Paranormal Activity cost less than $15,000 to make – but ended up grossing $106.1 million in theaters, mainly due to word of mouth and social networking marketing.

Paranormal Activity’s DVD and Blu-ray will have both the original theatrical version of the film as well as an Unrated Version with an alternate ending.

Check out the trailer for The Fourth Kind in the video clip above, which sets up a re-enactment of real events, interspersed with what is supposedly real, true-blue footage.

Is the real story behind The Fourth Kind just the latest in the docu-sci fi/horror genre that wants audiences to believe it’s true to up the scare factor?

It appears that the film studio’s attempt at creating a back story, based on the supposedly true events of psychiatrist Abagail Tyler in Nome, Alaska, a real person who interviewed sleep-deprived patients that claimed they were abducted by aliens – is only semi-based on any reality.

The Fourth Kind is said to have been recreated from “archival footage,” however, Nome residents have no knowledge of these events and the Anchorage Daily News reports that no psychiatrist even exists by that name.

The Alaska town did, however, have a high death and disappearance rate over the years, which the FBI investigated and attributed to the winter climage and alcoholism. But hey, the deaths/disappearances do serve the story well – if they’re mostly unexplained/unsolved cases, then why not alien abductions?

So, it appears that The Fourth Kind is not a real, true story… but rather a fake. Hey, you’ve gotta have a gimmick.

By the way, Nome mayor Denise Michels told CNN that they’ve been receiving a lot of phone calls: “Some of the calls I’m just ignoring, because the issue we had to deal with in real life was very sensitive. The movie is portraying something like the ‘Blair Witch Project,’ and we’re just hoping the message gets out that this is supposed to be for entertainment.”

Did you see The Fourth Kind? What did you think?

Paranormal Activity stars Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat talk about the ridiculous success of the film in this Today show October 27 video clip. Needless to say, Paranormal Activity has changed their lives.

Paramount is willing to take the risk, saying that they are “exploring” the idea of Paranormal Activity 2.

Paranormal Activity only cost $15,000 to make, but nabbed an impressive $67 million domestically at the box office over the weekend.

10. The Amityville Horror (2005)

Ryan Reynolds
Melissa George

We’ll try not to get too down on Ryan Reynolds in The Amityville Horror remake – after all, this was early in his career and you’ve gotta pay your dues. But nothing clicked about this new Amityville – none of the scare of the original haunted house tale. And way too much of that MTV-style editing took away from the story.

9. Halloween (2007)

Malcolm McDowell
Sheri Moon Zombie
Tyler Mane
Scout Taylor-Compton

We know we’ve likely got some split votes on this one – after all, many will argue that Rob Zombie’s take on Halloween was pretty decent. We’re ranking it among the worst because it can never hold a candle to the John Carpenter classic that introduced us to Michael Myers. Talk amongst yourselves – Carpenter or Zombie?

8. House of Wax (2005)

Elisha Cuthbert
Chad Michael Murray
Brian Van Holt
Paris Hilton

This one was doomed from the moment we discovered airheaded heiress Paris Hilton had anything to do with it. The campy original House of Wax may not hold the same clout as Psycho as a cinematic masterpiece, but it’s a far cry better than what Paris brings to the screen in the remake… and she’s got a Razzie award for worst supporting actress to prove it.

7. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)

Jessica Biel
Jonathan Tucker
Erica Leerhsen
Mike Vogel
Eric Balfour

No remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is ever gonna get as grainy film creepy as the original. And adding pretty fresh talent like Jessica Biel didn’t do anything to revive the film either. A whole lot of unnecessary gore is the calling card of this remake, which you may recall wasn’t used in the original 1974 horror film (and that was way scarier).

6. April Fool’s Day (2008)

Scout Taylor-Compton
Taylor Cole
Josh Henderson

Remember how cool the April Fool’s Day of the 80s was? Campy, fun. Fast forward to this 2008 train wreck remake and, well… it was so lame and forgettable, it’s all but been wiped from our recent memory. We liked it better when it was called “I Know What You Did Last Summer.”

5. Prom Night (2008)

Brittany Snow
Scott Porter
Johnathon Schaech
Jessica Stroup

Hey, let’s update Prom Night and make it really, really scary. Or… er… let’s drudge up every horror movie cliché and slap it together in a loathsome little movie. A lot of Brittany Snow looking in the mirror and getting spooked is all that’s going on here. A loose remake of the original that’s predictable, dumb and boring. And that’s being kind.

