But I’ve gotta tell ya, I just didn’t think “Paranormal Activity” was all that scary. In fact, I watched it with my 15-year-old son, and he didn’t think it was all that scary either. We laughed most of the way through it, and added our own MST3K comments (“That’s the noisiest demon we’ve ever heard! Why is he stomping around? Can’t he fly?”)

If you’re not familiar with the story,  the Oren Peli-directed “thriller” follows young couple Katie and Micah, who are experiencing some strange things in their house – which is quite a nice house, by the way, for such a young couple. She’s a student and he’s a day trader, but never seems to do any work other than chase after demons with his video camera.

More after the jump…

So yeah, when they figure out they’re being haunted by a demon, he sets up his camcorder in their room at night to capture what happens after they fall asleep. Doors slam, powdered footprints enter their room, etc. etc. Things get worse, and eventually, they get really worse.

The movie was made for $15K, and you have to wonder what they spent the cash on, because really, anyone with a camcorder could have made this film. My son and I both agreed the last few seconds of the movie were somewhat frightening, but it’s not like we weren’t expecting it. I wonder if people think it’s scary for precisely that reason – because it seems like a film that any one of us could have shot for real … with a real demon.

What do you guys think? Was “Paranormal Activity” frightening for you?

Images: Copyright, Paramount Pictures

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Directed by Sean McConville, “Deadline” stars Murphy as Alice, an artist recovering from a psychological breakdown who retreats to a remote Victorian house to convalesce and focus on finishing her screenplay in time for a fast approaching deadline.

When she begins hearing strange sounds and seeing apparitions, Alice searches for the source, only to find disturbing videotapes in the attic. Fascinated by her discovery, Alice digs deeper to uncover the mysterious story of the couple (Thora Birch and Marc Blucas) on the tapes, sending her on a twisting and terrifying pursuit to find out what is behind the endless mind games.

It would definitely be a little weird watching this movie in the wake of her tragic death. If you’re game, though, you can buy it on Amazon or Video on Demand.

Image: Amazon

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Well, guess what?! There’s a new one coming out called “Night of the Living Dead: Origins.” It’s a 3D CGI re-imagining of the original being directed by newcomer Zebediah de Soto. Bet he’s feeling the pressure not to goof up the franchise right now!

The story, of course, follows a group of humans trying to stay alive during a zombie attack. Here are the latest six players to lend their voices to the production:

• Jesse Corti (“Heroes) will play a news reporter.
• Danielle Harris (“Halloween II”) plays a woman forced to come to grips with her family’s absence.
• Bill Moseley (“Carnivale”) will reprise the Wall Street type character he played in the 1990 live-action remake “Living Dead.”
• Joe Pilato (1978’s “Dawn of the Dead”) is voicing Harry Cooper, a blue-collar worker who lives for his injured daughter.
• Alona Tal (“Supernatural”) voices his wife, Helen, who blames her husband for everything that’s wrong in the world.
• Cornell Womack (“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”) is a no-nonsense New York cop.

While most zombie movies end up in enclosed spaces, De Soto says he plans to change that.

“I wanted to make this look like a living Monet; it’s expressionism,” De Soto said. “It’s going to be the first zombie movie played on a epic scale. This is the ‘Empire of the Sun’ of zombie films. … I lived through the L.A. riots and saw the city on fire; I remember seeing people running, people getting pulled out of cars. And with 9/11, these images have been ingrained on people of my generation. I just thought that is the way it would really be, a lot of chaos.”

Image: Amazon; Source: Hollywood Reporter

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In fact, that’s exactly what Bloody-Disgusting says on the official site: “Paranormal Activity is one of the scariest movies of all-time. You will be affected, as it’s hard to ignore the imprint it leaves on your psyche. Nightmares are guaranteed.”

Yeah, real life is frightening enough; I certainly don’t need any extra help in that regard! The story follows a young couple, Katie and Micah (Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat … so, is this a real movie?), who are happy and carefree, until they start to investigate some bizarre events occurring at night in their house. To get to the bottom of things, they buy a video camera and set it up to record what’s happening while they’re sleeping. It opens in limited release Sept. 25, 2009.

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Here’s a little clip from MTV in which she talks about kissing, sex tapes, and being a high school outcast. It’s fascinating to me that so many beautiful movie stars claim they were social outcasts in high school.

Catch Fox in “Jennifer’s Body,” in theaters Sept. 18, 2009, about a possessed cheerleader-turned-serial killer who’s offing her male classmates left and right. 

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For one thing, it’s written by Diablo Cody ("Juno" and "The United States of Tara"). And it stars Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Adam Brody, Amy Sedaris and J.K. Simmons. All great actors who would be fun in this type of movie.

Plus, it gives Megan Fox a chance to really play up the bad girl thing. She plays a possessed high schooler-turned serial killer who specializes in offing her male classmates. Seyfried plays her best friend who’s trying to put a stop to the madness.

In theaters Sept. 18, 2009, "Jennifer’s Body" is rated R for sexuality, bloody violence, language and brief drug use.

Will you be seeing this campy thriller? It looks like everything a campy thriller should be.

After the jump, check out more pics of Megan Fox…

Images: TM and © Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

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Released in 1981, the funky-cult-comedy John Landis film starred David Naughton and Griffin Dunne as two American backpackers hiking in the Yorkshire moors attacked by a mysterious animal that turns out to be a werewolf. Naughton ends up terrorizing London, and Dunne’s re-animated corpse offers ways Naughton can off himself to break the curse. It’s loads of fun! (It really is.)

Dimension Films has picked up the rights and hopes to keep the fun elements of the original but kick it up for modern moviegoers.

No writer or director has signed yet, but Dimension is making quite the little name for itself; it’s releasing Rob Zombie’s “Halloween II” in August, and also developing a remake of “Hellraiser.”

Image: Amazon.com; Source: Bloody-Disgusting.com

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It’s due in theaters Oct. 2, 2009, and rated R for just about everything in the book — strong bloody violence, language, some sexuality/nudity and partying. Stars include Briana Evigan, Rumer Willis, Audrina Patridge, and Carrie Fisher. Check out the pics below:

Images: TM and © 2009 Summit Entertainment, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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Hmmm, a sign of the times? I dunno, are loan officers seen as the grim reaper these days? The movie’s rated PG-13 for sequences of horror violence, terror, disturbing images and language, and opens in theaters May 29, 2009.

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Alison Lohman plays Christine Brown, an L.A. loan officer with a very nice boyfriend, Professor Clay Dalton (Justin Long). Life couldn’t be better, which is a dead giveaway that something horrible is about to happen.

When Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver) comes to the bank looking for an extension on her home loan (ripped from the headlines!), Christine denies the request, which is a really bad thing to do. The woman ends up placing a curse on Christine, turning her life into a living hell.

So she seeks help from a seer named Rham Jas (Dileep Rao) who instructs her on how to reverse the spell. "Drag Me to Hell" arrives in theaters May 29, 2009. It’s rated PG-13 (say what?) for sequences of horror violence, terror, disturbing images and language.

After the jump, a trailer and TV spots…

"Drag Me to Hell" Trailer:

TV Spot 1: "Screaming"

TV Spot 2: "Terror"

Photo Credit: Melissa Moseley; © 2009 Universal Studios. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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