Paranormal Activity

[ParanormalActivity]

Plot:

A young couple suspects that their house is haunted by a malevolent entity. They set up video surveillance to capture evidence of what happens at night as they sleep.

Their surveillance and home videos have been edited into the 99 minute feature film "Paranormal Activity".

Website & trailers: http://ParanormalActivity-movie.com

[ParanormalActivity]

You are invited to an exclusive one-time only screening of "Paranormal Activity".

When: Sunday, October 14th, 5:30 pm

Where: Grauman Mann's Chinese 6, 6801 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, CA, 90028


Paranormal Activity is a terrifying supernatural thriller featuring shocking footage of a demonic haunting.

Katie and Micah have been enjoying a happy, carefree life. Their future looked promising until bizarre events started occurring at nighttime. Katie was no stranger to paranormal phenomena – she has been stalked by a malevolent entity since childhood, and she feared that it had followed her to their new home. They purchase a video camera to find out what happens at night as they sleep.

Over the course of three weeks in September & October of 2006, they ran nightly surveillances and captured incredible proof of Paranormal Activity. The nightly surveillance footage and home videos have been edited into the feature film “Paranormal Activity”.


Special 10 minute peek at A & E's new supernatural series PARANORMAL STATE precedes the screening of PARANORMAL ACTIVITY.

Q&A session for Paranormal State will follow the screenings.

Ryan Buell - Star of Paranormal State, Founder of Penn State's Paranormal Research Society

Betsy Schecter: Four Seasons Productions, President. Paranormal State, Executive Producer

Gary Aurbach: Go Go Luckey Productions, Founder/President. Paranormal State, Executive Producer


Note: THIS IS A ONE TIME ONLY ENGAGEMENT. There are no future screenings planned at this time.

For more information, visit our website: http://paranormalactivity-movie.com/

[the_man_you_fear]

how much to get in?

[Roderick Usher]

It's part of SCREAMFEST? Good job!

I just clicked your site and watched the trailer. Very Nice, I'll be there.

[hellfire1]

BUMP !

I just watched the trailer for this, and it looks completely insane, even if the hand held camera is getting a tad bit gimmicky.

Has anyone seen this, or have any info on when it will be released ?

[AUSTIN316426808]

Dreamworks bought it after it's last festival showing. They plan to have the original's dvd release alongside the remake's theatrical. No date has been set yet, I believe.

[hellfire1]

Oh... an actual response. How very fortunate! :rolleyes:

I'm hoping this gets distributed. I haven't seen [rec] yet, but from what I've heard about it, this looks like it could be just as spooky.

[BASSI]

It's was made 2007 but it will be coming this year

out in the US on 25 September 2009 (limited)
not sure about the UK

This one most scary trailer I have seen, you should NOT watch before you go bed lol

pllot A happy, carefree couple is haunted by a demonic spirit.

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

I Can not wait to see this movie

[Haphazard]

I was just wondering if anyone has had a chance to catch Paranormal Activity. I keep reading great feedback for this flick, and I'm hoping it will make its way to my area.

What did you think of the movie?

I keep hearing people mention Blair Witch when describing this (please tell me it is nothing like Blair -- hated that movie).

[_____V_____]

Whoa! Talk about a REAL blast from the past!!

Welcome back, Hap. Been missing you around these parts. Hope you stick around, bud. :)

Regarding Paranormal Activity, havent seen it yet but it looks pretty promising from the trailers. Pretty keen myself to check it out.

[Haphazard]

HAHA! I know man. Haven't been here in a while. Thank you. I have a soft spot for this place...just seem to always lose touch. Hopefully I can stick around.

If you go to their site, you can "demand" to get the movie in your area. Hopefully they will expand the release. I get all beside myself when I read overwhelmingly positive reviews for a modern-day horror flick...because there aren't many cases.

[Shady]

Got back a little while ago from the screening in MI

Does it live up to the hype? No, not even close. Was it good? Yes, it was good. It's worth a watch but I would wait until wide release or DVD release unless of course the selected theaters are located near you Was it scary? There were two scenes that were creepy and eerie but nothing over the top terrifying. The first 45 minutes were beyond boredom, very slow moving. Over an hour into the movie I was actually getting pissed at how boring and dull it was. Finally it picks up. I think to myself, here we go, now it's going to get going on. 15 minutes later, the movie ends.

I do not understand the hype and praise this has received. It was a good movie and definitely worth a watch but scariest movie of all time.....get real. It was very realistic and quite believable I'll give it that but the scares, while extremely real, were too simple and weak. And the actress won an award? I thought her acting was mediocre although the husband was a great actor and hilarious. I sit in amazement and ask myself....who the hell was writing these reviews?

DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE

[cheebacheeba]

Interested in Impressions of Paranormal Activity

Check it out! I'm a ghost!
"Waooooooooooooooooooooooooh!"
*floats*
...and such

[Haphazard]

DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE

Thanks much for the input, Shady. I feel better now. I'm not going out of my mind trying to figure out how I'm gonna see the damn movie. I think I can wait til the DVD comes out. The hype sounds a little too much like the hype that surrounded Blair Witch (where the actual result sucked -- for me).

Thanks again.

[Despare]

Where do you go and see it? Looks like Thur. I'm going to see Zombieland and Paranormal Activity at the State Theater in Ann Arbor.

