Before I get started I want to make it clear as a die heard slasher fan I am NOT attacking these films or the folks that make them ..
"Hot Topic" movies before I start off maybe I should define the term so you know what I mean so here it is ...
"Hot Topic" Movie : Any movie that has Zombies, Ghosts, the Paranormal or Possession or Haunting as a plot line that is popular at the moment but will for whatever reason not have a long run at the top of horror ....
With the latest crowdfunding campaign for Sins of Man II : Vengeance I created a slogan for Wicked Carnival Productions with the hashtag #MakeSlashersGreatAgain . Which may sound political but it's not the reason I like it is because it's catchy, I want fans to know that I plan to make Slasher movies they way they used to be made more scary, less predictable more suspenseful and frankly less cheesy and comical then the later installments of all the classic franchises .
Lets talk about that for a moment, Halloween was awesome as was the sequel Halloween II sames goes for Friday The 13th and Friday The 13th Part 2 ANOES and ANOES 2 Freddy's Revenge were good Childs Play and Childs Play 2 . I think in most cases once you get through the first 2 films in a series you start to have issues with story and keeping things together. We all know what happened with Halloween III but Friday part III was good, ANOES 3 Dream Warriors was very well done and tied up loose ends nicely. Childs Play 3 was more or less about tying up loose ends before they went off the rails with Bride and Seed of Chucky (WTF was wrong with those films) .
Note : I'm not saying that some of the later films weren't good I'm a huge Jason Lives (pt 6) fan ! as well as A New Nightmare (7th film in the series) and Halloween H20 (7th film in the series)
This is something I want to avoid with the movies we release from Wicked Carnival Productions by limiting the number of sequels that we release from each series . While I'm a fan of trilogies I don't see everything from Wicked Carnival Productions being a three film series or beyond three films. I would like to do many one off films (a film that has no intended sequel and how I would do that is write a film that leaves no room for a sequel and tells a complete story with in it's run time .
These films I don't feel will stand the test of time like the classic slashers of our youth. Halloween is 38 years old and is played every year Friday The 13th is 36 years old and is still watched on Friday The 13th every time there is 13th on a Friday during the year .
These "Hot Topic" movies make the same mistakes the slashers do and make too many sequels because the fans eat them up and when you make sequels for no other reason besides money you forget about the importance of storytelling and continuity .
Now with that said even the best franchises out there have continuity issues Star Wars is a great example there are all kinds of issues with that franchise but I don't care because they tell an amazing story and I can over look the plot holes and some of the stuff that I might not understand because I don't read the comics or the books that happen between the films etc.
"Hot Topic" movies have their place in the genre don't get me wrong just for the most part I don't watch them because I can't get into them and how much they ask you to believe, what I mean is I can't get past all the "slight of hand" that goes into a movie like Paranormal Activity it's 86 minutes of jump scares and not much else that movie cost $15,000 dollars to make and earned $193.4 MILLION DOLLARS which is an amazing draw I give them credit for that but lets jump forward 5 films in the series where they doubled the budget from 5 million from PA The Marked Ones to 10 Million for PA The Ghost Dimension and it was the worst performing film in the series thus far earning a mere 78.1 Million dollars, WAIT A MINUTE, you mean to tell me throwing money at it wasn't the answer, maybe they should've told a better story, just a thought . There was a drop in profits between PA 1 and PA 2 a bump with PA 3 then steady decline with 4, 5 and 6 in the series might be time to get off that sinking ship or you could save it with a SEVENTH film with a good story !
Note : I've never seen a ghost not saying weather I believe in them or not but I have never seen one and can't bring myself to watch a movie full of slight pf hand jump scares with slamming doors etc.
Insidious is another franchise that thought throwing money into it would make a third film in the series better after earning a series high 161.9 MILLION with Insidious Chapter 2 on a budget of 5 Million the doubled the budget for Insidious Chapter 3 to 10 Million and earned 113 Million once again Money isn't always the answer Hollywood . Storytelling is just as important as money you put into the project or am I completely wrong here and all you want in a movie is jump scares and cheap tricks to make you scared ?
Note : I don't believe in spirits or people being haunted because I have never experienced it so I can suspend disbelief to watch a movie about such things .
I LOVE the classic horror of our youth as much as the next person but I also know that new horror is just as important to the survival of the genre as much as the old movies we all know and love .
Many of these groups ban any type of crowdfunding or promotional posts which to some one like me is bad. how are we supposed to engage with horror fans if we can't talk about out latest project and our campaign to get the project off the ground ???
the groups on Facebook are how film makers like myself build a fan base and group Admins cripple us before we even get started with the ban of promotional posts. So if I understand correctly you would rather have thousands of your members talk about the same movies and killers, characters and dumb ass who's your favorite this or that posts then have film makers bring you new films and characters to talk about again am I wrong here ??
I love all the classics I've said it a bunch of times but there's only so many times I can answer the same question posted in the same group before I start to get pissed off about it ....
You want to know why I don't post random stupid posts your group, I'll tell you why it's because you have thousands of members who already do it and I don't want to clog the timeline with even more useless crap .
Horror groups on Facebook SHOULD be to connect horror fans from across the globe and talk about New horror NOT be used to talk about all the old classic movies and the remakes and nothing new it doesn't make much sense when you think about it that way does it ?
I join these groups because I want to reach horror fans on a global scale and interact with them but if I'm being 100% honest with you I simply don't have time to waste HOURS a day or week to talk about old movies, characters etc. when I'm trying to create new horror movies to bring to the world because for the most part these types of conversations are POINTLESS to a film maker like myself to continue to talk about the movies of the past without looking to the future of the genre I love...
Note : I don't hate or look down on the members of these groups who post these types of info because all come from different walks of life and are all different places in life, I simply can't take the time to post the same things because I'm working to create New movies .. I very often will comment on a post to engage members in a constructive conversation .
Fans are the heart and soul of what we are doing here at Wicked Carnival Productions and I want you all to know that I love you for your support and I can't do this with out you :)
STAY HUMBLE, STAY HUNGRY MY FRIENDS :)