If Oren Peli has made his mark in one place, it’s been the attention that he’s brought to the “found footage” subgenre of horror films. He has made Paramount’s Paranormal Activity a massive, billion dollar franchise. Now he’s taking on a different myth with the legend of the abandoned Chernobyl nuclear plant.

Here’s the synopsis.

“Chernobyl Diaries” is an original story from Oren Peli, who first terrified audiences with his groundbreaking thriller, “Paranormal Activity.” The film follows a group of six young tourists who, looking to go off the beaten path, hire an “extreme tour” guide.

Ignoring warnings, he takes them into the city of Pripyat, the former home to the workers of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, but a deserted town since the disaster more than 25 years ago. After a brief exploration of the abandoned city, however, the group soon finds themselves stranded, only to discover that they are not alone…

The first trailer is now here, to give you the same chills that worked so well with Paranormal Activity. Check it out after the jump, and see it in theaters on May 25th.

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It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Paramount is still looking to capitalize on the success of the first Paranormal Activity. That movie, made for a shoestring budget, went on to be one of the most successful horror films in history.

One of the main reasons for the original film’s success (in addition to the fack that it was scary good) was the inspired marketing by Paramount. It really helped get the word out and get people extremely interested in seeing the movie.

Well, the company is at it again and has a third film coming soon to a theater near you. Of course, they’ve got a new trailer for it out now and we’ve got it for you right here.

In it you’ll see the new film retains many of the elements of the first and tells the story of the young Katie and Kristi when they were kids back in 1988 and the first time Bloody Mary began haunting them. Look for Paranormal Activity 3 in theaters on October 21.

Check out the new trailer after the break. That is, if you dare.

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It all started as a little, micro-budget horror flick 3 years ago, that has now become a phenomenon (pun intended) and one highly anticipated trilogy. Oren Peli’s Paranormal Activity is just that, and the viral marketing campaign for the upcoming third installment is just beginning.

Over the weekend, several news outlets received a VHS tape and VCR in the mail that had some pretty scary stuff on it. Just enough to get you to pee yourself with both fear and anticipation for what the next film has to bring us.

Here’s what we can look forward to in terms of a story.

The third film takes place in 1988, when Katie and Kristi were kids. While trying to get video proof of Bloody Mary, Katie and Kristi are first confronted by the monstrous demon haunting them in the first and second movies along with their family.

Check out two of the static-filled videos after the jump, and catch Paranormal Activity 3 in theaters on October 21st.

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Out with the old, in with the new. Many people were speculating that the Saw franchise would go head to head with the Paranormal Activity franchise every October, after they had a dueling horror theme this past Halloween. It looks like Activity may have won that battle, as there is already a plan for a third film to release next October, and Lionsgate has no plans on continuing the Saw franchise. From Variety.

Paramount has greenlit “Paranormal Activity 3″ for production with plans to release the pic on Oct. 21.

Insiders said the pic’s original helmer, Oren Peli, and producer Jason Blum will have some part in the creative process but their roles are yet to be determined.

The first two “Paranormal Activity” pics revolved around a family haunted by an evil spirit, with both films lensed in the found footage style.The films have grossed a total of more than $300 million at the worldwide box office.

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The first Paranormal Activity was a bit of a phenomenon. It managed to capture the attention of audiences and also be a pretty scary movie that you wouldn’t necessarily want to watch in a dark room alone. Naturally, when something is a success as the first film was, people want to try and capitalize on that success. Thus we have the inevitable Paranormal Activity 2.

The first trailer for the sequel has arrived and with it we get our first chance to see if the magic of the first film can be recaptured. After watching the trailer a few times I think I can safely say it probably can’t and won’t. Still, I give the filmmakers props for trying. I’m just concerned we might have another Blair Witch 2 situation on our hands. And really, nobody wants that.

Judge for yourself and check out the trailer after the jump. Paranormal Activity 2 hits theaters on October 22.

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With the unbridled success of this fall’s Paranormal Activity, it seemed a sure thing that director Oren Peli’s next project would be an instant pickup for the studio, and that theory has proven to be true. According to Variety, Paramount recently bought the distribution rights for Peli’s Area 51, which reportedly again utilizes Paranormal Activity’s “handicam” style of shooting. According to the trade:

“51, which completed principal photography three weeks ago, was fully financed by Incentive and the Aramid Entertainment Fund. Latter is a co-financing partner of Par’s slate on films that include the ‘Transformers’ films.

The film employs the ‘found footage’ narrative structure that Peli used in ‘Paranormal Activity’ to tell the story of three teens whose curiosity leads them to the notorious Area 51 portion of Nellis Air Force Base in the Nevada desert.”

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It takes a lot to be a horror fan. We suffer indignities that other film fans wouldn’t dream of. Genre films are seldom screened for press, leading to frantic scrambling to get a seat at a midnight showing so that we can have that review up and ready for you, dear readers, on opening day. Regular critics scoff at our genre, and often can’t be bothered with it at all. So it rests upon those of us who are true lovers of the genre to keep you abreast of the happenings in horror-land.

Adding to my general frustration with the powers that be is the mishandling of three recent films in particular.  All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, Trick ‘r Treat, and Paranormal Activity have all gotten a rotten distribution deal in one way or another. I  asked Scott Weinberg, Managing Editor of Cinematical and Editor of Horror Squad if he was surprised that all three of these got shelved after they received good festival buzz. ”Annoyed, yes. Surprised, no. Every distributor seems to want a ‘break-out’ horror flick, but few know what to do with it once they get one,” he said

So here is the rundown on these three films.

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When I first heard about writer/director Oren Peli’s first person video camera horror film Paranormal Activity, I have to admit I was skeptical. Seeing some of the advertising and hearing the buzz from various sources, this film seemed to be yet another cheap video production still hoping to cash in on the “magic” generated by The Blair Witch Project. Fortunately, after seeing the film at a sold-out midnight screening during Austin’s Fantastic Fest, I can thankfully say my first impressions of the film were completely wrong . . . mostly.

The premise of the film is simplicity itself. A young couple have lived together for a few years and gradually there have been strange and unexplained sounds and the woman (Katie Featherston) it is revealed has been experiencing this type of “activity” since she was a young girl. Her boyfriend, the annoyingly overconfident Micah (Micah Sloat), is determined to get to the bottom of these phenomenons and so begins his quest to videotape the couple’s activities 24 hours a day in order to catch the ghosts in action and ultimately, to take care of the situation and get them to stop.

One of the film’s biggest strengths is that it follows the Hitchcock tradition of not showing everything. Instead, during several scenes, the camera stays in one place as the couple goes off to investigates a noise or other disturbance and the audience is left only able to hear what’s happening, their imagination filling in the blanks. This conceit serves the film far more effectively than an outlandish display of gore or other visual effects would have. This technique is used very effectively in Paranormal Activity, much more than it has been lately in films like Cloverfield or Quarantine.

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Very rarely does the internet critic community throw around phrases like “scariest movie ever” or “looks amazing”, but those seem to be used a lot when talking about the newest film, Paranormal Activity. It’s said to have the same feel as The Blair Witch Project, just updated for today’s jaded audiences.

Much like Blair Witch, the cast and crew have done next to nothing else prior to this film. Writer/director Oren Peli has only worked on this film, which makes the general audience question whether this is a Hollywood film, or a real, documented haunting.

The story follows a typical suburban middle-class husband and wife who start to notice spooky things happening around their new house. They decide to document a few nights using a video camera, and the audience gets to watch as the haunting continues.

Check out the new trailer for the film after the jump, which opens up in select theaters September 25, and moving to different cities every week from there. For a complete schedule, check out their official website.

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