Marrowthon: First Of All…
(A Paranormal First-In-A-Series Marathon!)
For October, Added To Watchlist is being supplanted by daily posts about films to check out but also this feature—Marrowthon. Different contributors are tasked with organizing horror movie marathons made up of five titles, screening from dusk ‘til dawn. This week, Katrina Blake presents her 5-film “First Of All…(A Paranormal First-In-A-Series)” marathon.
Horror is my favorite genre of movies. Sure, you suspend yourself in disbelief for most of the time in most fictional films. But there is something to be said about a good horror flick. Many of us want to know what it is like to hold a lightsaber or wield Mjölnir. Some want to know what it’s like to kick ass like John Wick or exchange witty banter with Batman as Catwoman does.
But many horror movies focus on things that can very well happen. When done right, even the most unlikeliest of supernatural tales have a realism to them that makes the creepy or the unknown more unsettling. It makes you want to put your head under the covers, not look under the bed, make sure the door is locked, and avoid answering any unknown numbers.
Some even make you wish you called a priest to bless your house or hang a few crosses on the wall for protection. Some threats can be too real and some make you question just how believable they are. These are the reasons I absolutely love horror movies—they send a chill down your spine and the goosebumps going crazy across your skin.
Anyone who knows me knows that most films in the genre don’t scare me. And while some wait to binge-watch a slew of terrifying titles during October, I’m the weird soul watching them all the time, year-round, often on repeat.
But enough about me, let’s get into the nitty-gritty, shall we? Let’s say I invite you over to hang at my house. It is a rainy, cool Saturday. I have plenty of snacks, pillows, and blankets. This is where things get interesting. We are about to spend time as best friends watching five movies of my choosing. Sure, we can go the slasher route or we can go with the more cerebral entries. But, you won’t get off that easy. We are going down Paranormal Road. A road where you nervously look at your dolls a few times and a road where you wonder if you are really alone in the house. So, sit back and relax as I tell you first about the movies we will be watching.
“I’m scared to close my eyes; I’m scared to open them!”
THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999)
Movie 1 - PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 (2011)
While the third entry in the series of found footage supernatural movies, this story takes place 18 years before the first one (which came out in 2007). So chronologically it’s the beginning of the PARANORMAL ACTIVITY mythos.
1988 California: Dennis (Christopher Nicholas Smith) is recording Katie (Chloe Csengery) for her birthday. Katie is the oldest of two daughters of his girlfriend, Julie (Laurie Bittner)—the younger one named Kristi (Jessica Tyler Brown). Kristi has an imaginary friend (“Toby”) who seems to be involved as weird things start to happen. Dennis, being a photographer and videographer, records the unusual events in the house revealing an unexpected, and frightening, truth.
Movie 2 - ANNABELLE: CREATION (2017)
Similar to above, while this film happens to be the fourth installment in the CONJURING Expanded Universe (and the second ANNABELLE entry), it takes place many years before its predecessors as it tells an origin story of the titular doll.
The audience is introduced to a dollmaker named Samuel Mullins (Anthony LaPaglia), who lives out on a remote ranch with his wife Esther (Miranda Otto) and their daughter Annabelle (Samara Lee), who is suddenly killed in a tragic accident. Twelve years later, Samuel invites a nun (Stephanie Sigman) and girls from an orphanage into his home. One of the orphans, Janice (Talitha Bateman) soon realizes that Samuel’s prized doll Annabelle is much more than it seems, and the other girls discover this in terrifying ways soon after.
Movie 3 - OUIJA: ORIGIN OF EVIL (2016)
While released two years after the first OUIJA film, this is yet another prequel that ties in to some of the story and characters in the previous installment.
In sunny 1967 Los Angeles a widowed mother, Alice (Elizabeth Reaser), is holding a séance with an old man and his new (and much younger) wife. It’s soon revealed that Alice is running a scam with assistance from her daughters Lina (Annalise Basso) and Doris (Lulu Wilson) to sell the hokum. Looking to switch up her act, Alice buys an Ouija board to incorporate into the grift but doesn’t realize that the simple board is a gateway to to let evil into her home.