Got back a little while ago from the screening in MI

Does it live up to the hype? No, not even close. Was it good? Yes, it was good. It's worth a watch but I would wait until wide release or DVD release unless of course the selected theaters are located near you Was it scary? There were two scenes that were creepy and eerie but nothing over the top terrifying. The first 45 minutes were beyond boredom, very slow moving. Over an hour into the movie I was actually getting pissed at how boring and dull it was. Finally it picks up. I think to myself, here we go, now it's going to get going on. 15 minutes later, the movie ends.

I do not understand the hype and praise this has received. It was a good movie and definitely worth a watch but scariest movie of all time.....get real. It was very realistic and quite believable I'll give it that but the scares, while extremely real, were too simple and weak. And the actress won an award? I thought her acting was mediocre although the husband was a great actor and hilarious. I sit in amazement and ask myself....who the hell was writing these reviews?

DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE

[Shady]

Where do you go and see it? Looks like Thur. I'm going to see Zombieland and Paranormal Activity at the State Theater in Ann Arbor.

That's where I saw it at, the State Theater. Fair warning, that theater is a piece of shit, most uncomfortable movie experience I've ever had in a theater. Don't sit next anyone big or you won't be able to move.

[Despare]

That's where I saw it at, the State Theater. Fair warning, that theater is a piece of shit, most uncomfortable movie experience I've ever had in a theater. Don't sit next anyone big or you won't be able to move.

I know, I went and saw Ghostbusters there this summer. The Michigan Theater isn't much better, pretty cramped when I went and saw Teeth. I only live about 15 minutes away though so catching some of the harder to find flicks or great midnight movies isn't a chore.

[gorbyak]

Without giving me any spoilers, is this worth checking out?

[chaibill]

I just saw it. I really liked it. I am not usually scared by a movie . Usually I am checking out the gore and the camera angles and edits. This was pov shot with a small cam maybe one of those RED cam things cost 10G's or what ever. So anyway I got really invested in the characters they seems like real people. Even in the "ass in jean shots" the girl is wearing regular panties no G string. Just a big ass no slice. and i liked the build up to the scares you get to know the two people living in the house. And i can tell you that the hairs on my head and neck were sanding up in a few scenes. But I was really into it. the people i went with didn't like it but i think it was the build up was too long for them. But I bet they would love Rosemary's Baby.
slight spoiler drag over to read so after I saw it I was thinking about it and I found some holes in it. One is when any of the cast walks through the house after the alarm is set the motion sensor never goes off and if the patio door was opened it should go off too. There is one on the stair case.

i recommend watching

[Zero]

i want to see it - but i imagine it won't come near me and i'm not sure its worth a trip

[_____V_____]

After a few weeks of sold out midnight screenings, Paramount Pictures' $11k indie haunt film has pulled in an estimates $7 MILLION over the course of its full limited release this past weekend.

What will happen when this goes wide on Friday?

Will we have another Blair Witch on our hands?

It looks highly possible and it's all because of you, the audiences. Like it or not, cherish this moment, you guys pushed a little indie film through the cracks and left big Hollywood scratching their heads.

Following 2-weeks of nationwide midnight-only sellouts and fan frenzy over the limited release hit thriller Paranormal Activity, moviegoers everywhere have been heard!

Over 1,000,000 people from around the country demanded the film play in their city by logging on to ParanormalMovie.com.

In response, Paramount Pictures will release the film nationwide beginning Friday, October 16th. Mark your calendars, it's on!

Get ahead of the game as tickets for the movie will be on sale via ParanormalMovie.com by 5pm PST on Tuesday, October 13th. Those who have ‘demanded it’ will get the first alert when tickets go on sale.

“From the very beginning, we put this film in the hands of the fans and we trusted them to tell us where and when it should be seen. We couldn’t be more thrilled by their overwhelming support and we are happy to release the film in every town - big and small,” said Rob Moore, Vice Chairman of Paramount Pictures.

The movie Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times called ““an ingenious horror film. It’s so well made it’s truly scary” is currently garnering 90% on RottenTomatoes.com.

To find show times and to buy tickets in your area, visit ParanormalMovie.com.

[chaibill]

I did sign the online "demand it" to get the film in theaters. Then after seeing the film I checked back to the site and watched the counter go to 1,000,000 the only problem was that there was a pattern to the count would increase by 4 then by 3 then by 4 then by 3. So looks like it was just a fake count just to raise interest.
But I really liked it.

[Chris_Morey]

Has anyone seen this yet? Is it really as terrifying as the previews claim? I'm wanting to see this one...

[_____V_____]

Paranormal Activity, which stands at number five on the American and Canadian box office charts, may be arguably the biggest success of the decade.

The movie, which cost an unbelievably low $15,000 (less than the cost of a minute of screen time of a big budget summer blockbuster film), grossed about $7 million from just about 160 screens in North America. It started with midnight screenings on college campuses three weeks ago with little Internet advertising.

Even if it were to drop by 50 percent in the coming weeks, Paranormal may end up with at least $20 million in North America, with the possibility of doing better business abroad.

