So let me get this straight... Kevin Greutert more or less saves the Saw series by making one of the, if not THE best installment in the long-running series and pulling the franchise out of a two-film artistic slump. But, the film more or less flops, taking in less overall ($27.5 million) than the previous sequels grossed in their opening weekends. Lionsgate, in their infinite wisdom, chooses not to bring back Greutert to direct the next chapter (Saw VII in 3D). No, instead they rehire David Hackl, the man responsible for Saw V, the least-liked film in the franchise (it was a better film than IV, but was slow and cheap-looking). But it gets better. Remember that other horror movie that went wide over Saw VI's opening weekend? That $15,000 glorified home movie that scared the pants off of unsuspecting teenagers and absolutely crushed Saw VI the weekend before Halloween? Yeah, well, guess who's being hired to direct Paranormal Activity 2?
Yup, Kevin Greutert is being hired to helm the franchise that defeated his own franchise (he also edited Saws 2, 3, 4, and 5) while David Heckl is being brought back to take over the long-running franchise that he more or less killed via a terrible fourth sequel. And the two competing horror franchises are once again being pitted head-to-head on October 22nd. My head is spinning just thinking about the sheer zaniness at play here. On the plus side, I'm now officially interested in Paranormal Activity 2. But then, I'm one of six people who actually preferred Joe Berlinger's Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 to the con-job that was the first film. Artisan's forced tinkering aside, at least the sequel was a real film with actual ideas. Anyway, it looks like horror fans will once again be forced to choose between the new and the old. But, oddity of oddities, the long running Tobin Bell franchise will now be in the inexplicable position of being the underdog once more. Good luck to both franchises.Scott Mendelson
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