchy Hans. Many argued the mock-doc format was getting old and stale by this point but the blend of impressive visual effects to create the trolls and the well-judged moments of comedy made up for the lack of genuine horror and left many with the feeling that there was life in the found footage film yet.

9. Diary of the Dead (2007)

George A. Romero’s second return to the original ‘Dead’ trilogy after Land of the Dead follows film students as they capture the beginnings of the zombie apocalypse. Using a range of found footage from news reports to webcams and videos uploaded to MySpace (remember that?), Diary of the Dead is a typical Romero film with plenty of blood, guts and subtext. With so many characters with cameras, it gives all new meaning to the idea of shooting the dead. There are also some great little additions to the found footage format with a scene where a character is filming while charging his camera at a plug socket and is therefore limited in his movements as zombies close in on him.  Romero seems to bemoan the rise of bloggers and vloggers taking over the airwaves as the mainstream media crumbles during the apocalypse. The jumbled transmissions of thousands of people with access to sharing their thoughts over the internet are more of a concern than the traditional shuffling zombies.

8. REC 2 (2009)

The only sequel on this list is a deserved entry into the found footage sub-genre with cops with helmet cameras attempting to survive in an apartment block full of repossessed zombies.  Following from its predecessor, the squad enters the quarantined Barcelonan apartment block to find more rabid, rapid zombies sprinting manically around the claustrophobic confines and we get front row seats, positioned as we are on the helmets of our heroes. It’s a mad rollercoaster ride of a film and just when the action seems like it might get a bit repetitive, we switch to seeing from the point-of-view of the camera of a group of kids who have made the fatal mistake of also entering the possessed residence.  Taking the story further than the first film and adding to the mythology can’t hide the fact that there is nothing that can compare to the terrifying final scene of the first film. But if you want the cinematic equivalent of a first-person shooter game like Doom, look no further!

7. Man Bites Dog (1992)

Ever wanted to get under the skin of a sociopath killer; find out what makes him tick, what he does in his down time between random slayings and the odd bit of rape? Well meet Ben, part time thief, full time psycho. A film crew follows him around as he robs, kills and rambles on and on about art, music and society. It soon becomes apparent that this film crew is becoming more than just documentary makers as they become embroiled deeper and more explicitly in Ben’s crimes. The line between watching and participating becomes increasingly blurred, implicating you in the audience as you keep watching this most realistic of Belgian mock-docs. Don’t be fooled by Ben’s apparently amiable nature, this is one sick puppy that bites as much as he barks.

6. Paranormal Activity (2007)

Arguably more influential than the number one film on this list, a couple of suburbanites Katie and Micah fall foul of a poltergeist/demon as creepy occurrences are caught on tape by Micah’s trusty camcorder. Bedroom antics are filmed for scares, not pleasure, as the nights get tenser with an unwanted entity attacking the pair in their bed. Filmed on a tiny budget and distributed by DreamWorks, this reminded young and poor filmmakers what could be achieved by the found footage horror genre when it’s done right. It started the biggest found footage franchise, out-grossing (but not grossing out) the Saw sequels and only just seems to have wrapped up with the (supposedly) final film in 2015.

5. Cannibal Holocaust (1980)

Banned until recently, this is easily one of the sickest, most despicable films you will ever see. So realistic the director was nearly tried for murder, Ruggero Deodato eventually had to bring his cast out of hiding to face the media so that the authorities would really believe he hadn’t killed them. How could a film be this realistic? Well, this is where found footage really began. After a team of morally challenged documentary makers disappear in the Amazon, their footage is later recovered. What the rolls of film reveal is that the local tribes didn’t take too kindly to having their homes destroyed by the documentary makers who were craving a bit of sensationalism. The inclusion of real scenes of animal cruelty makes this extremely hard to watch and deeply disturbing but if that doesn’t upset you enough, try the grueling and realistic depictions of abortion, rape and castration. That should do it.

