{"id":54810,"date":"2014-01-07T12:28:48","date_gmt":"2014-01-07T12:28:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/?p=54810"},"modified":"2023-01-27T08:36:25","modified_gmt":"2023-01-27T08:36:25","slug":"paranormal-activity-the-marked-ones-opens-a-bigger-box","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/interviews\/paranormal-activity-the-marked-ones-opens-a-bigger-box\/","title":{"rendered":"Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones saves the series"},"content":{"rendered":"

With Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones<\/em><\/strong>, the found-footage franchise starts a new chapter. Writer\/director Christopher Landon (writer of the last three Paranormal Activity<\/em><\/strong> films) wanted to approach the series’ mythology from a new angle, setting the story in a Latino community in California as young (Jesse) begins to realise he has been chosen for something sinister…<\/p>\n

We spoke to Landon about the positive fan reaction to The Marked Ones<\/em><\/strong>, why a new start was needed, and why the microbudget franchise continues to be so popular.<\/p>\n

So have you enjoyed seeing the positive fan reaction to the film?<\/strong><\/p>\n

You know it\u2019s definitely the most fulfilling and thrilling aspect of getting the movie out there is seeing…I\u2019d be a liar if I said I hadn\u2019t been obsessively stalking Twitter! And it\u2019s been so much fun to see so many people just loving the movie and praising it and really feeling like we took a fresh approach to the franchise because when you\u2019re five movies deep into a franchise you can get into a stale place.<\/p>\n

What was behind the decision to take a new approach?<\/strong><\/p>\n

After we made Paranormal Activity 4<\/em><\/strong>,<\/em> that movie was, in hindsight, a big disappointment to our core fans because we really just didn\u2019t advance the mythology at all and we kind of dropped everybody into a big weird pit at the end of the movie. We really learnt from that and that was one of the big goals when we all sat down and talked about this movie, how we really wanted to get the mythology back on track and to answer some questions and then raise some new ones. Because that was something that I think we do in this franchise. So it was really, really important to us to have a really clean narrative that advanced the mythology this time.<\/p>\n

Was it intimidating as a director to be the one behind this change in setting?<\/strong><\/p>\n

You know, it wasn\u2019t, I think because I\u2019ve been making these for the last few years now, I was on 2<\/em><\/strong>, 3<\/em><\/strong> and 4<\/em><\/strong>, I was just gung-ho and ready to do something different. So for me it was less of a challenge and more of it just being really exciting and fun for me.\u00a0 I just kind of jumped on it and I think with everybody involved there was just a really renewed kind of enthusiasm when we approached this movie.<\/p>\n

It definitely feels bigger in terms of scope. Was it rewarding to open the story up a bit?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was, it was fun because I felt like we were able to kind of open up a bigger box, you know. We\u2019ve always, and look, I think the success of the franchise, and especially the first two or three movies, they were successful because they were very claustrophobic films and I think that really played into the suspense of them. But I think at this point we felt like we needed to not only feel like we were in a different world and experience the story through a different family but we also wanted to open the setting up and capitalise on this idea that if you\u2019re marked, it doesn\u2019t matter where you go, that it\u2019s always with you.<\/p>\n

So it was really fun to actually shoot in different locations and it allowed for us to do stuff that we could never do before. For example, when we did the basketball scene when Jesse and Hector get mugged, we got to throw guys through the air and we had a massive crane there to do those stunts. And we never could have done that in a house, so it allowed for me to do stuff that we hadn\u2019t done before and to do some bigger set-pieces.<\/p>\n

How did you settle on the Latino community as a new setting?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We did a test screening of Paranormal Activity 3<\/em> <\/strong>and there was this girl in the focus group, she was probably about 15 or 16 years old, she was a Latina, and she was so passionate about the film and the franchise and knew everything, I think she knew it better than we did, and she believed it so much and also kind of referenced stuff that had happened in her family. She made a lot of cultural references. And I think that was when we had like an \u201caha!\u201d moment, where we thought \u201cWow, this is amazing, this girl is so invested.\u201d<\/p>\n

So we just started talking about how, culturally, the Latino culture really lends itself to our franchise and how there\u2019s so much spirituality and belief in the supernatural and belief in all of this stuff. And I started doing research and visiting these bot\u00e1nicas, which are like spiritual pharmacies. We actually shot in one in the movie, when Irma goes to the bot\u00e1nica that\u2019s a real place, we didn\u2019t dress that. That wasn\u2019t Hollywood dressing, that is exactly how that place looks when you walk into it. And the gentleman in the movie who does the ritual with Irma, who gives her the eggs and does that whole bit, he\u2019s the actual owner of the shop. He\u2019s a curandero, he does this stuff for a living.<\/p>\n

So I started looking at all this stuff and I was just like \u201cGod, this is so obvious, we have to do this.\u201d But then when I wanted to approach the story, because we had focused so much in the past on family dynamics, I actually thought it would be a little more interesting and a different in-road if we approached a friendship. And I really do think ultimately that it becomes the emotional core of the movie, is that it\u2019s about friendship, it\u2019s about these best friends who will go to any lengths to try to save their friends, and so that just felt like a fresh place to start. And I also just loved their dynamic. When I was writing the characters it was so much fun to approach all of these scenes but then when I actually cast the movie and these actors automatically clicked, their chemistry was so strong that I don\u2019t think anybody who sees the movie will doubt that these are best friends and that they\u2019ve known each other their whole lives, and that really comes across and I think that\u2019s what audiences are really connecting with.<\/p>\n