Movie 4 - INSIDIOUS (2011)
Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai Lambert (Rose Byrne) move into a new home with their two sons Dalton (Ty Sympkins) and Foster (Andrew Astor).
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make Josh is a school teacher and Renai is a composer and stay-at-home mom. Dalton suddenly falls into what appears to be a coma, but it’s a situation that no one can explain. As her son lies in this state, Renai starts seeing and hearing unusual things, leading her to believe her house is haunted.
Movie 5 - THE CONJURING (2013)
Also directed by James Wan, this is the titular film that kicked off THE CONJURING Cinematic Universe. It’s loosely based on real-life reports from paranormal investigators Lorraine and Ed Warren (played in this film by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson). They were best known for their work with the “Amityville Horror” case in New York.
Set in a old farmhouse on Rhode Island in 1971, Carolyn (Lili Taylor) and Roger Perron (Ron Livingston) has just moved in with their five daughters: Andrea (Shanley Caswell), Nancy (Hayley Macfarland), Christine (Joey King), Cindy (Mackenzie Foy), and April (Kyla Deaver). It’s not even a full 24 hours into living in their new home when odd and out of place events start to happen. The family is so scared by these experiences that that they reach out to the Warrens for help. The investigation leads to terrifying encounters as it turns out the Perrons’ new property had a very sinister history.
“There’ll be food and drink and ghosts…and perhaps even a few murders. You’re all invited.”
HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (1959)
My reasoning for choosing these particular titles is pretty simple: I’m a huge paranormal buff. As much as I love the idea of a burnt up boogeyman killing you in the one place in which you should be safe (your dreams), there is just something figuratively haunting about stories of literal hauntings—things in your house may not be what they seem. I have watched every type of horror movie made. But I gravitate to the ones where I’m worried if something is haunted, possessed, or a place where death lurks. While hauntings aren’t an everyday occurrence, death is. Spirits linger, at least in my opinion, and that is something I like to sink my teeth into.
I love a good horror cinematic series when done right. James Wan made me believe that was possible again with his two titles on this list. Tell a story. A creepy one. One that makes you feel a bit weirded out. And if it’s based on a true story, even better!
With PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3, it was deeper into the series but told the backstory of why Toby and friends followed Katie and Kristi from childhood, forever altering their lives as adults.
A creepy story with a real feel to it as it’s told like a video found by the authorities.
Everyone knows the story of Annabelle the Raggedy Ann doll that was doing things such as moving around the house. And while I do think Annabelle in the movie was creepier, the first movie left a lot lacking. In ANNABELLE: CREATION, it plays on the fact of where Annabelle came from and with the focus on young girls to tell that tragic story. Plus we get a nun, and a man who seems weird, and Annabelle!
The first OUIJA film fell flat as the story wasn’t told well, which left me feeling pretty ambivalent about the characters’ deaths in it. I know that sounds mean and morbid, but you want to root for people to survive and I didn’t care if they lived or died in OUIJA.
But, with ORIGIN OF EVIL, I was invested in the mom and her daughters.
I was moved by how a sweet girl was changed into something else. Something evil. Something possessed. Now I want to see how (or even if) these characters will escape this film intact.
INSIDIOUS starts as if it's another haunted house movie. However, we soon find out that instead of the house being haunted, it’s the child. A little boy who can travel in his sleep, and brought something else back with him. The premise is disturbing and awesome at the same time.
Finally, we get to THE CONJURING—a movie with a creepy haunted house, a family we care about, and the added punch that this story is based on actual events. Automatically the hair on the back of your neck stands up and you want to know about The Perron family and the land with the witch Bathsheba.
All of these movies make for a fun night of unease and spooky vibes. That’s what Halloween is all about! Yes, I’m aware of how I sound gushing about horror movies. I love them like a love strawberry cheesecake, and let me tell you: that love is quite serious. My goal is to make you feel perturbed watching these movies with me, maybe even make you say a prayer or two after leaving my house when the marathon has ended. I’m sure these movies will leave an impression on you as they did me.
