It’s a day late, but that doesn’t make the Box Office Battle any less important. We have a short B.O.B. this week, Hereafter vs. Paranormal Activity 2.
Hereafter scored only 51% at Rotten Tomatoes and only made it to the fourth spot on the b.o. charts, grossing $13,220,915, a small undertaking for a first weekend. The critics felt that the movie was verging on being more of a boring tangent than a cohesive, thought-provoking movie:
“Damon breathes some life in to this boring film, but he’s only in one-third.”–The Scorecard Review
“A few great performances buoy the proceedings, but the laziness of Morgan’s script and the overall lack of focus or momentum combine to sink it.”–Goatdog’s Movies
“A finely drawn human drama, it just fails to go far enough with the supernatural elements.”–Three Movie Buffs
The big winner of this week is Paranormal Activity 2, coming in at number one on the b.o. charts and grossing $43,105,171. However, it only came in at 67% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, which is good, but just barely so. Overall, critics felt that while this has elements of the first Paranormal Activity, there is still enough in it to make a scary film. Some critics even feel that this film is better than its predecessor.
“A nullity of a ghost story, whose idea of creating atmosphere is preparing a blank surface for soundtrack bumps-in-the-night to resound off.”–L.A. Weekly
“[T]he jolts, when they come, are bigger, causing actual physical thrills and chills, at least for me.”–TIME Magazine
“For those able to roll with its slow-burn suggestiveness, this superior installment inspires a not-especially-pleasant, Pavlovian level of twitch response that few horror franchises can muster.”–The Stranger (Seattle, WA)
Here’s the top five movies of the week:
All ratings stats from Rotten Tomatoes; all monetary and box office stats from Box Office Mojo