4. Cloverfield (2008)

When a giant rampaging beast (think Godzilla but scarier) hits the streets of New York, ruining the leaving party of young professional Rob, his best friend Hud decides to document the night on camcorder. Taking the imagery of 9/11 - crumbling buildings, severed landmarks, dusty streets and a city in panic – and keeping the amateur aesthetic of so many 9/11 YouTube videos is exploitative but incredibly exciting. Director Matt Reeves (Let Me In) and writer Drew Goddard (The Cabin in the Woods) care little for the flimsy characters but Hud’s cinematography mixed with the destructive power of a truly awesome monster keeps you on the edge of your seat until the explosive climax.

3. REC (2007)

A TV presenter and her camera operator get more thrills than they bargained for when they follow a crew of firefighters into a zombie infested Barcelonan apartment block.  Quickly quarantined by the authorities, the fire crew and the presenter must work with the residents in order to stay alive while the camera operator keeps filming. These aren’t the shuffling zombies of Romero’s films; these are the speedy, terrifying zombies of modern horror. Think 28 Days Later but all shot by one of the characters in the story and all trapped in one claustrophobic location. The final scene filmed in total darkness with only the night vision camera allowing the characters to see is one of the tensest and scariest things you will ever witness.

2. Zero Day (2003)

Based on actual tapes created by the Columbine high school killers, two teenage boys create video diaries capturing their preparation for a school shooting massacre. The footage they produce is a scary, fascinating portrait of the banality of evil. These two kids are close friends, a little introverted and insular but pretty normal. But they are planning an unspeakable crime and are documenting their thoughts and actions as they prepare for their big day. It’s a worrying insight into how two seemingly normal teenagers can deceive the world and consider committing a terrifying act without a care for the consequences. Switching from their own camcorder captured footage to the CCTV in their school for the final scene, it’s a bleak, chilling reenactment of a frighteningly real phenomena. 

1. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

In October of 1994 three student filmmakers went down to the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland, while shooting a documentary… the rest is cinematic history. Heather, Mike and Josh get lost, hungry and scared in their quest to get to the bottom of the Blair Witch mythology. Roaming in circles with no way out of the woods, they are surrounded by strange noises in the night as they try to sleep.  Then objects appear outside their tents, the sound of distant children crying wakes them and then one of the students disappears. Though the witch might never be seen, less is definitely more in this most influential of found footage films. The actors really shot the film themselves and with the directors only giving minor instructions and the actors’ genuine hunger, frustration and fear burn through the screen. One of the scariest films ever made. Please consider buying a copy of my book on The Blair Witch Project here.

5 others to find if you’re not feeling sick of shaky-cam action:

Paranormal Entity 2 a.k.a Gacy House (2010) See this if you loved Paranormal Activity.

The Magician (2005) See this if you loved Man Bites Dog.

Exhibit A (2007) See this is you loved Zero Day.

The Last Exorcism (2010) See this if you loved REC 2.

The Last Broadcast (1998) See this if you loved The Blair Witch Project.

Becoming a Found Footage Horror Expert: Media Interview

Have you ever been interviewed for TV or radio? I've done a couple of bits and pieces in the past but never have I been called as an expert to discuss something that I am supposed to know a lot about. As part of my training for my PhD on found footage horror movies, Oxford Brookes University put on a media training workshop.

The idea of the workshop is to prepare academic students for being approached by the media and specifically journalists looking for an expert on a particular subject. We had to consider what exactly about our research might make an interesting story and what specific aspects of our findings would interest journalists.

Usually in these training workshops I sit very silently at the back, hoping that no one will ask me what my research is on. Usually the other PhD students in attendance are doing amazing research that will no doubt help the world in some huge and brilliant way. Then there's me and I have to talk about found footage movies. It gets a bit embarrassing when people are doing such incredible research into things that really really matter and could change lives. I usually come away feeling a bit depressed and useless.

The other thing I find very difficult is talking in an academic way, using all the fancy language and articulating my thoughts in a professional and intelligent way. I'm much better at writing than talking but I'm not a natural academic that's for sure!

But in this session run by Tim and Lily from media players international, we were encouraged to not use overly complex and detailed language and to be able to speak simply and plainly about our research. The idea is that we are communicating with a mass audience who know next to nothing about what we are talking about and we have to simplify and explain and keep to the point of the story.