Many people, including critics, are comparing it to The Blair Witch Project -- another film costing hardly anything, which came from nowhere, built a cult following, and then burst into the mainstream and earned about $250 million worldwide in 1999. That horror film was made for $60,000 and caught on with the younger viewers thanks to the Internet buzz. It made about $29 million in its opening weekend in North America.

Hollywood insiders do not expect Paranormal to be as huge a hit as Blair Witch but the former has already become hugely profitable. A movie has to earn (in theatres and through ancillary sales) about 50 percent of its production and advertising costs to break even.

The lovers of psychological thrillers and horror movies may readily confess that Paranormal is not Rosemary's Baby, the classic horror film directed by Roman Polanski. Most of the reviews for the new film aren't inspiring. But word of mouth has been strong.

Israeli-born writer-director Oren Peli, a video-game designer for about a decade, shot the film in his house in Los Angeles with hardly any money, no stars and no studio backing till the film was shown at the Sundance film festival.

Peli tells the story of a middle-class San Diego couple Micah (Micah Sloat) and Katie (Katie Featherston) haunted by strange noises in their new home. Micah sets up night-vision camera and a roving camcorder in their bedroom. Katie has a history of otherworldly encounters, going back to her childhood. The young couple also calls a psychic. But their problems just get louder and scarier.

It is not that all critics disliked the film. Los Angeles Times' Betsy Sharkey wrote: Peli 'has created a psychological thriller of such small scale and yet such heightened effect that no doubt Hitchcock, wherever he may be, is smiling.

'Though the story does not have either the sophistication or the complexity of the master, the first-time director understands that it's what you don't see, and the way in which you don't see it, that counts.'

Roger Ebert wrote in Chicago-Sun Times: 'An ingenious horror film. It's so well made it's truly scary.'

MTV.com, which is owned by Paramount, gives credit to the film's success to the grass-root strategy by the studio-distributor.

When Paramount started showing the film on campuses, 'it also harnessed the power of social gathering through sites like Twitter and Eventful, fans,' MTV com said. Students in the cities that the film was not showing were encouraged to 'demand' midnight shows.

On the Website for the film, Paramount declared: The first-ever major film release decided by you.

With the Internet and word of mouth creating huge publicity for the film over a month, Paramount took the first big step of releasing the film for regular screenings. Next week, the distributor could expand the film to 300 screens or more.

The movie could have been released two years ago when Steven Spielberg and other DreamWorks executives first saw it. Focus screenings also created a big buzz for the film then.

'Unfortunately, business got in the way when Paramount and DreamWorks split in 2008, and the Paranormal release was delayed,' notes MTV. Com. 'Buzz was out though, and it wouldn't be silenced. It only grew through Paramount's -- who took the reins post-DreamWorks -- aggressive grassroots campaigning.'

Paramount, which also released Rosemary's Baby more four decades ago, is indeed lucky. With Paranormal, it could have one of the most profitable films of all time.

[roshiq]

Grrr....I hate to wait for this one.:mad:

[Gromet]

Hey there all, first time poster here...

Let me first explain where I'm coming from... I am a LONG time horror fan. I have seen almost everything from the most tame to the most bloody, gory, scary etc... i LOVE horror.

My wife and I went and saw PA last week. This movie was AWEFULL! it was not the least bit scary at all. the first hour was nothing at all, then the last half hour when things started to happen... is seeing a shadow on a door really scary? footprints in flour? a girl getting dragged down a hallway? a ouja board bursting into flames? come on. is this really waht people are considering a good scary movie?

Seeing the reactions of the crown i was shocked. people screaming and yelling when the sheets of the bed moved. my wife and i were just laughing throughout all of this. We were not only laughing at how stupid the movie was but that people in the audience were actually scared of any of this.

Maybe after seeing as much horror, gore and such, we are just de-sensitized to it now?

But I'm sorry, i cannot fathom how anyone was scaed at anypoint of this move.

I was MORE then let down...

Gromet

[MyraHindley]

I couldn't agree more. I kind of wanted those 2 irritating losers to die the whole time.

[illdojo]

Might go to the midnight showing tonight. I gotta convince the woman to stay up late, though.

[Berzin]

I thought from the trailer that the premise was original and interesting and came asking about it when I first heard about it a while ago.

I posted a question about this movie when I first signed up to this site and was accused of viral marketing or being a spammer, I forgot which one.

But I find it strange that this movie was made in 2007 and it's just being released NOW in theatres. Is this viral marketing gone amok?

Still in all I think I'll go check it out just for the sake of curiosity.

[Shady]

I've seen this movie three times already. The first time I saw it I was disappointed probably because of the ridiculous hype it has received and I was expecting something else. Not to mention I was in the smallest theater and could not even movie. The sound system was pathetic and the audience screamed and laughed every second. This movie was not scary at all, at least in my opinion although it was extremely creepy and chilling. Most of the scenes are recycled but they give each scene a fresh feeling to it. There is comedy throughout and I love how they are able to spread comedy through the entire movie and still maintain a scare factor. If you don't give the audience something to laugh at they will find something to laugh at. After the second watch it grew on me big time and I now love the movie. It was over hyped in the sense of "scariest movie of all time" but it was a great movie.

[Angra]

I'll definitely get my hands on the DVD when it comes out.

[Chris_Morey]

I'll definitely get my hands on the DVD when it comes out.


