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SoulBlazerFan
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PostSoulBlazerFan Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2009 11:25 pm   Post subject: Paranormal Activity Reply with quote

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Last night I went to see the movie that has "captivated and horrified audiences all over America." This little film that could, a movie shot on a 15,000 dollar budget and with only three actors in the film. The film has been around since 2007, and only recently got nationwide attention. Stephen Spielberg reportedly was so scared by this film he stopped watching after halfway through!

They were trying to push for a very Blair Witch-style promotional campaign. They were, without trying to as Blair Witch had, fool the unknowing audience into believing the events of this film are real. They are not, however- seeing the IMDB pages and the cast, while using their real names in the film, are going on to other projects.

Synopsis:
The film details a woman's battle with a demon, who has been following her since her childhood. Her live-in boyfriend, Micah (Not Jason Tandro) has purchased a camera to film the events. The events of paranormal activity build, from doors swinging open by themselves, footsteps, to Ouiji boards that move themselves and set themselves on fire. At some point, the girl is dragged out of bed, out of the bedroom and into a hallway. I liked this effect because I don't know how they pulled it off (I'm assuming some money went into a greenscreen and a guy with a green costume, but that's just conjecture).

The boyfriend himself is trying to solve the mystery of the haunting- and refuses to let the girl speak. The movie is part ghost story, part human drama.

Review:

I'll start it off right off the bat; I'm the kind of guy who likes to learn as much about a film before I go see it- actors, the story, directors, and so on. I don't like going into a film and being surprised- either really good or really bad. On this account, several people I know said it sucked and several said it was good, so I had split camps. I went in with little knowledge- so I believe this is my most honest review ever.

The film was bad for me. I'm not saying it's a bad film- the actors were solid enough, the scares would be tense- but the film was overly predictable. It seemed any time something happened I knew what was coming- from doors slamming to footsteps to shadows across the wall. The only thing that I think hurt the film was the ending- it had apparently been reshot upon Stephen Spielberg's request. (He seems to ruin everything these days- was it really necessary to change ET or make a new sequel to Indiana Jones? How about annoucning Jurassic Park 4 with, get this, dino's with weapons attached to them? Raptors with machine guns, T-Rexs with nukes... But that's a debate topic for another day...)

The ending, which I won't ruin here in the event someone wanted to see the film, took the whole paranormal activity from routine, "real-ish" style, which can be seen on shows like Ghost Adventures and Ghost Hunters, to an unrealistic level, which I didn't appreciate. I would've liked to have seen the original ending, whatever it may have been, because it was probably better than the new one, but also, that is conjecture.


Personal, unrelated issue:
I haven't seen a film on a Friday opening in ages, which was my personal mistake. There were several obnoxious people in the theater- including ten or so 12 year olds who were yelling all through the film. The first ten minutes of the film I couldn't even enjoy, because I couldn't hear the dialogue over them. They finally got people to come in, including a security guard- who was called a rent-a-cop repeatedly and didn't do anything.

I know its to be expected, but that just pisses me off. Who let this little assholes into the film in the first place? I had heard someone say these kids were trying to find someone to let them in- and no one would. Finally, some guy must've helped, because they got in. This is one reason I had forgotten as to why I stopped going to theaters to see movies- they are ruined by loud-mouthed know it all kids who didn't come to see a film but instead came to ruin it for others. Meh, screw it. Enough of the ranting, back to the review-
(END RANT)

I was taken out of the viewing experience by the utter predictability of it. The films scares are based around the belief this is real- much like Blair Witch was. Jump scares are the entirety of the scares of this film, so if you have a bad heart it wouldn't be a good idea. If you haven't been desensitized by as much horror films as I've seen, you might get scared.

The film looks real grainy- I'm assuming they used a camera that didn't have a high enough resolution to properly be transferred to film screens. It probably meant to be like this, but I'm not sure- Cloverfield tried a similiar approach but looked alot nicer- but that film also had alot more money.

If they were trying to go for the grainy-home look, it worked. But the operations of the camera didn't feel real- if you've ever seen the show the Shield, you'll understand- a camera man trying to make the film look like a shakey-camera type. Even Cloverfield had the same issue.

All that aside, it was a decent film that didn't scare me. The audience definitely jumped- and if you're easily scared or mildly scared, you'll probably like this film more than me.

Two and a half stars out of five.
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Jason Tandro
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PostJason Tandro Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 1:00 am   Post subject: Re: Paranormal Activity Reply with quote

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SoulBlazerFan wrote:

Her live-in boyfriend, Micah (Not Jason Tandro)


Haha!

First, I'm impressed you know my first name by memory (I mean I've said it several times around here, but still...)

Second, as its such a rare name I'm always a little taken aback whenever I see or hear it.

Third, I've seen previews, but it doesn't really look interesting to me. I gave that style of film a second chance with Quarantine, but that film just enraged me (although it was funny as hell when he curb stomped that one dude and beat that dogs head in with a sledgehammer. Laughing Maybe I have a sick sense of humor.)
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SoulBlazerFan
Crisis Historian

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PostSoulBlazerFan Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 3:08 am   Post subject: Re: Paranormal Activity Reply with quote

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Jason Tandro wrote:
SoulBlazerFan wrote:

Her live-in boyfriend, Micah (Not Jason Tandro)


Haha!

First, I'm impressed you know my first name by memory (I mean I've said it several times around here, but still...)

Second, as its such a rare name I'm always a little taken aback whenever I see or hear it.

Third, I've seen previews, but it doesn't really look interesting to me. I gave that style of film a second chance with Quarantine, but that film just enraged me (although it was funny as hell when he curb stomped that one dude and beat that dogs head in with a sledgehammer. Laughing Maybe I have a sick sense of humor.)


It is a rather rare name, and, in fact, if I forgot to mention it in my review, the actors went by their own real names- so the lead actor's name is, in fact, Micah. And, while I'm very forgetful with peoples names- certain ones do stick with me.

The previews so nothing, only the audience reactions to the film. There were scared people in the audience, and yes, people who had issues watching Quarantine or Cloverfield will experience motion sickness here, too.
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