Haunted From Childhood: The Katie Featherston Story

Updated
Haunted From Childhood: The Katie Featherston Story
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie Title:
Genre:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
2011
Original Running Time:
94
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
77
Time Cut:
17
Brief Synopsis:
If you've seen The Haunted World Of Katie Featherston and think you know the whole story, think again. Now, thanks to recently discovered VHS footage, thought to be lost for over 20 years, learn how it really all began.
Intention:
Like the previous two entries in the Paranormal Activity franchise there are too many filler scenes, especially in the extended versions, where nothing of any paranormal importance happens. As a result of this the movies tend to drag a little. By removing said filler scenes the movie flows much better now and gets you to the action much quicker, while still telling the same coherent story.
Additional Notes:
To give this film more of a VHS feel, since it takes place in 1988 and is supposed to have been shot on VHS, I didn't include any menus. The movie will start as soon as you pop the disc into your DVD player.
Special Thanks:
I would like to thank Whispers for putting the idea into my head to edit this film. I had originally wanted to create an extended cut, but when they failed to include any deleted, alternate, or extended scenes on the DVD or Blu-Ray I gave up on the idea of editing it. But then Whispers came along with his idea of a 3-in-1 edit and mentioned that he'd also be interested in a standalone edit if I were to make one, and that inspired me to go back and take a look and see if I could trim it down like I did with my Paranormal Activity 1 edit. I would also like to thank Neglify for his interest in the project, and Rogue-theX for creating the artwork.
Release Information:
DVD
Special Features
Anamorphic widescreen, 5.1 sound, English subtitles
Editing Details:
To trim the fat by getting rid of the scenes that were added just to pad the running time. If it doesn't help the paranormal story along, it's out.
Cuts and Additions:
- Cut opening scene with Kristi painting the nursery while her husband films.
- Cut "robbery" scene from Paranormal Activity 2.
- Cut Dennis pranking Randy.
- Cut taking pictures in driveway before "Picture Day".
- Cut Dennis and Randy watching wedding footage and making fun of the girl on the tape.
- Cut Dennis filming Julie smoking dope and acting stupid.
- Cut Dennis asking Julie if he can film them having sex, she says yes.
- Cut Dennis checking on Katie and Kristi in the tent and telling them goodnight.
- Cut Night #5, nothing happens.
- Cut Dennis filming Katie on the trampoline and asking her if she's sure she didn't sneak into the house the previous night.
- Cut end credits.
Cover art by Rogue-theX (DOWNLOAD HERE)
Undamaged Cover
image

Damaged Cover
image

User reviews

4 reviews
Overall rating
 
9.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0(3)
Audio Editing
 
9.5(4)
Visual Editing
 
9.3(4)
Narrative
 
8.8(4)
Enjoyment
 
8.5(4)
Overall rating
 
9.6
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
We watched this the other night, as 1/2 of a double feature, along with The Haunted World Of Katie Featherston, both on DVD. Generally, the same review applies to both edits.

I will preface the review by saying that I have seen the original source material 2 or 3 times. I'm not a fanatic by any stretch, but I was familiar with the pacing and structure of the original.

Having said that, I didn't really miss anything that was removed. Sometimes, in a horror edit, an editor will pull out the slower scenes that were designed to calm the audience down. That isn't the case here, because with "found footage" films, the directors tend to use the quiet moments to insert a suddenly scary event...so when watching films like this, most savvy audiences know enough to keep their guard up. The cuts in this particular edit seemed to improve the flow of the film, and when I discussed the edit with our guests, no on else seemed to miss anything either.

Technically, the editing was superb...I detected nothing that indicated to me that this was a fan-edit. If someone had just thrown this into the DVD player, and I was not familiar with the film, I would never have guessed.

I understand Neglify's point completely about the video quality not reflecting VHS quality, but then, that was an error on the part of the original film-maker, not the fan-editor. I kind of view it as a "nice to have". Also, my copy of the DVD did NOT start in subtitle mode, so that may be player-specific.

To sum up, worth watching, and an improvement over the original release.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
DVD
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
(Updated: October 21, 2012)
Overall rating
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
7.0
This is a bit of a tough one to review. I'll try.

Short version:

Frantic Canadian does a great job of trimming the fat of Paranormal Activity 3. If you wanted to see a leaner PA3 that's easier to rewatch, you'll enjoy this one.

Longer version:

This didn't quite fix this movie for me. I like PA3 a lot more than PA2. It's a much more compelling story and the pay off produces more tension than PA2.

My biggest problem with PA3 is the direction and overall look. The picture quality is crystal clear, despite this "found footage" movie being sourced from a VHS tape from the 80s and this aggravates me. GFY Catfish directors. This movie could have easily been made to look like something filmed in the 80s but it wasn't.

Doing such wasn't the intention of the editor but I would have enjoyed this a lot more if it had been.

The storyline is improved, less filler material without losing anything important.

I decided not to give the A/V Quality a rating because I hated how high quality it was.

The editing itself was great. The original film is edited very straightforward and FC cuts the fat perfectly.

The narrative was improved, but not so much to warrant a 10/10.

The enjoyment factor is the biggest hit here. I liked this version better than the theatrical version but it's still a film that bugs the hell out of me when I watch it. (Original movie is a 6.)

In conclusion... If you enjoyed PA3, you'll probably like this one. This isn't a complete overhaul of the film and I wouldn't go as far as to say it's better than the theatrical version, but it's as enjoyable (or maybe slightly more) than the original.
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 1 0
(Updated: October 09, 2012)
Overall rating
 
8.8
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
8.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
I'm glad I could be an inspiration for this edit.... I just threw out the idea of a 3 in 1 edit and through conversation it evolved into a stand alone Paranormal 3 edit...

Much like his edit of Paranormal Activity 1 The Haunted World Of Katie Featherston Frantic sticks to the the same simple concept... Take out the unneeded bits... keep the scares, tightening up the story making it a more enjoyable watch...

He achieves just that as the story does in fact move at a better pace and the tension is still there if not enhanced due to certain scenes being taken out that were just filler scenes.... The way I look at it is this is the way the movie should be watched! Unfortunately the studios can't release movies this short into the theatres without the general audience feeling ripped off... so essentially they fill it with filler scenes to bring it to a more acceptable length... This stuff is not required and serves it's purpose of taking up space but generally and with the cuts Frantic made lend nothing to the overall story...

I gave 9's across the board with the exception of one 8 as it wasn't much of an issue for me but I too had to turn off the subtitles which automatically played with the movie...

Great edit that I highly recommend... Kudos to Rogue for the cover art (aged one is my favorite)

Keep up the great work Frantic...

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 1 0
(Updated: October 09, 2012)
Overall rating
 
8.6
Audio/Video Quality
 
8.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
8.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
Watched this...

And did not sleep a wink afterwards!


Why oh why do I do this to myself?


I really enjoy the Paranormal Activity films and eagerly look forward to Part 4 later this month. I find them to be well designed and executed flicks that scare the crap out of me. Again, I ask, why do I do this to myself? Maybe that is a question for my therapist... LOL!

Anyway, FC's edit is technically well executed. It maintains the found footage feel and loses none of the story, while getting to the scares much faster.

My only issue with the edit, with it having no menus, the dvd automatically started playing in subtitle mode, so it took me forever to find the right button on my dvd remote to turn them off.

Otherwise, a good solid scary movie.

Thanks for the fun FC.

Now maybe I will get some sleep tonight.
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