Well if it's supposedly as scary as so many people say you might want to see it in theaters. I'm thrilled because today I found out it's playing in a theater really close to me. Hopefully going to see it soon :)

[Angra]

Well if it's supposedly as scary as so many people say you might want to see it in theaters. I'm thrilled because today I found out it's playing in a theater really close to me. Hopefully going to see it soon :)

No way.

Can't stand theaters. Too many annoying people.

[MyraHindley]

I think this one drew the most annoying crowd I've ever had to endure, but I can't imagine it having any impact at all on a DVD.

[p1zl3]

...I can't imagine it having any impact at all on a DVD.

Unless you've got a 1080p DLP projector, theater room with 110'' screen, Bluray player and 5.1 surround sound installed... (not bragging though) :cool:

...I'll be waiting for the DVD version as well.

[Chris_Morey]

Good point... I hadn't considered the crowds. Well, I'm still going to see it probably this Tuesday... I'll let you guys know how it was :)

[massacre man]

I'm going to wait for it to die down a bit. Every time I get on Facebook to send something to my friend I see at least 3 status updates "paranormal activity tonite! <3 text it!" and that's never a good sign for a movie.

[Despare]

I think this one drew the most annoying crowd I've ever had to endure, but I can't imagine it having any impact at all on a DVD.

That's ridiculous, if you watch it on DVD with your SO or by yourself in a dark house it's bound to have MORE of an impact. The "protection" of the crowd isn't there and the movie (which is SUPER creepy but maybe not very "scary") will be complimented nicely by the sounds that make their way inside from the dark.

[moviebuff1084]

This movie was awesome!!! Best horror movie I've seen in a while. It made me jump a couple of times. I can't wait for the blu ray.

[ChronoGrl]

Saw it on Friday night, which was a HUGE mistake being opening weekend and the theater was flooded with OBNOXIOUS giggling, talking, yelling teenagers who make me want to advocate for forced sterilization...

But anyway. While the audience tried its best to ruin any atmosphere that the movie was attempting to create, I think that I was able to have a few take-aways... Though I think it'll be much, much better when I can watch it in my bedroom alone at night...

Paranormal Activity was good. Does it live up to the apparent hype that it's getting? No (I'm actually glad that I somehow missed the hype before seeing the movie; otherwise it would have REALLY been ruined). The fact of the matter is, this movie is a solid 3.5/4 out of 5 stars, which is better than a lot of the canned horror crap that comes out these days.

The Positives:
The movie is definitely successful at creating mood.
The movie definitely had legitimately creepy parts
The movie was DEFINITELY successful at creating a threat
I am impressed that with a small budget and only four actors, I felt as though I was brought into this little world of horror. Hats off to them.


The Negatives:

One word: Derivative. Haunting movies have been done. The hand-held genre is currently being overused. And I'm actually starting to get tired of the whole "this is a tape that we just happened to find" set up.
Paranormal Activity doesn't do a whole lot to evolve the hand-held camera vehicle. While Cloverfield successfully experimented with the giant monster, [REC] successfully experimented with the zombie, and Home Movie successfully experienced with evil children, here we are back to another haunting.
The characters seriously annoyed me at times. One of the growing issues that I have with the hand-held camera vehicle is that I am really starting to ask myself, "If your situation is so horrible, WHY IS YOUR FIRST INSTINCT TO GRAB THE CAMERA?!?!?!" This question bothered me in this film more than usual, especially since it was so successful at creating mood; I was scared, so they must be too - WHY GRAB THE CAMERA?! GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!
Which brings me to a very nit-picky point: Lighting. This movie takes place IN THEIR HOUSE. They have the choice the turn on the lights AT ALL TIMES. Yet they don't. That just bothered me. With Blair Witch at least they were in the woods - NO LIGHTS THERE. But anyway.
Predictable. Now this is just coming from me, the jaded horror fan, but a couple of the "scares" were just plain predictable.


Regardless of the negatives, though, this movie as I said is a solid 3.5/4. It's not a perfect movie; it definitely doesn't really try to do anything new, but it's a solid derivation. I am happy that there are actors and directors out there who want to produce this type of movie at all. And sometimes that's all that the die hard horror fan can ask for. I enjoyed it and am looking forward to watching it with my boyfriend alone in the dark of our apartment.

[Angra]

Saw it on Friday night, which was a HUGE mistake being opening weekend and the theater was flooded with OBNOXIOUS giggling, talking, yelling teenagers who make me want to advocate for forced sterilization...

But anyway. While the audience tried its best to ruin any atmosphere that the movie was attempting to create, I think that I was able to have a few take-aways... Though I think it'll be much, much better when I can watch it in my bedroom alone at night...

Paranormal Activity was good. Does it live up to the apparent hype that it's getting? No (I'm actually glad that I somehow missed the hype before seeing the movie; otherwise it would have REALLY been ruined). The fact of the matter is, this movie is a solid 3.5/4 out of 5 stars, which is better than a lot of the canned horror crap that comes out these days.

The Positives:
The movie is definitely successful at creating mood.
The movie definitely had legitimately creepy parts
The movie was DEFINITELY successful at creating a threat
I am impressed that with a small budget and only four actors, I felt as though I was brought into this little world of horror. Hats off to them.


