Alphabetical Horror Films - P Trivia Quiz

Answer: Paranormal Activity

In much the same way that "The Blair Witch Project" revolutionized independent horror cinema, "Paranormal Activity" managed to achieve the feat of truly viral moviemaking when it released in 2007, pushing into a wide release almost solely through word of mouth and traction online. What resulted was a slow burn cinema hit that Paramount Pictures pushed into a long run of sequels, most of which involved the same sort of 'filmed at home, so it's real' vibe as the original, and each of which followed demonic possessions and haunting in the same storyline.

Answer: Pet Sematary

Regarded as one of King's most emotionally horrifying novels, "Pet Sematary" was first published in 1983 and it followed the story of a family, beset by grief, and a father opting to bury the pet cat in a nearby Indian burial ground. What followed that was more tragic, leading to terrifying encounters with the beyond.

The first adaptation of this, made in 1989, was done by Mary Lambert; it was remade again by Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer in 2019. Perhaps neither one really packed the emotional gut punch that the original novel possessed.

Answer: Pulse

Originally known as "Kairo" (or "Circuit") when it was released in Japan in 2001, the horror film here pertained to ghosts that could travel through computers, creating spectres from beyond and forcing the living to kill themselves, joining the lonely masses in the afterlife.

When Wes Craven helped write the American remake, what resulted was a bleak film spawned from the J-horror craze that swept horror cinema throughout the start of the 2000s. The remake, starring Kristen Bell, was critically panned for its heavy-handed choices in style, tone, and subject matter.

Answer: Predator

And they weren't even close! The original "Predator" film, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, premiered in 1987 and followed a group of paramilitary men and women as they headed into the jungle to fight guerillas but, actually, stumbled upon an alien being.

The 2022 film "Prey" was the fifth mainline film in the "Predator" series and it took the storyline back to the year 1719, following a Comanche woman played by Amber Midthunder as she took on a similar, but earlier Predator creature known to her people as the Mupitsi. Director Dan Trachtenberg, who also made "10 Cloverfield Lane", would continue the series with the animated anthology film "Predator: Killer of Killers" and the futuristic "Predator: Badlands", both in 2025.

Answer: Prometheus

With the "Alien" franchise on ice after the releases of "Alien: Resurrection" in 1997 and the "Alien vs. Predator" franchise (which capped with the critically-panned "Requiem" in 2007), Ridley Scott returned to the director's seat for the series after thirty-three years to create "Prometheus", which starred Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, and Charlize Theron (amongst others) as they set out in a Weyland Corporation ship to pursue a massive archaeological find on a distant planet. What they found there was a threat with ties to the "Alien" story known to most horror fans.

Though polarizing due to its unexpected love-hate relationship with the source material, "Prometheus" was quite the successful movie and a direct sequel, "Alien: Covenant", released in 2017, again with Scott at the helm.

Answer: Psycho

Perhaps Alfred Hitchcock's most famous movie, "Psycho" was a slasher progenitor, paving the way for even more films, now considered classics, to leverage the warped minds and violent ends that he devised. Based, loosely, on the serial killer Ed Gein, Anthony Perkins' Norman Bates appears to be an anxious but safe-enough motel owner in this film, but it turns out that he harbours dark secrets. Marion Crane, who stays for an evening, finds herself the victim.

Janet Leigh, who played Marion, was the mother of famous Scream Queen Jamie Lee Curtis, who would star in her own slasher flicks starting with John Carpenter's "Halloween" in 1978.

Answer: Puppet Master

An extremely long and convoluted series of films from Full Moon Features and Charles Band, "Puppet Master" started in 1989 with a film set in a California inn at which the famed puppet-maker Andre Toulon hid his creations-- living puppets-- from the Nazis at the end of World War II.

The series progressed from there, often with a rotating cast of puppets dispatching everyone from psychics to family members to doctors and...yeah... Nazis. Eventually the puppets even became the good guys (a few times!).

By the series' 30th anniversary, there would be 13 movies in the franchise. And it didn't end there.

Answer: Phantasm

"Phantasm", released in 1979, might also be the weirdest of the bunch, seemingly pulled from Coscarelli's mind entirely as he was the writer, director, and independent producer of the film. Following a pair of brothers as they and their buddy, Reggie, took on the weird events surrounding a local funeral home, the story featured a deadly metal ball, a too-tall man behind the scenes, dwarves, and a portal to another world.

The series continued with several sequels dating as far as 2016, nearly 40 years after the original.

The first in the series, however, is an iconic cult classic.

Answer: Poltergeist

Horror for the whole family! "Poltergeist" follows the Freeling family as they move into a new home in the Cuesta Verde housing development. While Steven Freeling works as a realtor to sell other properties, his family goes about their lives in the new place only to discover that something supernatural has its sights set on their youngest child, Carol-Anne. What follows is a desperate attempt to bring her back from 'the other side' and a mad dash to escape a house that won't let go.

"Poltergeist", which released in 1982 to acclaim, was followed by a handful of sequels and, eventually, a remake in 2013. It's commonly regarded as a standout in the genre.

Answer: The Purge

"The Purge" first released in 2013 and it ran with the premise wherein one night a year, the United States deemed that society could commit any crimes they so chose, reasoning that it would reduce crime for the rest of the year. This first film focused on one family, attempting to stay safe at home while the Purge came knocking on their door.

Subsequent films in the series, which had varying degrees of success, focused on different Purges and different factions. "Election Year", for instance, followed a Presidential candidate; "The First Purge" brought the story to its earliest days. There was even "The Purge" television series which ran for two seasons from 2018 to 2019.