Cinematic Showdown is where I randomly take two movies that I've seen recently, rank them based on a rotating criteria, and declare one the winner. Because the only thing better than movies, is pointless conflict.
THE FILMS!
Mad Monster Party?: A Rankin/Bass Stop Motion film in the style of their Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman. Released in 1967, the plot revolves around Baron Frankenstein (Boris Karloff) inviting all of his monster friends to his retirement party, during which he will announce his successor. Once word gets out that the successor is going to be Frankenstein's mild-mannered nephew Felix, the rest of the monsters plot to do him in. There's also singing, and stuff.
Paranormal Activity: Shot on the cheap by writer/director Oren Peli, this 2009 hit is a ghost story in the found-footage tradition of The Blair Witch Project. For years, Katie has been haunted by a demon, which is something that she's learned to live with. But when her boyfriend Micah starts to record the "activity" with his new video camera, the demon begins to elevate the game to the next level.
THE TITLES!
Paranormal Activity is straight and to the point. The word "paranormal" also evokes supposed true life shows like Unsolved Mysteries more than a word like "ghost" or "demon" would, which is exactly what they're going for. Conversely, the question mark at the end of Mad Monster Party makes the movie sound unsure of itself. What is it, buddy? Is there a monster party, or isn't there?
1 point to Paranormal Activity
THE WRITING!
Paranormal Activity was "written" by Oren Peli, but quite a bit of the dialogue was ad-libbed by the actors. No one would mistake this for Shakespeare, but the characters speak in a realistic fashion.
The Mad Monster script was co-written by Harvey Kurtzman, late of EC Comics and Mad Magazine. As such, the puns become a bit overwhelming at times. And even by the standards of a children's film, the script makes little to no sense. If Dracula can change into a bat at any time, why is he desperately hacking through the forest with a machete?
3 points to Paranormal Activity
THE ACTING!
Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat play "themselves" in Paranormal Activity, which can sometimes be the hardest performance of all (See Robert England and Heather Langenkamp's stunted performances in New Nightmare). As such, they genuinely seem scared, and intimate, and ultimately frustrated with each other. I've seen a lot of criticism of their performances, but most of the complaints I hear have to do more with character motivation than actual gravitas. Katie and Micah, I salute you.
In Mad Monster Party, Boris Karloff plays Frankenstein, and you have Phyllis Diller as. . . Well, Phyllis Diller! But the real star of this is Allen Swift, who provides the voices of Dracula, Dr. Jekyll, The Invisible Man, Protagonist Felix, and a Peter Lorre inspired zombie named Yetch. For being the one man band of Dracula's pajama party, I gotta give Allen and the movie the pot.
3 points to Mad Monster Party
THE DIRECTION!
Oren Peli makes effective use of both stationary and hand-held video, giving the movie an extremely claustrophobic feeling as the desperate couple search every nook and cranny of their home for the mysterious demonic invader. On second watch, it's evident that a lot of thought was put into the camera movements and set-ups, despite the loose feeling of the story. Plus, this shit is scary!
In Mad Monster Party, director Jules Bass has some fantastic animation and creature design to work with, but ultimately this thing creaks. It needs to be shorter, faster, or funnier.
5 points to Paranormal Activity
VOLUPTUOUS WOMEN!
In Mad Monster Party, we have Francesca, a creation of Baron Frankenstein with a bit of an evil streak. She's a femme fatale, but one with a heart of. . . actually, I'm not sure what her heart is made of.
Katie Featherston has become a worldwide sex-symbol for nerds and people who like their ladies slightly plus-sized. Points to Paranormal for putting a healthy looking woman on screen in 2009.
1 point to Paranormal Activity
BLEAK ENDINGS!
At the end of Paranormal, baaadddd things have happened to our two protagonists; but do we really care? They're both kind of dumb, and act like huge assholes for most of the film.
In Mad Monster Party, we're left on a boat with two "people", who's dreams of starting a family together can never come true, since we discover that they're both robots. Meanwhile, almost every other character in the film, living or dead, has just been blown to kingdom come. If that ain't bleak, I don't don't know what is.
2 points to Mad Monster Party
FINAL TALLY!
Paranormal Activity: 10
Mad Monster Party: 5
Looks like one horny demon gets the best of several Universal Studios lawsuits waiting to happen.
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