The Negatives:

One word: Derivative. Haunting movies have been done. The hand-held genre is currently being overused. And I'm actually starting to get tired of the whole "this is a tape that we just happened to find" set up.
Paranormal Activity doesn't do a whole lot to evolve the hand-held camera vehicle. While Cloverfield successfully experimented with the giant monster, [REC] successfully experimented with the zombie, and Home Movie successfully experienced with evil children, here we are back to another haunting.
The characters seriously annoyed me at times. One of the growing issues that I have with the hand-held camera vehicle is that I am really starting to ask myself, "If your situation is so horrible, WHY IS YOUR FIRST INSTINCT TO GRAB THE CAMERA?!?!?!" This question bothered me in this film more than usual, especially since it was so successful at creating mood; I was scared, so they must be too - WHY GRAB THE CAMERA?! GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!
Which brings me to a very nit-picky point: Lighting. This movie takes place IN THEIR HOUSE. They have the choice the turn on the lights AT ALL TIMES. Yet they don't. That just bothered me. With Blair Witch at least they were in the woods - NO LIGHTS THERE. But anyway.
Predictable. Now this is just coming from me, the jaded horror fan, but a couple of the "scares" were just plain predictable.


Regardless of the negatives, though, this movie as I said is a solid 3.5/4. It's not a perfect movie; it definitely doesn't really try to do anything new, but it's a solid derivation. I am happy that there are actors and directors out there who want to produce this type of movie at all. And sometimes that's all that the die hard horror fan can ask for. I enjoyed it and am looking forward to watching it with my boyfriend alone in the dark of our apartment.

Good review, Chrono.

Sounds nice'n asian. Except for the hand held camera. That's shit..

[Despare]

Saw it on Friday night, which was a HUGE mistake being opening weekend and the theater was flooded with OBNOXIOUS giggling, talking, yelling teenagers who make me want to advocate for forced sterilization...

But anyway. While the audience tried its best to ruin any atmosphere that the movie was attempting to create, I think that I was able to have a few take-aways... Though I think it'll be much, much better when I can watch it in my bedroom alone at night...

Paranormal Activity was good. Does it live up to the apparent hype that it's getting? No (I'm actually glad that I somehow missed the hype before seeing the movie; otherwise it would have REALLY been ruined). The fact of the matter is, this movie is a solid 3.5/4 out of 5 stars, which is better than a lot of the canned horror crap that comes out these days.

The Positives:
The movie is definitely successful at creating mood.
The movie definitely had legitimately creepy parts
The movie was DEFINITELY successful at creating a threat
I am impressed that with a small budget and only four actors, I felt as though I was brought into this little world of horror. Hats off to them.


The Negatives:

One word: Derivative. Haunting movies have been done. The hand-held genre is currently being overused. And I'm actually starting to get tired of the whole "this is a tape that we just happened to find" set up.
Paranormal Activity doesn't do a whole lot to evolve the hand-held camera vehicle. While Cloverfield successfully experimented with the giant monster, [REC] successfully experimented with the zombie, and Home Movie successfully experienced with evil children, here we are back to another haunting.
The characters seriously annoyed me at times. One of the growing issues that I have with the hand-held camera vehicle is that I am really starting to ask myself, "If your situation is so horrible, WHY IS YOUR FIRST INSTINCT TO GRAB THE CAMERA?!?!?!" This question bothered me in this film more than usual, especially since it was so successful at creating mood; I was scared, so they must be too - WHY GRAB THE CAMERA?! GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!
Which brings me to a very nit-picky point: Lighting. This movie takes place IN THEIR HOUSE. They have the choice the turn on the lights AT ALL TIMES. Yet they don't. That just bothered me. With Blair Witch at least they were in the woods - NO LIGHTS THERE. But anyway.
Predictable. Now this is just coming from me, the jaded horror fan, but a couple of the "scares" were just plain predictable.


Regardless of the negatives, though, this movie as I said is a solid 3.5/4. It's not a perfect movie; it definitely doesn't really try to do anything new, but it's a solid derivation. I am happy that there are actors and directors out there who want to produce this type of movie at all. And sometimes that's all that the die hard horror fan can ask for. I enjoyed it and am looking forward to watching it with my boyfriend alone in the dark of our apartment.



Good write up, the only thing I could add was about when you ask; "If your situation is so horrible, WHY IS YOUR FIRST INSTINCT TO GRAB THE CAMERA?!?!?!"

If you remember, the husband does this one time and the wife gets PISSED for him grabbing the camera before responding to her scream. So at least the film makers were aware that it wasn't what most people would do.

I can't wait for the DVD and hope they include the other two ending that are rumored to be out there as both sound as if they give a different feel to the whole flick.

[_____V_____]

Warner Bros.' Spike Jonze-directed "Where the Wild Things Are" put up strong numbers at the nation's box office this weekend, easily taking the top spot with an estimated $32.5 million at 3,735 playdates.

Still, auds spread the wealth with healthy figures going to Overture's "Law Abiding Citizen" and Paramount's "Paranormal Activity."

"Citizen," starring Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler, figured in at no. 2, earning an estimated $21.3 million at 2,890.

"Paranormal Activity" continued to play well with auds, scaring up $20.2 million at 760. Paramount's micro-budgeted pic has cumed an estimated $33.7 million with plans to expand to some 1,800 locations starting next weekend.

