'Paranormal Activity' skins 'Saw VI' at the box-office last weekend - sequel rumors abound

October 26, 9:08 AMMovie ExaminerJason Roestel

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  Paranormal Activity is still raising straight hell at the box-office.

Lets face it - a movie filmed entirely in someone's bedroom hasn't caused this much of a public stir since Paris Hilton's last celebrity sex tape. And while that low-budget, 62 minute, celebrity sex-stunt could very well be deemed 'Normal Activity' for the hostess it still left those who braved leagues of internet viruses and worms just to watch it a little bit chilled and unnerved... But not nearly as unnerved as we all were during one of the midnight preview showings of Oren Peli's Paranormal Activity a few weeks ago.

Now that Paranormal Activity (my ever-so-burlesque review of the flick right here) has finally crawled out of the Paramount vault and made it into the public eye it seems that the public is ready for an American horror movie that doesn't involve chaining a college student to the wall and beating the crap out of them for 90 minutes.

Or at least they did last weekend.

The Saw franchise took its worst opening weekend dive last weekend - earning barely half of what the previous four films opened with. (15 million) Which is bad news for Lionsgate and Jigsaw, but really great news for horror movie fans worldwide who went to see Paranormal Activity instead. It seems like somebody with their finger on the greenlight finally took a risk on a really good horror flick, marketed it exactly right, seeded a healthy crop of hype over the last few months, and is now reaping the rewards of a job well done. They managed to turn a movie that cost 11,000 dollars to produce into one that just earned 22 million in its first weekend in theaters nation-wide. Kudos to them. Really guys you earned it this time....

Now about those Paranormal sequel rumors...?

Horror phenoms rarely produce genetically viable offspring. Just look at The Exorcist, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Blair Witch Project or even the original Saw for proof of the accusation. Lightning almost never strikes twice in the horror movie biz - but that's not going to stop the guys who made a mountain of cash off of 11,000 dollars anytime in the foreseeable future...

So expect a sequel. But definitely expect to be disappointed with it.