Regarding the film industry, we have to start with a North American movie called "The Blair Witch Project."
In the original time and space, this film sold 60,000 yuan, and the total global box office was close to 250 million. It pioneered the "mock documentary" style horror film. Later, there was a "Ghost Story" with a similar theme, and the return rate was also huge.
This is a movie shot in July 1998.
It was officially released in North America on July 30, 1999.
Now less than a month,
The North American box office is close to 100 million.
Although 25 million was spent on the promotion of this film, the producer also spent a lot of effort on building a website to promote it before its release.
But with a cost of 60,000 and more than a hundred times the profit, such a gimmick naturally attracted huge attention, so "Blair Witch" set off various trends this August.
The first is the trend of "mock documentary" style shooting.
It is said that in the original time and space, hunters could hardly hunt during the hunting season.
They are all a bunch of sand sculptures who jumped into the forest with DVD players and imitated filming.
Scared all the prey away.
There is also the trend of supernatural horror films, the most direct impact of which is that "The Sixth Sense", which was released after it, was a box office hit.
Although "The Sixth Sense" itself has the potential to be a hit, it is undeniable that people have indeed caught up with this trend and the box office has increased much more than expected.
In addition to these two trends, the film market has also set off a gold rush for "low-cost masterpieces".
With a cost of RMB 60,000 and a box office of RMB 100 million, how much can you earn? Who wouldn’t be jealous?
In addition, after all, the plot of "Blair Witch" is indeed not very good, but the audience loves to watch it so much, so film critics and various film and television companies are also thinking about whether this is a new trend in movies, or the mainstream taste of audiences in the future?
As a result, various "low-cost masterpieces" that are advertised as "undiscovered treasures" gradually become more and more on the market.
And film critics and various speculators are also happy to dig for gold in the market.
What if they get another "Blair Witch" movie, wouldn't they make a lot of money?
It was at this time that "This Man Came from Earth" happened to enter the disc market.
Stephen is a senior film critic.
"The Blair Witch Project" became a hit, and many film companies approached various film critics to praise their "low-cost masterpiece".
Stephen has taken a lot of orders these days.
But how to say,
It's all Chet.
In fact, in the final analysis, although the plot of "Blair Witch" is average, it is a pioneer after all, and the audience is also going for the "mock documentary" and supernatural. The so-called ultra-low cost is just one of the gimmicks, not the main thing.
the elements of.
But people in the film company don't think so, or they just want to catch up on a trend.
Stephen didn't think it mattered about this. He was just taking advantage of this trend to have some fun. He just had to tell the truth about whether the film was good or bad.
If it was really good, he would also be willing to strongly recommend it to the audience.
However, this probability is very small.
After all these years in Hollywood, which ultra-low-budget films are really good?
So after being fed several stomachs of shit in the past few days, he decided not to continue.
He needs to relax his mind.
However, at this moment, a poster in the video store caught his attention.
"The Man from Earth", released by Warner, a "masterpiece" with a cost of 200,000, directed by Quentin.
Another "masterpiece", Stephen felt like vomiting when he saw this.
A company as big as Warner is actually jumping on the bandwagon?
But watching "Quentin" again piqued his interest.
Quentin naturally knows that this is a genius director.
Maybe, this is indeed a masterpiece?
Stephen thought for a while,
Decided to appreciate it.
If it's still Sheite, then Quentin will wait for me to be full of firepower!
So he bought the disc without hesitation and went straight home.
Half an hour later, the video started playing.
At the beginning of the film, the male protagonist resigned from his job as a university professor and prepared to leave here for an unknown distant place. Many companions came to see him off.
The protagonist's seemingly simple house is decorated with Van Gogh's paintings, medieval bows and arrows, and prehistoric stone axes. Everything gives people a strange sense of suspense.
And this also made Stephen couldn't help but be slightly attracted by this sense of suspense.
He felt that the beginning of this movie seemed different from other bad movies that were called "low-budget masterpieces". At least the production and shooting were unprecedentedly sophisticated.
The characters also seemed to have hidden meanings. Among the people seeing him off were historians, religious scientists, biologists, psychologists and many other knowledgeable people.
His instinctive sense of smell told Stephen that this script seemed quite interesting. Although the dialogue continued and trivial stories were chatted in a very peaceful tone as if they were homely, a sense of progression slowly appeared in the whole plot.
The protagonist looks raw, and he probably hasn't appeared in other Hollywood movies, but his acting skills are very good.
In fact, the protagonist is played by Quentin's friend Stim, who is not famous at all, because acting is just his hobby, and his real identity is a university professor.
The male protagonist of the film is also a professor, so in terms of image and temperament, the two of them are quite compatible.
This is why a person with a secret can be vividly interpreted.
At the same time, the cooperation of other actors is also very good. Although everyone is an ensemble cast, there are also experts among the people. What's more, this is in Hollywood. Quentin is going to make a movie. How many people will compete for a role? So the whole movie looks like
, all the actors are not said to have amazing acting skills, but compared with those bad movies, they are naturally much better.
