sandwichjohnfilms

Sequel can't see the forest for the trees. Review by Brandon Wolfe WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD The phrase “lightning in a bottle” gets tossed around so often that it’s long since lapsed into musty cliché, but that truly is the best descriptor to apply to 1999’s The Blair Witch Project . That microbudget indie sensation had an immensely transformative cultural impact. It singlehandedly created the modern found-footage horror subgenre, further popularized by Paranormal Activity and its ubiquitous brethren. It still stands as one of the most successful independent films of all time, as well as, for a time, the single most profitable film ever made, from a budget-to-gross perspective. It shook up the horror genre at a time when Scream clones were the law of the land. Hell, it even essentially invented viral marketing, with its elaborate, mythology-building website. But the true legacy of The Blair Witch Project lies with its scrappy ingenuity, its canny ability to weave a spooky c...

Be careful who you unfriend, because it may come back to haunt you! From the producer of The Purge , comes the horror film Unfriended on Digital HD July 28 and Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand August 11 by Universal Studios Home Entertainment. Coming TO DIGITAL HD JULY 28, 2015 AND Blu-Ray™ COMBO PACK AND DVD August 11, 2015 From Universal Pictures Home Entertainment For a group of teenage friends, a devastating fate lurks on the other side of a computer screen in Unfriended, the first in a new generation of found-footage thrillers coming to Digital HD July 28, 2015 and Blu-Ray™, DVD and On Demand August 11, 2015, from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. Unfriended is a startlingly contemporary nail-biter from two modern masters of mayhem, executive producer Jason Blum (The Purge, Ouija, Sinister) and producer Timur Bekmambetov (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Wanted). What starts as a seemingly innocent online prank produces a sequence of events that spirals out of control. D...

Where's my Dislike button? Review by Brandon Wolfe The runaway success of Paranormal Activity was the point where the found-footage format crossed over into the mainstream ( The Blair Witch Project was obviously the subgenre’s first hit, but it spent the decade following its release as a one-off curio rather than a trendsetter), spearheading the opportunity for filmmakers to crank out cost-effective horror films that didn’t require slick production values or expensive equipment. They could be produced with recording devices you could get at Best Buy and were expected, even encouraged, to look like they were shot by shaky-handed amateurs. Given its low-overhead accessibility, the subgenre has become so ubiquitous that filmmakers are now having to figure out ways to make the achingly familiar seem new again. So instead of horror films shot on consumer-based cameras, how about one shot entirely on Skype? That’s something new, yes? Unfriended sure wants you to think it is. ...

Second sequel to the granddaddy of found-footage may finally materialize A second sequel to the 1999 indie-horror phenomenon The Blair Witch Project might be forthcoming. Eduardo Sanchez, who directed the groundbreaking original film along with Daniel Myrick, had the following to say about the project in an interview with Dread Central to discuss his latest project, Exists : “We have been talking to Lionsgate and there has been a little bit of movement but nothing is concrete. The film seems inevitable to me, but really it’s just a matter of it being the right time. I’m thinking it’s going to happen sooner than later at this point, but I always say that. There’s always rumblings and certain ideas being pushed around and such. While I don’t have anything firm to talk about now, it wouldn’t surprise me if something happened within the next year or two.” The first film blazed a trail back in its day, grossing an unheard-of $250 million worldwide on a budget of a scant $60,00...

"Paranormal Activity" To Get A Sequel Let's remember a little film called " The Blair Witch Project " and what a surprise film that it was and then Bam we get a sequel " Book of the Shadows: Blair Witch 2 " one of the worst movies I have ever seen. So Paramount be very careful how you go about making a sequel to such a great film and don't kill the effects the first movie had on all of us. With a horrible sequel it could kill the effects of the first film. During Viacom's earnings call Tuesday, CEO Philippe Dauman said the movie has been one of those surprise hits that comes along only rarely, grossing $85 million in the U.S. already. Given that a follow-up release wouldn't have the same element of surprise as "Paranormal," it will be key to craft a smart approach to a sequel, he said. "Our team will come up with the right creative and marketing approach to make sure that we benefit from a sequel," Dauman said. ...