Do you think there’s scope to explore other communities and faiths in future films?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, one of the things we set up in the movie is that this is something that\u2019s happening on a global scale, and so I think that there\u2019s certainly the opportunity for the franchise to go anywhere and to explore any culture we want because we\u2019re kind of keying up the idea that the coven is everywhere. And so I think that there\u2019s certainly, I think it would be interesting to try and explore some other places but we\u2019ll have to see what Paramount wants to do.<\/p>\n

Having worked on the last three films as well, do you feel a sense of pride at how the series has continued?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I really do because one thing I know for certain is when the first Paranormal Activity<\/em> <\/strong>came out I think everyone, and I think to a degree at first the studio felt like \u201cOh, this is a one-off.\u201d And the fact that we\u2019ve been able to turn it into a five-movie franchise, and also the fact that we\u2019ve been able to, and I think this is the part that we take the most pride in, and I say we because everybody that works on these movies, they work so hard, and the producers and the studio and everyone involved, and we\u2019re really proud of the fact that we\u2019ve been able to do things to make each movie different in its own way. So that it\u2019s not a repeat Randy situation. It was something that allowed us to constantly stay engaged and be excited about making these movies, that every time we approached them we always had the spirit of \u201clet\u2019s do something different.\u201d And I think that\u2019s paid off for us.<\/p>\n

One of the reasons why the films seem to do so well is that people who aren’t necessarily horror fans go to see them. Why do you think they attract this bigger crowd?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think it\u2019s two-fold. I think the first thing is that we\u2019re very character-centric, and what I mean by that is that we really develop believable characters and real people and I think that the films are easy to invest in because you get drawn in by the characters. And then I also think because most horror tends to just be really gory, and aggressive in that way and I don\u2019t consider these movies horror movies, I think they\u2019re suspense movies because that\u2019s what we\u2019re playing on and that\u2019s what we\u2019re trying to do, is to really just be suspenseful without being gory and crass. And so I think that that really appeals to a lot of people. And I appreciate horror movies, I love the Saw<\/em><\/strong> franchise, and have thoroughly enjoyed it but you have to be able to like that kind of stuff, and I don\u2019t think a lot of people ultimately do and I think that\u2019s our other strength.<\/p>\n

It has become one the landmarks for showing how profitable low-budget horror can be.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s funny too because I\u2019ve had people ask me, \u201cNow that you guys are so far into the franchise, why don\u2019t you spend more money and really go crazy, budget-wise?\u201d And I always tell them that part of what makes the movies work is, because we work with such a restricted budget, it forces us to be more creative. I find that that works for me on all levels; I think limitations ultimately produce better alternatives. I think you really have to force yourself out of that box. I think part of the appeal is that we\u2019re kind of the anti-giant tentpole movie, because now I think we live in an age where so much of what we see, eveyrthing is just wall to wall CG stuff. I love them too but they\u2019re just really, really big. And we\u2019re on the other side of the spectrum and we\u2019re waving over here. We\u2019re really low-budget and everything we do is sort of practical, everything we do is pretty much real and grounded. And I think that\u2019s appealing to people.<\/p>\n

[SPOILERS]<\/strong><\/p>\n

Finally, what’s your favourite scare in the film? Oscar coming off the roof got a big reaction!<\/strong><\/p>\n

My favourite jump scare\u2026I would probably have to agree with you on that one. It was my favourite jump scare just because, scale-wise, it was the biggest thing that we did and when we shot that, I remember because we really only had one chance to get that right and so my stomach was in knots when we were on set because it took so many hours to set that up. And you just cross your fingers and think \u201cOh my god, please don\u2019t let this go wrong!\u201d So that was my favourite but I also, I think my favourite moment in the film as a fan is the end, which I don\u2019t want to spoil, but hearing the audience react to it, especially the people who really understand what we\u2019re trying there, is my favourite moment because you just hear the gasps in the audience and the realisation kind of landing on them and I love that it\u2019s genuine surprise.<\/p>\n

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones is out on Blu-ray now.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paranormal Activity creator Christopher Landon on getting the horror franchise “back on track”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":126961,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"MSN_Categories":"Uncategorized","MSN_Publish_Option":false,"MSN_Is_Local_News":false,"MSN_Is_AIAC_Included":"Empty","MSN_Location":"[]","MSN_Add_Feature_Img_On_Top_Of_Post":false,"MSN_Has_Custom_Author":false,"MSN_Custom_Author":"","MSN_Has_Custom_Canonical_Url":false,"MSN_Custom_Canonical_Url":""},"categories":[2615,1718,7],"tags":[797,3451],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Paranormal-Activity-The-Marked-Ones.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54810"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54810"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126963,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54810\/revisions\/126963"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}