Paranormal Activity

[jaykhunter]

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY REVIEW

Plot : This film is set in a house in California, which has started showing some, well, Paranormal Activity. The house is home to a mid-20s couple, the girl (Katie) being completely freaked out and a devout believer of this malevolent being. The boyfriend (Mika) is just a regular guy, as well as a condescending ghost-skeptic. He thinks these happenings are pretty cool and buys a new cameras/microphone to document this phenomena. What we see is the edited version of what these cameras recorded, similar to the Blair Witch Project.

This is a film that I could ruin pretty quickly in just a few lines, so if you were really intrigued by the trailer, I suppose go see it.
My non-spoiler review is that "it's OK. It doesn't live up to anywhere of the hype. Newcomers of the genre might be suckered in, but you'll finish the film pretty unsatisfied."

I apologise for all the spoiler tags, but I didn't want to ruin the film on anyone that wants to still see this film. This is a film that could be ruined in just a few sentences, so I'll leave it at that.
This film is not worth the money you will spend on seeing it!!

Camerawork : This is shot documentary style, which means either hand-held, or the camera is put down and faces the actors.

Cast : There are really only 2 actors in the film, with some small scenes with other people. It's really just the couple for the most part of the movie.

Acting : Is quite believable for the most part, even though they seem to be quite gullible/stupid...but that's to further the plot...that and they wanted to film everything in their house to keep costs down

Music : Barely any, except snippets of songs that is either on the TV or Mika has on his computer. Basically none.

Sound Effects : Spoiler: Effective, but towards the end gets a bit "that's bol-locks" because where's the damn ghost. It's obviously some other dude outside stamping heavy...really used a little too much.

Visual Effects : Spoiler: Since this is an indy flick, it's almost non-existant. Whatever 50 dollars they spent on these effects are OK, but since they're always so subtle, you're not scared about what it could be, but rather "where's my scare?!" This film could've done with at least a few grand thrown at the Special Effects/Paranoraml budget...it's a shame. The stuff happening is cool enough, I guess, but why this stuff doesn't deter the couple from getting the hell out of the gaf is anyone's idea.

Plot : In Simon's Quest fashion (lol) it moves from "day is grand, at night (~3:30am) stuff happens", which is actually quite effective. You're always moving from one night to the next, "making it through the night". Spoiler: The only problem is that the hauntings are pretty tame/not malevolent until the end.

General thoughts on the film : Spoiler: Well, well done for piquing my curiosity enough to see the film. By the trailer you wondered if what they showed you was just the beginning or the best effects they had....it was the latter :D Anyway, the story is quite believable, even if these two are too stupid to actually leave or reconvene when they have some help...which makes them pretty stupid...but it's so we can further the plot in the most cost-effective way possible. C'mon mate! You should know better! The characters are done well, the scared girl and the slightly douchy cocky boyfriend who doesn't believe/take it seriously.

After watching the film for half an hour, you realise that the scares aren't really gonna come. I guess that they were hoping "what you don't see is scarier" and that might've worked back in the 70s but these days most horror film buffs need to see something to scare them....your film had better be the best film ever to actually build anticipation to a scare without ACTUAL scares. It's just implied scares....which is kind of lame. The last 15 minutes of the film are quite interesting, with some cool effects, but I wish that there could've been this level of intensity leading in rather than a slow build. The bottom line is that if you're not easily drawn in and willing to try to believe, it'll be crap....kind of like the Blair Witch Project!

My verdict is : Don't see this movie. It's not worth the money. But if you're a huge horror fans and your expectations are suitably low, then try out this 97-minute implied-horror movie. This film really needed a bigger budget for more convincing/worrying Paranormal Activity.


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Just had a quick look on Wikipedia :

Theatrical Ending :
Spoiler: That night, Katie is forcibly dragged out of bed and down the hallway by an invisible force. Hearing her screams, Micah gives chase and wrestles her away, and Katie emerges from the struggle with a gruesome bite mark on her back. Stressed and exhausted, the couple decide to go to a hotel room. After daytime events see a glass picture frame break and the portrait inside become scratched, and Katie gripping a crucifix so tightly that it bloodies her palm, a suddenly calm Katie insists to Micah that they instead remain at the house. That night, Katie, after once again awakening to stare at a sleeping Micah for several hours, goes down the stairs into the darkness, and begins screaming. Micah wakes up and runs to her, and the camera can only see the bedroom and dark hallway as it records the sounds of a struggle upon his arrival downstairs. Micah and Katie's screams are cut short, and brief silence is followed by the sound of heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. Unexpectedly, Micah is hurled at the camera, knocking it over. Still filming, Katie slowly crawls into view, her face demonically contorted. She sniffs at Micah's lifeless body, then smiles at the camera before lunging toward it as the screen cuts to black. An ending title card states that Micah's body was discovered days later by the police, and Katie's whereabouts remain unknown.