We got loads of great tips from Tim and Lily and the whole day culminated in a couple of mock interviews. Lily had prepared questions to ask me as if she was a journalist interested in my studies. They were very interesting questions and she's clearly done her research which made the interviews really fun!

I'm not even going to go in to how much I hate the silly facial expressions I pull but overall I think I did ok at talking about my research in a very basic and easy to understand and (hopefully) vaguely interesting way. Please give them a watch and let me know what you think! Please be gentle though!

Results for the Best Found Footage Film

A while back I asked you to vote for your favourite found footage movies. You can see the results in full here. There were exactly 80 votes in total so a massive thanks to everybody who voted!  I know it's an unpopular sub-genre but people mostly seem to like a few of these so I gave all voters the chance of picking their top 3.

Diary of the Dead, The Last Broadcast, The Magician and The Last Horror Movie were the big losers racking up an impressive zero votes each. The Last Horror Movie is quite a good little British horror and I suspect not a lot of people have seen it. The Magician is like an Australian version of Man Bites Dog and I imagine this is again little seen. Diary of the Dead is Romero's attempt at found footage and has some interesting moments but overall is nothing compared to his original 'Dead' trilogy. The Last Broadcast is the film that came out the same year as Blair Witch but ultimately got forgotten by history.

Zero Day (one of my favourites), The Last Exorcism, Project X and Grave Encounters all got one vote. I haven't seen Project X and am curious despite the hostility I heard towards it. Grave Encounters went on a little long and lost its way but had some effective scares and has a great set up. Zero Day is excellent but needs to be seen by a wider audience.

Quarantine, the American remake of Rec, just beat Rec 2 and Man Bites Dog by getting 3 votes to their 2 votes each. Paranormal Activity just beat the daddy of found footage Cannibal Holocaust with 5 votes to 4. Rec towered above all of these with 9 votes.

For the most part, it looked like there might be a tie between Chronicle, Cloverfield, Troll Hunter and Blair Witch. Eventually however Troll Hunter failed to compete and fell behind ending up with 11 votes. Blair Witch and Chronicle pulled ahead with 13 votes but Matt Reeves' New York trashing monster managed to pip all the competition by taking home 14 votes and is therefore the overall winner!

So there you have it. Cloverfield is officially the greatest found footage film ever (as voted for by 80 people). Let's hope they get round to making an equally as thrilling sequel or prequel one day without tarnishing the original. Or maybe they should just leave it alone?

The Relationship between Film Producers and Audiences: Part 1

There is a two way flow of information between producers of films and the audiences that they target.  Producers gain feedback from audiences about their films through audience research.  This is often done through test screenings but increasingly through internet research to see the responses of bloggers and opinion makers to early marketing and news surrounding the films.  On the other hand producers use a huge range of marketing techniques to deliver information about films to their target audience and beyond.

 Audience Research

Test Screenings are the most common form of audience research used by Hollywood and the film industry as a whole.  Often long in advance of the release of a film, a small audience will be invited to a secret preview.  Effects may not be completed, the soundtrack may be temporary and the film will sometimes have barely left the edit suite before it is screened to a few people to gain feedback from the audience.  Questionnaires or focus groups are used after the film and the audience asked to participate.  The audience will be responsible for giving the filmmakers feedback on what does and doesn’t work and the responses could lead to drastic changes in the film or the marketing strategy before it is finally released.  

Silent film star Harold Lloyd and producer Hal Roach are considered to be the pioneers of test screenings.  The pair would take early cuts of films to a theatre to gauge audience response. Directors (and stars) in the early days of the Hollywood studio system were contracted to work on films the studio wanted them to and almost certainly had no say over the final cut of the films. In the case of Should Sailors Marry? (1925), the ‘director/writer Jess Robbins washed his hands of the picture’ (Sinnott, 2005) after test screenings produced negative responses.  Producer Hal Roach got a replacement director in to re-shoot some scenes and the film was salvaged.

However sometimes it can be the director who wants test screenings and invites feedback from audiences.  Billy Wilder screened an early cut of his classic Sunset Boulevard (1950) for an audience and was told by a woman in attendance that "I never saw such a pile of shit in all my life" (Hennigan, 2003).  After attending this test screening, he chopped the opening and closing scenes due to the audience’s responses.

