Paranormal Activity

[Raziaar]

So I saw this article on yahoo.

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/buzz-log-paranormal-activity.html

Ten years ago, moviegoers were scared out of their minds by "The Blair Witch Project." Will the newly released screamfest "Paranormal Activity" have the same effect? Early search interest points to "yes."

The film is shot documentary style (but is scripted, like "Blair Witch"), and concerns a couple who may have a poltergeist in their home. They're dubious at first, but quickly change their tunes after "things" start happening. But by then is it too late? After all, horror movies have a tendency to punish doubters as much as amorous teenagers.

Seemed like bullshit at first... but apparently it got pretty good reviews thus far on Rotten Tomatoes. Granted, only 15 reviews.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/paranormal_activity/

I just wonder if this is the type of horror movie that I said I wanted to see... the type where it horrifies you in the most deceptively simple ways... instead of hollywood's typical SCREAM MONSTER IN YOUR FACE! style.


Trailer...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_UxLEqd074

Are people really this visibly upset when they see scary movies? I hate scary movies because they have tended to scare me easily due to my imagination, but it's an internal thing, not an outward display of terror.

 

[Barnz]

trailer is dumb. it's probably another hyped shit movie.

 

[Raziaar]

trailer is dumb. it's probably another hyped shit movie.

It's already been out) since 2007, just now in the states since yesterday though.

I'm thinking about watching it to see how it is.

The film was shot in one week in 2006 with a $15,000 budget and a hand-held video camera.

Just makes you wonder how good it could possibly be.

Critical reception

Limited screenings of the film have been well received by critics so far. The movie currently has a 93% "Fresh" rating from Rotten Tomatoes based on 15 reviews.[

If it is one of those creeping horror type films instead of the lunge out at you retardation, it may have potential.

We'll see.

 

[David.Seth2]

just read a review of the film at aintitcool.com:

http://aintitcool.com/node/42499

he seemed to give it a good review. and while it may be hyped, there is something to the "less is more" style. That and the fact that its a slow build in suspense. Some of the best horror films have been ones where it takes it time to build up the suspense (best example I can think of is The Thing)

 

[Barnz]

%93 on RT, I'm sold

 

[Adrik_Senturu]

I just came back from seeing this last night, and the reviews are pretty much spot on. Its easily one of the scariest movies I've ever seen. I honestly don't think I've seen a movie thats been able to build that kind of tension before.

Spoiler

Aside from a few scenes the movie isnt your typical shit comes out of nowhere and scares you type deal. There are long stretches of time where you are just glued to the screen as you hear a noise here and there and you're waiting for something to happen and when it finally does happen you shit your ****ing pants

 

[Lucid]

That trailer is such bullshit.

 

[Adrik_Senturu]

I gotta admit, I wasn't hyped at all for the movie when I saw the trailer, but rather when I started reading the reviews, and reviews from people who had seen the screenings already.

The trailer is definitely kind of goofy, but it shouldn't stop anyone from seeing it. This is a really good movie.

This pretty much describes it exactly:

Just got back from the movie with my wife; was a midnight viewing in Baton Rouge. Whether a person likes the movie or not, judging from the crowd tonight (movie played on 2 screens), then the movie is most likely going to be a financial success and, like Blair Witch, probably will have a cult following.

Now, about the movie:
Where the Blair Witch succeeded in building tension in a long arc, this movie is able to accomplish the same thing, just in a more "building block" fashion. The tense parts of the movie are punctuated with light comic relief and, more importantly, a feeling of normalcy.

If you hear people describe "jump scares" in this movie and are turned off by that, trust me: these DO happen, but are not only necessary for the plotline, but also quite effective. They don't exist on their own...they are woven into the story in order to heighten the viewer's sense of dread. After all, as most of you know already, the antagonist is never seen. Thus, the director had to rely on other senses of perception to for a "bad guy". Here, like Blair Witch, that will begin to develop in your mind. Mine was not a pretty picture at all.

Save for only a couple of moments, this film isn't littered with "Why the hell are they doing that?" moments. The building of tension and the actors' reactions all seem well within the realm of what you, or I, might do. Sure, it's easy to second-guess (in virtually every movie) the actions of the protagonists here, but at least in Paranormal Activity nothing seems implausible.

The camera work was more than acceptable; the "shaky-cam" phenomenon is rarely used and isn't even all that terrible when it is. The actors themselves did a fine job; the lead actor, at times, came across slightly naive and too willing to frame things with his silliness, but he did well and the lead actress was spot-on in her performance. The only other actor of note, the "psychic", did well to convey the situation and sounded pretty knowledgeable and no-nonsense enough that his spiels were definitely believable.

The last 10 minutes or so of the film did seem slightly rushed, but not so much that I felt it really did anything to effect my enjoyment of the film. In hindsight, it's much easier to swallow the pacing by accepting, according to the film, that this took place over the course of three weeks. Perhaps there were other events that weren't filmed; perhaps every single night was filmed with many being uneventful. Whatever the case, I was satisfied with the whole movie. Whatever qualms I have are small and inconsequential.

I can't say much more without giving away substantial plot detail; I will agree with other people's reviews I've read who say that this movie will probably tend to effect viewers more at home than in the theater. It's the whole "why am I still thinking about it?" kind of thing going on. What's worse, for me, is that my house is very similar to the one in the film. If you were to stand in the doorway of my bedroom looking out, it's a near-mimic of the film set.