Original Ending :
Spoiler: The original ending, as attached to the video sent to potential distributors, has Katie returning to the bedroom, after the struggle heard downstairs, wielding a knife and having blood on her tank top. She sits next to the bed and rocks back and forth throughout the remainder of the following day. Her friend Amber arrives the next night and flees the house upon discovering Micah's body downstairs. When two police officers arrive, Katie comes out of her catatonic state and approaches them. The officers instruct her to drop the knife and shoot her after a confused Katie fails to do so. The film ends with the officers discovering the running camera. A frame from this ending has emerged online. The scenes involving the broken picture frame in the theatrical version replaced a scene in the original version in which Micah determines through the video footage that the entity spelled "Diane" on the Ouija board. Searching the internet, he finds a story about a girl named Diane who, decades earlier, had experienced a haunting similar to Katie's, and then died after chewing off her own arm during a botched exorcism.

Another alternate ending shows Katie returning to the bedroom with the knife and slitting her own throat in front of the camera. The version of the film with this ending was shown at only one public viewing.

[stevejazzx]

Hmmm

Watched this last night. Thought it got so much right but didn't deliver on the payoff. Now you might argue that the payoff wasn't warranted or needed but I thought the way the film progressed it begged for something a little darker at the end. In saying that the 'original ending' (see op) that we saw was more than adequate. The overall effect from this is eerie spookiness rather than full out terror. The only problem here is that subtlety can only carry you so far. I completely agree with the other poster re: Blair Witch - (I thought it was extremely overhyped) - at least here the 2 main protagonists go to reasonable lenghts to ensure the plausibility factor is prolonged as long as possible. There comes a point where I was saying "why the f**k are you not surrounding yourself with other people" - surely that'd be safer? By this time however it is clear that girl is possessed to some extent. I would have loved to have gotten a mirror reflection (as cheesy and 'as done' as that is it would have suited here) of the 'demon' or even a silhouette (referenced early on). I think that would have been terrifying. To finally get an encounter (this is what makes the exorcist so good). The encounter here never really happens and it is the only thing which lets the movie down.
Apparently the budget was 15k and I thought the effects that were in it (i.e the powder footprints and the dragging scene were done reasonably well done for what is essentially a home made movie).

[Karl Hungus]

Some posts have been moved here. Please keep this thread is for reviews only.

[LZ5by5]

The hype for this film had me underwhelmed. At first I had only seen the trailers on TV with the tagline "The film that has terrified American audiences." You've never heard that one before I'm sure. However I decided to have a look on Rotten Tomatoes and I was surprised by what I saw; it registered a staggering 90% among top critics. So that was it, I was off to see Paranormal Activity.

Director Oren Peli must be commended for bringing a disturbing level of suspense back into the horror genre. That is what Paranormal Activity is in a nutshell; a near 90 minutes of keeping you on the edge of your seat with ever rising tension. It is not an out and out horror, the film does not terrify you by showing you something unsettling, rather the films plays on your insecurities when you are in your bed in darkest night. I think it would be fair to say that we've all had moments where we've heard abrupt, loud and inexplicable noises that just leaves you momentarily out of your wits. This is what Paranormal Activity plays on, and for an idea that was already explored in The Blair Witch Project, it still works surprisingly well.

The acting is for the most part average, then again, we're meant to believe that Micah and Katie are your average couple, so in that sense it works surprisingly well. You forget at times that they are actors so in that regard the acting is good. They are meant to be an average couple, that's what makes the story so unsettling. It's only when the film comes into the last 30 minutes that they begin to shine, especially Katie Featherstone (the actors have the same first names as their characters). Throughout the film there is just this overwhelming sense of doom, it's only when this doom fully sinks in that Featherstone really showcases her talent. She is perfectly believable as someone that is at her wits end because she is powerless to stop the sinister force preying on her.