[Angra]

"Paranormal Activity" continued to play well with auds, scaring up $20.2 million at 760. Paramount's micro-budgeted pic has cumed an estimated $33.7 million with plans to expand to some 1,800 locations starting next weekend.


That's some fairytale. :)

[freddy69]

my niece took her daughter and the daughters boyfriend and his sister too that movie, my niece laughed all the way thru the movie the rest got freaked out:eek:

[ChronoGrl]

Good write up, the only thing I could add was about when you ask; "If your situation is so horrible, WHY IS YOUR FIRST INSTINCT TO GRAB THE CAMERA?!?!?!"

If you remember, the husband does this one time and the wife gets PISSED for him grabbing the camera before responding to her scream. So at least the film makers were aware that it wasn't what most people would do.


Oh, I know. I appreciated the self-referential humor a little bit, but still. I wanted to say, "Ok, Director, you're self conscious... BUT YOU'RE STILL DOING IT." :p

[Chris_Morey]

You found the scares predictable? Phew... I must have seen a different movie. Despite the whole mockumentary style, I found this movie to be very interesting and original. Something I appreciated about the film is that they often let it sit there with you staring into the dark hallway thinking for sure something is about to happen, but it never does. And in fact this ends up making you feel more disturbed because they can tease your fears in such a way.

However, and warning, this might be a bit of a spoiler for those who haven't seen it:

I REALLY wish they had a scene with the demonologist. I suppose they thought that would make the movie more cliche, but I think they could have created a pretty awesome scene with that.

All in all, I'd say the movie is a 8.5 or 9 / 10. However, everyone was right about the crowds. The kids were driving me insane constantly whispering and laughing. By yourself with the volume blasting it would be pretty intense.

Saw it on Friday night, which was a HUGE mistake being opening weekend and the theater was flooded with OBNOXIOUS giggling, talking, yelling teenagers who make me want to advocate for forced sterilization...

But anyway. While the audience tried its best to ruin any atmosphere that the movie was attempting to create, I think that I was able to have a few take-aways... Though I think it'll be much, much better when I can watch it in my bedroom alone at night...

Paranormal Activity was good. Does it live up to the apparent hype that it's getting? No (I'm actually glad that I somehow missed the hype before seeing the movie; otherwise it would have REALLY been ruined). The fact of the matter is, this movie is a solid 3.5/4 out of 5 stars, which is better than a lot of the canned horror crap that comes out these days.

The Positives:
The movie is definitely successful at creating mood.
The movie definitely had legitimately creepy parts
The movie was DEFINITELY successful at creating a threat
I am impressed that with a small budget and only four actors, I felt as though I was brought into this little world of horror. Hats off to them.


The Negatives:

One word: Derivative. Haunting movies have been done. The hand-held genre is currently being overused. And I'm actually starting to get tired of the whole "this is a tape that we just happened to find" set up.
Paranormal Activity doesn't do a whole lot to evolve the hand-held camera vehicle. While Cloverfield successfully experimented with the giant monster, [REC] successfully experimented with the zombie, and Home Movie successfully experienced with evil children, here we are back to another haunting.
The characters seriously annoyed me at times. One of the growing issues that I have with the hand-held camera vehicle is that I am really starting to ask myself, "If your situation is so horrible, WHY IS YOUR FIRST INSTINCT TO GRAB THE CAMERA?!?!?!" This question bothered me in this film more than usual, especially since it was so successful at creating mood; I was scared, so they must be too - WHY GRAB THE CAMERA?! GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!
Which brings me to a very nit-picky point: Lighting. This movie takes place IN THEIR HOUSE. They have the choice the turn on the lights AT ALL TIMES. Yet they don't. That just bothered me. With Blair Witch at least they were in the woods - NO LIGHTS THERE. But anyway.
Predictable. Now this is just coming from me, the jaded horror fan, but a couple of the "scares" were just plain predictable.


Regardless of the negatives, though, this movie as I said is a solid 3.5/4. It's not a perfect movie; it definitely doesn't really try to do anything new, but it's a solid derivation. I am happy that there are actors and directors out there who want to produce this type of movie at all. And sometimes that's all that the die hard horror fan can ask for. I enjoyed it and am looking forward to watching it with my boyfriend alone in the dark of our apartment.

[fortunato]

Chrono, I think I agree with you on pretty much all of your points.

What few strengths it had were mostly rendered meaningless by a hokey, completely bullshit ending.

[Chris_Morey]

Chrono, I think I agree with you on pretty much all of your points.

What few strengths it had were mostly rendered meaningless by a hokey, completely bullshit ending.

** WARNING SPOILER **

I agree that when her face turns into the demon's and she goes into the camera that was stupid and cliche and hollywoodish and hokey. However, before that when she stomps up the stairs and throws him into the camera, that was pretty awesome. I think it would have been better personally if she just stood as a dark silhouette in the doorway staring at the camera for ten seconds and then it hit to black. Would have been more unsettling in my opinion.

[_____V_____]

Little-horror-movie-that-could Paranormal Activity continues to defy all box office rules, leaping to the number one spot at the box office on Friday with an estimated $7.6 million — in its fifth weekend in theaters.