Test screenings can be responsible for a huge range of changes made to a film from a complete re-shooting of the ending all the way down to just a title change.  For example the title of the Bond film Licence to Kill (1989) ‘was initially… Licence Revoked, but this was changed after test screenings revealed that US crowds associated the term with driving’ (Radford, 2008).

Many films have had drastic changes made to them at huge costs.  Little Shop of Horrors (1986) was test screened in front of an audience of families and as a result had a completely new ending created.  Seven (1995), David Fincher’s bleak serial killer masterpiece, ends with (SPOILER!) the hero’s wife’s severed head delivered to the hero in a box.  The film shows the graphic, gory aftermath of several severely sickening slayings and was tested in front of an audience told they would be seeing the new Brad Pitt/Morgan Freeman movie.  ‘At the time Freeman was best known for being in Driving Miss Daisy and Pitt for Legends of the Fall.  As a result ‘one older woman who walked out halfway through the movie said, "Whoever made this piece of filth should be shot"...directly to David Fincher’ (http://www.everything2.org/index.pl?node_id=1316247).  Fortunately Pitt and Fincher fought for the depressing ending and the studio kept it intact, resulting in the film becoming a classic of the crime genre.  

Bleak, uncertain or open endings are often the casualties of test screenings.  Blade Runner (1982), Fatal Attraction (1987) and Australia (2008) all had different endings to those originally scribbled by the writers and shot by the directors. Monahan (2008) argues the studio executives require directors to shoot new endings so that filmgoers will be left ‘with a collective smile on their faces and therefore, so the logic goes, render the film more lucrative.’

Some films have benefited greatly from test screenings including Paranormal Activity (2007).  The footage from audience test screenings was used in the trailer to show how people were reacting to the film. See below.

Some critics are fearful that test screenings are damaging as they can lead to piracy and leaks. Others are concerned about the demographic that are targeted by the major studios.  ‘‘’Typical'' American moviegoers get to tell the Hollywood bigs how to improve their products before they're released. Test-audience members are often white males, 16 to 32 years old, who are recruited in L.A. suburbs, usually from colleges and shopping malls’ (Vaughn, 1991).  As this demographic is considered to be the biggest cinema-going audience, studios pay more attention to what young white males have to say.  Therefore films aimed at different ethnicities, gender and age groups may be affected by the desire to appeal to the widest audience with the most disposable income.  

Monahan puts his criticisms most bluntly; ‘First, test-audiences are essentially filmmaking-by-committee, and as everyone knows, no committee has ever made anything entirely worthwhile in the history of creation.  Second, when you really think about it, it's the bleakest endings that stick most powerfully in the mind’ (Monahan, 2008).  

So, is it fair that audiences and profit-hungry executives get the final say after filmmakers shed blood, sweat and tears creating the films?  Just remember if you get into a test screening; the power to change the movies could be in your hands.  

An extended version of this article first appeared in MediaMagazine.

Part 2 on Marketing coming soon.

References

Hennigan, 2003 

Monahan, 2008 

Radford, 2008 

Sinnott, 2005 

Vaughn, 1991 

Other

What do you think of test screenings?   Necessary evil, sensible, fair, terrible, cruel and unusual?

What is 'The Scariest Film Ever Made'?

To wrap up Filmoria's 10 Days of Halloween, find out what the Filmoria team feel are the scariest movies ever.

See if your scariest film is on our list!  It's a very interesting selection of films with many classics represented and a few unexpected ones.  There's more that I would love to see on the list but many of my own personal favourites are here.  My entry is on The original Texas Chain Saw Massacre, a film that freaked me out beyond belief when I first saw it on TV!  Particularly the final few scenes.  Terrifying stuff!

Here are some choice quotes but what films are they referring to?

'If you want your horror with a happy ending, then forget it.'