4. When a Stranger Calls (2006)

Camilla Belle
Thomas Flanagan
Katie Cassidy
Lance Henriksen

Well, Camilla Belle sure is pretty. That’s something. Otherwise, this remake of When a Stranger Calls is a bit of a yawner, really. That whole “calling from inside the house” scare factor was lost in this babysitter stalker film remake. If you wasted your time on this one, we’re sorry to report you won’t be getting those 87 minutes of your life back.

3. The Haunting (1999)

Lili Taylor
Liam Neeson
Catherine Zeta-Jones
Owen Wilson

Oh my, where to begin with this pile o’crap? The Haunting is almost the tops of our worst horror remakes list – and star power does nothing to breathe life into this lame, tame horror redo. Casting Catherine Zeta-Jones, Liam Neeson, Owen Wilson and Lili Taylor and placing them amid overused CGI effects? Fail. Fail. Fail. Directed by Jan de Bont, who brought you that little flop, “Speed II: Cruise Control”… guess that kind of says it all.

2. The Fog (2005)

Tom Welling
Maggie Grace
Selma Blair

We’re wishing this one got lost in the fog. You’d think a remake of John Carpenter’s so-so original would be a far cry better than this piece of slop, but you’d figure wrong. Oof. Tom Welling’s acting… that’s about the only scary thing in the whole flick. The forecast calls for foggy with a chance of bad acting, lame ghosts and all around mediocrity.

1. Psycho (1998)

Vince Vaughn
Anne Heche
Julianne Moore
Viggo Mortensen
William H. Macy

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, they say… uh, unless you count this scene-for-scene remake of Psycho. Not only is a shot-for-shot redo entirely unnecessary, but it sucked too. There’s no way that Gus Van Sant could even come close to Alfred Hitchcock’s classic masterpiece – and don’t get us started on the cast. Vince Vaughn is no Anthony Perkins, and Anne Heche seems like uninspired bottom-of-the-barrel casting for the Janet Leigh role.

10. Fido (2006)

Carrie-Anne Moss
Billy Connolly
Dylan Baker
K’Sun Ray

Fido is a newer entry in the zombie genre and one of the few zom coms (zombie comedies) done right. In Fido, we get the bland 50s American suburbia set in an alternate weirdness of life after a zombie outbreak. The contrast of squeaky clean post zombie war 50s with domesticated undead sets the stage for entertaining fun. It’s wicked and twisted, especially when little Timmy’s “Fido” zombie’s collar malfunctions and the idyllic Leave it to Beaver scenario takes a turn.

9. Re-Animator (1985)

Jeffrey Combs
Bruce Abbott
Barbara Crampton
David Gale

A little mad scientist action, hmmmm? Herbert West embarks on a mission to revive the dead – only, you know, things don’t go off as planned in this excellent zombie cult film. Campy, gory and funny. What more could you want in your zombie movie? A decapitated head performing oral sex? Yep, it’s got that too!

8. The Serpent and the Rainbow (1998)

Bill Pullman
Cathy Tyson
Zakes Mokae
Paul Winfield

The Serpent and the Rainbow scared the shit out of me – and is one I haven’t revisited since my first viewing. Bill Pullman stars in Wes Craven’s disturbing voodoo zombie flick, and maybe it’s just the claustrophobic in me, but the scene where he’s buried alive with a tarantula? More horrifying than the buckets of blood shed in some of these other films. Chill.ing.

7. Zombie/Zombi 2 (1979)

Tisa Farrow
Ian McCulloch
Richard Johnson

Italian director Lucio Fulci made himself one gory and cool movie with Zombie (or Zombi 2, as some refer to it), set on a mysterious Caribbean island inhabited by zombies. Most memorable for fans of this flick? An eye gouging scene that makes even the most stable of stomachs turn and a wicked fight between zombie and shark! Shark vs. zombie? C’mon!

6. 28 Days Later (2002)

Cillian Murphy
Naomie Harris
Noah Huntley
Christopher Eccleston

After Trainspotting and before Slumdog Millionaire, Danny Boyle ventured into horror with this little ditty about genetic research gone awry – plagued ghouls run amok first in London and then, presumably, the world over. Zombie purists would argue that this is really virus-infected folks versus true blue zombies… and technically they’re right, but the rage virus is zombie-esque, right? Just try to dodge those blood splatters and keep from becoming infected. Not so easy.

5. Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Duane Jones
Judith O’Dea
Karl Hardman
Marilyn Eastman

Night of the Living Dead, George A. Romero’s original zombie flick, kicks off the top 5 – because after all, it started the whole thing for a bajillion lovers of the genre. It’s old, it’s classic, it’s gross, it’s frightening. Romero was the genre’s pioneer, offering up the granddaddy of all zombie movies (although there were certainly ones made before it). Even the Library of Congress placed it on the National Film Registry, calling it “historically, culturally or aesthetically important.”

4. Zombieland (2009)

Woody Harrelson
Jesse Eisenberg
Emma Stone
Abigail Breslin

Zombieland seems to be exceeding people’s expectations, with great reviews and fan comments on the web, it easily makes its way into our top 5. With gore and humor combined, visual style and a winning cast in Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin, this zomedy hits the mark. Zombie hunters battling for survival is nothing new in the zombie flick genre, but moviegoers are treated to a helluva lot of fun with their carnage.

3. Dead Alive (1992)

Timothy Balme
Diana Peñalver
Elizabeth Moody
Ian Watkin

This 1992 Peter Jackson gem features loads of gore and humor (c’mon, the priest who says “I kick ass for The Lord” is brilliant!). Campy and fun, Dead Alive (named Braindead for its original release, but renamed Dead Alive for North American release) makes it hard to believe that the future director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy helmed this. And oh-how-terrific is the idea to attack zombies with a lawnmower? Hell yeah.

2. Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Simon Pegg
Nick Frost
Kate Ashfield
Lucy Davis

Shaun of the Dead gets top marks from us because, well, we love all things Simon Pegg (check out “Hot Fuzz” on our list of Best Action-Comedies). Plus, Shaun of the Dead is that brilliant mix of fun, camp and zombie genre love – funny and scary combos earn rave reviews from the masses, because it’s the perfect entertainment package. Gems like going through the record collection, deciding which records to throw at the attacking zombies? Excellent.
 

1. Dawn of the Dead (1978)

David Emge
Ken Foree
Scott H. Reiniger
Gaylen Ross

George A. Romero kind of has to dominate this list of best zombie flicks, don’t you think? And while many will dispute whether Night of the Living Dead or Dawn of the Dead is a better entry into the best of the bunch, you can’t argue there needs to be room for both. This time around, the survivors of the zombie apocalypse hide out at the local mall, offering up a deeper message about American consumerism, too. That’s Romero… keepin’ it real!

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Call this the little horror movie that could. “Paranormal Activity,” a low-budget horror flick, started with free showings and spread to a wide release after it went viral with fans who marketed the movie on the internet and via social media.

Paranormal Activity didn’t even have a traditional movie trailer to start, but by using a campaign of limited showings (it played in fewer than 200 theaters), and asking people to go online and spread the word… it managed to earn $7.1 million over the weekend and a wider distribution.

Dreamworks snatched up the film two years ago after Paranormal Activity was an audience favorite at the Slamdance festival. They planned to remake it originally, but ultimately decided to keep it as is.

Late night screenings in college towns created a fan buzz – they took to Twitter and Facebook to talk about it and were told to sign in to ParanormalMovie.com to demand theaters in their locations run the film.

And Paranormal Activity is getting rave reviews too, with Entertainment Weekly giving it an A minus and film critic Owen Gleiberman writing “With its this-is-really-happening vibe, ‘Paranormal Activity’ scrapes away 30 years of encrusted nightmare clichés. The fear is real, all right, because the fear is really in you.”

But can a Poltergeist remake match the original?

I don’t have high hopes for a Poltergeist re-do… no word on casting yet for the updated haunted house tale either.

David Arquette confirmed the news to E!Online, saying, “We are going to be doing Scream 4. Kevin Williamson is writing the script at this moment, and hopefully Wes Craven is going to direct.”

Arquette added, “I fell in love with my wife on Scream, so the opportunity to bring [Dewey] back to life and for my wife to play that really bitchy character again, it’s just going to be really fun. It’s just great.”

Wes Craven commented on the Nightmare on Elm Street remake, saying, “That’d be a tough one to re-see… If you move on from the films you’ve made – which I have tried always to move on – then it’s like, ‘That’s in the past. It’s had his life.’ If they make a better film, maybe it will eclipse the original. I don’t know. If they don’t, then the original will look even better.”

Craven also said, “I guess now they’re (studio bosses) moving towards remakes rather than sequels, because, at some point, you can’t justify another sequel – but you can remake the original, because the audiences have gone through two or three generations.”