As the movie continues, as the protagonist's friends in the room ask the protagonist why he left as if decrypting the secrets, things like Van Gogh's paintings, medieval bows and arrows also begin to turn into strange hints, and as the plot gradually develops,
, this hint becomes stronger and stronger...
Seeing this, Stephen looked a little stunned.
This is definitely different from other Xie Te who claim to be "low-cost masterpieces".
Maybe, this will be another "Blair Witch"!
Thinking of this, Stephen couldn't help but sit up straight and pay great attention.
The screen continues.
In the movie, the furnace is burning.
It seems to have a different light.
The hero stood by the fire and announced an amazing story.
He comes from the world of years ago.
The audience in the room was stunned, and Stephen was also stunned.
And the tone of the entire plot seems to start from your words and move towards suspense...
"No matter how long a person lives, he cannot transcend the era in which he lives. He cannot know more than the best people in this ethnic group..."
"Although I have lived for years, it does not mean that I am a genius. All I have is time..."
"I often get tired of people repeating stupid mistakes."
The male protagonist sometimes sighs and sighs, sometimes shakes his head and sighs. Faced with these people's questions and doubts, he slowly responded in an understatement.
The plot gradually becomes depressing and tense. No one knows how far the plot will go, and the seemingly absurd direction is so irrefutable.
Stephen seemed to be able to hear his own heartbeat. He was completely attracted by the hero's words and such a ridiculous story.
However, all this was just the beginning. What the male protagonist said next made everyone feel a sense of complete subversion.
Yes, subversive!
And the plot gradually begins to reach its climax...
"I met someone, got his name, said a few words, and then he died."
"Other people are like ocean waves, coming and going, or like wheat waves, floating in the wind..."
The main character in the movie talks about death.
It is true that after living for many years, death is inevitable.
And such words combined with Stim's natural acting skills and vicissitudes of eyes make people feel deeply immersed in watching it.
The plot continued to advance, and then conflicts began to gradually arise.
The newly arrived psychiatrist seems unable to withstand the pain of this subversion. As a psychiatrist, when he comes to the conclusion with a professional perspective that the protagonist is not lying, does he doubt his professionalism or does he believe that this is really a living thing in front of him?
Year old monster?
So he suddenly pulled out a gun and pointed it at the male protagonist, feeling extremely excited!
He thought it was all ridiculous and nonsense.
However, there was more nonsense later, because everyone then talked about religion.
Then the male protagonist's words began to gradually change to another level.
The male protagonist slowly peels off the details of religion, as if he is slowly explaining the absurd facts.
Everyone in the movie is staring at the hero.
He thought the male protagonist was crazy.
“When did you start believing you were Jesus’?”
"When did you believe you were a psychiatrist?"
A very simple question and rhetorical question but it contains something crazy!
The male protagonist told everyone that he was Jesus Christ. He integrated Eastern Buddhist ideas into Judaism. People adapted his experiences to create the Gospel!
The audience thought he was crazy and tried every means to refute him, even trembling and getting angry.
One of the old ladies began to feel that her worldview had been subverted, and her eye circles gradually began to turn red...
The protagonist reveals many contents in the Bible, and many of his remarks may seem absurd, but in fact they are so creepy and reasonable.
"He actually claims to be Jesus!"
Stephen outside the movie also thought this man was crazy, and like the audience in the movie, he was completely immersed in this incredible world.
At first, he wanted to see how bad this bad movie with such a small investment could be, and then criticize Quentin and Warner Pictures.
However, he found that he was wrong.
At least the movie is not a bad movie until now, it can even be said to be a real masterpiece.
He is eager to see the follow-up.
He longed to see the end.
Even, eager to see the truth of the world!
In the following plot, everyone raised questions in a panicky way, and several people began to believe the hero's words.
The male protagonist turned on the light, but was stopped by others and asked to turn off the light.
They seemed to feel that the light of the stove gave them some inexplicable sense of security, or a strange atmosphere.
They are trapped in this story that they don't know is a scam...
At the same time, there was a person who could no longer bear it mentally and began to feel fear.
As the man raised doubts that were not sure whether they were hints, or the final words of torture, the male protagonist realized that something might be wrong if things continued like this, so he went along and said that he was actually playing a prank, but in fact it was a lie.
!
Fake? This is him...
Just when Stephen thought that such a hasty ending was the biggest failure of the film.
The movie comes to its true ending.
The old psychiatrist discovered that what the male protagonist said was indeed true, and what shocked him even more was: the male protagonist was his father!
Then, unable to withstand the blow, he died of a heart attack.
The picture gradually stops abruptly...
The film ends, and the credits play on the TV in the dark room.
Stephen, on the other hand, sat on the sofa with dull eyes.
This state lasted for a long time.
It wasn't until all the credits at the end of the film were finished that Stephen sat up suddenly.