'I leave unsettled and fearful of the familiar'

'It is the terrifying ending that will leave you scared to go near a TV'

 'There is one film that continues to strike fear in my heart'

'The horrors that are happening largely off screen makes this one to keep you up at night'

'Imagine having to stay awake to survive. Imagine seeing your friends killed one by one and knowing you’re next. Imagine having nightmares so horrendous your hair turns grey'

'The frantic camerawork flies back and forth with so much energy that his manic incarnations literally jump off the screen'

'What scares me now is how it represents the true randomness of evil'

'The writing, directing, acting, and especially Philip Glass’ haunting score all work together to bring this horrifying tale to terrifying life'

'Terrifying audiences with his mutilation of the human body'

'I have only seen the original cinematic ending and it chilled me so much I have not even considered watching the sequels that followed.'

So what is the film that gives you the worst nightmares?  What made you cower from the screen, cover your eyes, run away, cry, scream or switch off the TV?  And what do you think of the Filmoria teams selection?

The Blair Witch Project and Top 10 Found Footage Horror

Day 6 of Filmoria's 10 Days of Halloween saw me getting all emotional about my own personal horror passion.  I'm going to come right out and say it before we go any further.  I kind of love found footage horror movies.  Not all of them but when they get it right, I really do love the techniques, the immediacy and the identification they create.

That's why I chose to write about The Blair Witch Project as another of my Halloween must-see movies.  It's the film that introduced me and many others to the found footage trend and since then I've begun a PhD thesis on found footage horror.  I try to see every example but that is becoming increasingly difficult with the sheer amount that get released every year.  Blame the success of Paranormal Activity for really bringing back the trend recently.

Anyway as much as people hate the found footage fad, I think there are some absolutely fantastic examples which is why over at Filmoria I decided to share my top 10 (plus a few more worth catching).

Back in July I defended found footage from its critics over at Boolean Flix which you can read here.

Yesterday at Filmoria I argued The Blair Witch Project is a must-see Halloween movie.

And is that isn't enough shaky-cam action and you want to find some other examples that you may or may not have heard of, then please check out my top 10 found footage horror movies over at Filmoria.

Poor Heather

In other horror-ific news, I spent the day yesterday at the Lionsgate UK horrorthon in London.  In order to promote the upcoming Silent Hill sequel, they were screening loads of their back catalogue at the Soho Screening Rooms.  I sat and watched four horror films back to back between 10am and 5pm.  Starting with Jeepers Creepers and ending with the pretty bloody awful My Bloody Valentine 3D.  In between I checked out Drag Me to Hell and The Cabin in the Woods (again) and we were treated to some frankly bizarre clips from Silent Hill: Revelation.  Spending a whole day in a darkened theatre watching horror was pretty much a perfect day for me.  The quality of the movies wasn't the best but they were all entertaining enough to stop me falling asleep!  I also got a The Cabin in the Woods keyring and Silent Hill poster so thanks to Lionsgate UK for a fun day!

Forget Christmas, Halloween is definitely this horror fans favourite time of the year!

What do you think of found footage?  I'm always curious to hear people's reactions to the sub-genre so whether you love it or hate it, please check out the articles above and let me know your thoughts!

Film Review – Paranormal Activity 4

Has the Paranormal Activity franchise still got what it takes to scare audiences silly?  Have horror fans seen one too many found footage films now?  Head on over to Filmoria for my full review of Paranormal Activity 4.

As most people who occasionally read this blog will know, I am the fool who is currently doing a thesis on the found footage sub-genre in modern horror and so I have to watch every single one of these films as they are ejected into cinemas or more commonly straight onto DVD. 

The big question is, does this fourth installment in the low budget put very profitable franchise come close to recent developments of the found footage trend in other genres such as the superhero themed Chronicle?  And can Paranormal Activity 4 live up to expectations set incredibly high by films like The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield? 

Common consensus was that the previous installment in the series managed to bring back a bit of the first film's magic after the disappointment of the second film.  Star of the series so far Katie Featherston returns in this sequel that brings audiences more supernatural shenanigans to give you sleepless nights.  I interviewed her before the special gala screening and you can read the interview here. 

Please check out my review at Filmoria to find out what I thought about the highly anticipated Paranormal Activity 4 which was released in cinemas today.

And please let me know in the comments below what you think of the review or the film if you've seen it.