 

[Lucid]

Oh, I'm not doubting the film... it's just that I find trailers that show the audience being scared are so ridiculous.
I've seen dozens of horror movies in theaters and the most I've heard are a few gasps from someone in the audience being startled.

I'll probably see it when it comes to DVD.

 

[Kakashi]

This was absolutely one of the scariest movies I've ever seen. The entire time my hands were just sweating, you just have this nervous feeling throughout the movie. This was genuine scare, not the typical things that popped out at you or scary music. Actually, there were no soundtrack to this movie at all. This is a must see horror flick.

The director only spent $10,000 on this film, he wrote, produced, filmed, and directed the movie all on his own. The film was also filmed in his own home, where most of the money went towards buying electronics and furniture to fill up his house for the film. Even Steven Spielberg himself was scared shitless, that he returned the demo copy of the movie in a trash bag.

The director has already started a new film in the same style of format 'found footage' style. It will be called "Area 51" which follows a bunch of teenagers into the restricted area, and you watch what they find.

But again, "Paranormal Activity" is a must see scare flick, I've been getting all my friends and co-workers to go see it and they've have a blast watching it. After the first or second night of not sleeping, you'll feel much better.

 

[Remus]

Man that trailer was lame. I'll give this movie a shot even though I absolutely despise that "amateur camera man" style.

Also, if the main characters are the stereotypical horror movie characters which defy common sense and press on despite the danger, I will facepalm and stop watching... :|

 

[Raziaar]

Yeah the trailer was really stupid.

 

[Kadayi]

Is it scarier than REC? (The Spanish film as opposed to Quarantine the English Language remake). That film creeped me out big time. :O

 

[dfc05]

I've read good things about this too and would like to see it, but (1) the theater's pretty far away and buses tend to run late and I don't really have time to go, (2) don't wanna go by myself, (3) a couple of my friends don't like scary movies. Bleh... will probably rent in a couple of years.

 

[Sparta]

I've been following this film for a while now. Seems like a serious version of Drag Me To Hell, which is a good thing. Unfortunately, I doubt it will ever come to Australia.

 

[Adrik_Senturu]

Man that trailer was lame. I'll give this movie a shot even though I absolutely despise that "amateur camera man" style.

Also, if the main characters are the stereotypical horror movie characters which defy common sense and press on despite the danger, I will facepalm and stop watching... :|

The characters for the most part act pretty believable.

Is it scarier than REC? (The Spanish film as opposed to Quarantine the English Language remake). That film creeped me out big time. :O

I've seen REC and I used to think that was one of the most intense horror movies I had ever seen, but I'm gonna go ahead and say that Paranormal Activity beats it by a long shot.

I actually got to see it again yesterday, and on my way out of the theater I saw a girl leaning against the wall crying and shaking. It was pretty cool.

 

[Qonfused]

So I regard The Blair Witch Project the scariest film I've seen, or at least tied with The Shining. Does PA touch these films?

 

[Adrik_Senturu]

So I regard The Blair Witch Project the scariest film I've seen, or at least tied with The Shining. Does PA touch these films?

I think the PA is scarier then the Blair Witch and this is from someone who goes camping regularly. Blair Witch ****ed me up for a while.

Spoiler

Theres a scene in the movie after a particularly big scare where the main character says "Yeah that was just my inner-child being scared. Im fine" and I thought that was really a perfect ****ing description of how this movie managed to scare me so bad. A lot of the things that happen in this movie are things that I was scared of happening when I was a kid, so this movie kind of takes those childhood fears and just multiplies them by 100.

Heres a pretty nice review from Ebert too.

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091007/REVIEWS/910089996/1023

 

[Warbie]

How about for someone who didn't find Blair Witch remotely disturbing? Do these movies share much in common?

 

[Adrik_Senturu]

That's hard to say really, as I've had a few friends who hated the Blair Witch love this movie. Really the only things they have in common are the style in which there shot, you know the whole "Amateur Camera Man" thing. The similarities pretty much end there as PA is a bit more in your face with things.

 

[bam23]

I just saw this movie. I went in a big skeptic and left the theater scared ****ing shitless. I was actually scared to tears at one point but still laughing out of pure nervousness.

This movie ****s with your head. It ****s with your head without lube. It ****s with your head without lube and spreads every ****ing STD known to man through your ass and out your left armpit. I haven't felt this psychologically ****ed ever. Every little sound in my house makes me stop what I'm doing and grab the mag-lite.

This was a real scary movie.

 

[Ennui]

Sounds interesting. I am going to see this with a lady friend of mine. I doubt I'll find it all that scary or all that good either but it should be worth the price of the ticket to see her shit her pants and force me to let her stay at my place because she's too scared to sleep alone

 

[Sulkdodds]

Raziaar: see REC.

Ennui: when you get back home, use an innocuous excuse to trap her in a pitch-black room. Then take off your clothes to reveal your pitch-black undersuit, and enter via another way. Make it seem like a poltergeist is flinging 'ectoplasm' at her. You'll be in there.

Anyway, this looks interesting.

 

[lame-o]

you still want her if she shits her pants?