Okay, technically, it’s the ultra-low-budget flick’s first weekend opening in a true wide release (1,945 theaters), but it still managed to snag enough horror fans to force Saw VI into the second spot with $7 million, well below the opening-day take of every Saw film since the first one.

None of the other new releases this weekend are faring well, either:
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant dug up $2.2 million for seventh place,
the animated sci-fi action film Astro Boy struggled mightily with just $1.8 million for eighth place, and
the biopic Amelia landed outside the top 10, with $1.3 million in 818 theaters.

1. Paranormal Activity – $7.6 million
2. Saw VI — $7 million
3. Where the Wild Things Are — $4.4 million
4. Law Abiding Citizen — $4.1 million
5. Couples Retreat — $3.7 million

For the first time since its September release, "Paranormal" debuted in the number one spot with a $7.6 million intake on Friday, heralding a potential $21 million weekend according to Deadline Hollywood Daily's best projections.

Executives at Paramount are thinking that "Paranormal" could well be the studio's most profitable film in modern history, which would certainly be the case if it rises past $100 million by the end of Halloween weekend.

"Paranormal Activity" seems to have frightened away the rest of the competition, as the weekend's other newcomers did considerably worse in comparison. "Saw VI," the sixth installment in the long-running horror franchise, opened in second place with a poor Friday showing of $7 million and a probable $18 million weekend. Should the results play out as expected, "Saw VI" will be a severe underperformer for Lionsgate, and could finally herald the end of the franchise.

The remainder of Friday's top five was filled with recurring players "Where The Wild Things Are," "Law Abiding Citizen" and "Couples Retreat." The Spike Jonze-directed "Wild Things" is no longer expected to recoup its budget in theaters, thanks largely due to the film's oft-mentioned post-production woes.

But the real troubles rest with the weekend's other high profile releases, such as "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant." The vampire-centric film wound up in seventh place with a $2.2 million Friday finish, indicating that it won't capture the same success as "Twilight" despite the creature crush emphasis — but when you compare gothic head shots of Robert Pattinson and John C. Reilly, it's easy to see why the tween crowd isn't flocking to theaters in quite the same way.

"Astro Boy," meanwhile, underperformed severely at eighth place and $1.8 million by end of Friday. The Imagi Studios animated film could do better overseas considering "Astro's" Japan-based manga roots, but it looks like American audiences aren't exactly embracing the little robot boy with a machine gun for a butt.

http://www.hitfix.com/articles/2009-10-24-hollywood-gasps-as-paranormal-activity-sends-saw-vi-to-a-box-office-grave

http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2009/10/24/paranormal-activity-frightens-the-competition-in-the-saturday-box-office-report/

[p1zl3]

I'ma have to say Paranormal Activity was a decent little flick!
I had a band of noisy teenagers sitting right behind me and they were unable to ruin the film, which says a lot. The scares were a little formulaic, but they broke up the monotony of "daytime, safe; nighttime, scary" by alluding to a progressively more agitated entity spilling his malice into the day. I could have done with a different ending, but even that wasn't able to sully the films overall documentary-esque creepy feel....

...8/10. Twas worth the $5 matinée fee.

[massacre man]

Most disappointed I've ever been with a movie, ever. I wasn't scared or creeped out for a single frame.

[DeluzioNFX]

**SOME SPOILERS**

@ Massacre man


Glad to see i am not the only one who thought this was a dissapointment..


After all the reviews i read.. "terrifying" "scariest movie ever"...

I mean what was terrifying in that?

Weird sounds..?
Slamming doors?

Watching 2 people sleep?




I spent the whole movie waiting anxiously for something scary to happen, specially at night when i was waiting for something to happen in the hallway.. other then lights going on and off and seeing shadows..

When ever something "paranormal" is about to happen the damn camera is setup so you know sometihng is coming.. killing the suspense


Whoever voted this more then a 5/10 , Please send me some of what you're smoking.

[_____V_____]

With Lionsgate's Saw VI defeated by Paramount's Paranormal Activity at the U.S. box office this weekend, horror fans might want to celebrate the victory of the small independent against an established series.

But as it turns out, it may well be that an old Halloween franchise has simply been dethroned by a new one.

Filmed in 2007, Oren Peli's Paranormal Activity was bought by Paramount, whose initial intention was to remake it. Eventually, following positive test screenings, the studio decided to give Peli's $15,000 feature a small theatrical opening. Originally out on 12 screens, Paranormal Activity has progressively grown and has now beaten Halloween staple Saw VI at the box office, grossing $22m against a mere $14.8m.

To most observers, this is clearly a sign that U.S. audiences have voted with their feet and preferred to give their 10 bucks to an original product, rather than to the sixth instalment in a tired franchise.

Whatever you may think of the film - whether it scared you or not - Paranormal Activity was undeniably inventive and fresh. Indeed every aspiring filmmaker - and quite a few established ones - now wish they'd come up with the idea. You would think such success would send distributors a signal that viewers want to see original productions.

But now comes the news that a sequel is envisaged.

Ironically, the Saw series started out the same way. A clever, original, low-budget film created by two newcomers, James Wan and Leigh Whannell, and with no stars in its cast, Saw defied all expectations when it made a killing at the worldwide box office on Halloween 2004. Launching the torture porn sub-genre, it became a true phenomenon.