The film does have its' weaknesses. I found it difficult to believe that Katie was able to live a content life in spite of having this force constantly around her. It would in my opinion drive the best of us insane. The film also dangerously flirts with going from genuinely terrifying to downright laughable at times. Seriously, some of the scenes at night when the couple are in bed will leave you chuckling at how ridiculous it all looks. Another problem is that the story revolves around the dilemma the couple have; apparently there is only one guy in the world who can help the couple but he is out of the country, so the couple are basically up the creek without a paddle. I feel the film would have been much more effective had they staged an attempted excorism but one that ultimately failed. This way they would of had a big set piece for the film but still would have also been able to sustain the atmosphere of unstoppable impending doom. A fourth issue is that the film's big climax doesn't really make sense. Logically, and I'll try to explain it without spoiling the plot, what happens at the end could of happened at any time in the film. In fact it would have made sense if it happened early in the film. Basically, the only reason they leave what happens until the end is simply because they have something to end the film with. That's it.

In summary, Paranormal Actvity is one of the better efforts in the genre in recent memory, however too many times the film unintentionally crosses into comical territory.

3/5

[frankcarty]

4/5

Really liked it. Its the first time I heard most of the cinema scream! some parts didnt make since, like Spoiler: when they went to bed, they put the alarm on, but when katie went walking around the house the alarm didnt go off
one of the scariest film ive seen since the Exorcist

[domcq]

A complete letdown and yet another example of "don't delieve the hype". This movie annoyed me throughout.

I thought it just didn't deliver. For a low budget film it was good, but not for a movie you pay cinema prices to go see IMO.

[TitoPuente]

I thought it was a brilliant psychological horror. It was more what you didn't see than what you saw. The fear of the unknown. It really had me tense, especially as it was done in such a normal house setting.

It was low budget, the acting was pretty naff but then it wasn't supposed to be a theatrical movie.

4/5

[doctor evil]

I like films with plenty of suspense but this one didn't do it for me, it may have been because I was feeling rotten for most of it.

I didn't appreciate the jerky camera work. A bit too much like the blair witch for my taste.

[johnny_adidas]

without doubt the worst film ive seen all year and thats included some absolute dirt. i watched it to the end hoping that something would happen but unfortunately its 97 minutes i will never get again. I actually considered chewing my own arm off, maybe they were giving me a way out?...

[leddpipe]

I think if you listen to the hype over any film , your bound to be disappointed!

This is especially true of horrors, as they almost never deliver (with the exception of The Blair Witch).

I completely disregarded any hype, ads , or reviews attached to this film.

I chose a time I thought the cinema would be quietest, and went on my own (so none of the girls would end up screaming, and none of the lads would repeatedly tell me "this is sh1te", because they are all nervous).

I was very fortunate to have the whole cinema to myself, and enjoyed the film for what it was, and what any horror is, a few nerve-jangling moments.

If you go in expecting to be terrified, you either have too high expectations, or a low fear threshold !

[Ferris_Bueller]

2/5.

Heard it was a terrifying film, and I'm generally fairly jumpy when it comes to scary movies, so was expecting the worst. Was extremely disappointed though when the scare never really came, whether this was because I was expecting worse or whatever the reason I dont know, but was disappointed with it in the end. Looks very cheaply made also, but I think the actors were very good.

[RodgerTheDoger]

I enjoyed this movie:
I think the funniest part of it was watching the GUY next to me in the cinema jump and screem, and "GUY next to me" is not subtext for me, I was not scared ..... http://static.boards.ie/vbulletin/im...milies/eek.gif
I think the psychology of the movie was spot on, played on the basic fears of the unknown.
This type of movie has been on the cards for a while, all these "Ghosts caught on camera shows" where just being asked to be made into a movie.

Solid 4/5.

[buttons 09]

I definitely have to agree with anybody that said not to believe the hype, I did and i stupidly sat with a pillow in front of me just in case I needed it to scream into!

What a let down!I kept waiting to be terrified...and then it ended!I really expected a lot more frights.
I had to stop myself from laughing when Spoiler: katie was dragged from the bed!

Its a pity coz it had great potential!
3/5

[deisedevil]

I rarely even bother to watch horror films because I can't let my imagination flow and really get in to it enough to feel scared. And if thats the whole point of the film then it's not much use to me.
But I watched this on my own late one night and with no distactions exceot the howling wind outside I really got into it and was without a doubt getting a bit freaked out. First time I think I truly enjoyed a horror film.

I thought the acting was really poor in parts and some of the scenes seemed really amateurish. A previous poster metioned the sound effects being poor, like hearing the footsteps, just didn't really cut it.

At the end I was left wishing a better cast (not neccessarily big name actors as that would have taken from the believability) and director had got a hold of this idea and made a better job of it. Great idea, but not executed well enough.

3/5

[KingKenny]

As horrors go i really enjoyed it.

The ending Spoiler: was a bit ****e i know, and at the very end before the trailers ran i heard a guy yell out "was that **** real!??" done it for me

4/5