Ghostbusters: The Video Game for Xbox 360
Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!!! After 25 years, a video game has been released to celebrate the anniversary of one of the most popular films in history, retailing at £39.99.
It’s a measure of how good the film was that the game seems as fresh and funny as ever. Featuring the voices and likenesses of most of the original cast members; Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson, the new script was penned by the writers of the first screenplay, Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis and with the same laconic humour, the banter between cast members will have you smiling … nay … guffawing, even as you reach for your proton pack.
Set two years after Ghostbusters ll, the storyline is original yet manages to replicate most of the iconic scenes from the movie including the New York library and players journey through cemeteries, museums and otherworldly dimensions re-encountering some of the film’s famous ghouls like Slimer, the terror dogs, Vigo and everyone’s favourite – the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. We’re also introduced to some pretty creepy new apparitions and phantoms and the game features great music, impressive sound effects and responsive control.
The aim is to save New York from being overrun by supernatural forces (again) and the player joins the Ghostbusters themselves as the rookie member of the team. Using the same gadgets from the movies, including proton packs, particle throwers, ghost locating PKE meter and that accessory no-one should be without – the Ecto-goggles – you can also chase down the ghosts in the Ecto-1 vehicle or weaken and trap them with your proton pack via four different modes . Weapons are upgradeable and the highly detailed environments are destructible so wreak as much carnage as you like but be aware that the cost of the damage is counted in dollars.
Paranormal Activity - dare you watch it?
Hold on to your seats and become part of the phenomenon – Paranormal Activity is to be released in the UK on 25th November. This is the movie that caused people in the US to leave the cinemas in droves after they became too frightened to stay at the initial screening.
The horror thriller was made by Oren Peli, a director with no formal film training and a budget of just $15,000 dollars. It has since become the most profitable independent film ever.
The film follows the story of Katie and Micah (played by Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat), a couple who are haunted by a demon in their new home in the middle of suburbia in San Diego, California and attempt to record the paranormal activity that is going on during the night even as they sleep. Filming is via a hand-held camera set up by Micah, in Blair Witch Project style – which brings the action a little closer to home – a little too close for some people! If you think Paranormal Activity sounds like a run of the mill ghost story you are in for a shock. Peli uses atmosphere and tension to create a slow build of sheer terror to an excruciating climax.
Paranormal Activity was first shown at the Screamfest Film Festival in the US in 2007 but languished for a while before being discovered by Jason Blum and Steven Schneider. Steven Spielberg himself took the DVD of the film home to watch overnight and returned convinced that it was haunted itself after his bedroom doors locked by themselves during the screening.
A campaign on the internet asking users to vote where the film should be shown followed – the first time a motion picture studio had used the web to virally market a film. After 1,000,000 hits were registered requesting that the film be released nationwide, it went national in the US and went on to gross $7,900,695 beating Saw Vl.