Quickly however, what had once been the underdog turned into a pure marketing product, following a tried and tested formula. Cleverly sold as a new Halloween tradition, the Saw series became the most reliable money-maker of the horror season.

Will Paranormal Activity follow the same path and replace it as the new low-budget franchise to beat? Or will it go the way of another low-budget found-footage winner - 1999's Blair Witch Project - whose follow-up Book of Shadows crashed and burned the following year?

Most of all, is this what audiences truly want? On the one hand, fans did flock to every Saw sequel for four years, and even though the fifth one is still profitable, given how low production costs were kept. On the other hand, wouldn't they show the same interest in good original features, were they given the same kind of clever marketing the Saw films benefited from?

In the end, the only thing that matters to investors is the money a product generates, and as long as we pay to watch endless sequels, all we deserve is to see more get made.

[p1zl3]

DeluzioNFX said:
Whoever voted this more then a 5/10 , Please send me some of what you're smoking.

I would, but I don't think sending BC-bud through the post is such a good idea... ;)

The movie was made for a cool $15k and what it did (for the money spent), it did well. I'm sick to death of the crap horror that has been plopping outta Hollywood for the past decade (with budgets of millions of dollars); this film, Paranormal Activity, was a breath of fresh air and at a fraction of the cost.
As for the sequences being in fast-forward, then slowing to show the paranormal events; what you're seeing is the edited video file found by the police which was created by it's owner, Micah.

My beef is as follows: don't these people work? I kept thinking "does the entity bother Katie in the job place... spill her coffee over... staple files shut... etc.?"
I also was bothered by the end. I mean really!?!? It was a lame scare tactic... nothing more.

But all things considered... a great flick made extraordinary by it's frugal conception.

[Posher778]

I'm getting tired of the handheld thing as well. I've said it before but I think it still remains true. Cloverfield has won in the genre of handheld camera films, closely followed by [REC].

[chaibill]

I'm not going to agree with every one and say the the hand held cam is over used because you think you are saying something that no one else has thought of. And because I don't believe it is over used.

How many handy cam movies can you think of? How many of those suck? Diary of the dead was good. [rec] was good it remake Quarantine was good, Cloverfield was good. Blair witch is said to be good, Are there any of the "Over used technique movies" that are unwatchable?
If you want to sound like you are this film expert say you are tired of movies with asshole producers butchering a script to "sell" a movie. You know I wasted $1.09 to see Army of the Dead, rented from a redbox dvd rental machine. That is what I am tired of that movie was a cliche' the entire movie it sucked.
Paranormal activity was great it totally fucked hollywood and they still wanted to make it over into a full production and it would have flopped. Can you imagine if it was made into a huge film with Kevin Pollack running around trying to have chemistry with some caught in the head lights like Maggie Gyllenhaal. Or two idiots from Friday the 13th 2009 one showing off their new tits the other his new hair. Just an example I don't know who they would have cast in the flop.

You guys if you didn't like it fine but you should be glad and thankful it wasn't ruined by hollywood. And hope that hollywood would release more films weather indie or foreign instead of remaking them. But the question is with word of mouth (i haven"t seen a TV or internet ad in weeks but i live in NY so they might figure on us seeing theater posters and such) a movie has been a success it was made for $15,000 I think they sold it to paramount for $250,000 so Paramount is getting their cut of all those millions....I hope everyone involved with the making of the film gets something out of that. Not sure how that works after you sell to a studio...
I will say that paranormal activity will be declared the biggest horror movie of 2009 by what ever media company declares those things.
And Paramount wants to make a sequel with will suck because it will go so far from the original.

When i watched it i really got into the movie it just seemed real.. the chick had arm fat where do you see that in high budget movies? They didn't over act. You could imagine it happening to you in your own house. And it wasn't like that Ghost Hunters crap show where they scream at nothing and bump into the camera person. Don't think i have gotten through an entire episode of that.

Just imagine if you had seven free days....$15,000.... four actors... and an empty house.
What would you make? Would the world watch? Would hollywood scratch their heads?

[massacre man]

You guys if you didn't like it fine but you should be glad and thankful it wasn't ruined by hollywood.

That ending was definitely Hollywood and, in context, one of the absolute dumbest things I've ever seen on film. They spend the whole movie trying to make it realistic and not like every other horror movie then wreck EVERYTHING with that ending.

[p1zl3]

...one of the absolute dumbest things I've ever seen on film.

You need to get out more. If that's the "absolute dumbest" thing you've ever seen on film, then you're lucky. There's some real crap floating around out there (some of which gets advertised on this site) and viewing even 0.01% of horror movies in mainstream production should put Paranormal Activity way outta your "dumbest thing ever seen on film list".... that's for damn sure.

try watching anything by Lars Von Trier... :p (had to get that jab in there)

PS: When are you gonna break that 10k posting mark, you lazy bastard.;)

[massacre man]

You need to get out more. If that's the "absolute dumbest" thing you've ever seen on film, then you're lucky. There's some real crap floating around out there (some of which gets advertised on this site) and viewing even 0.01% of horror movies in mainstream production should put Paranormal Activity way outta your "dumbest thing ever seen on film list".... that's for damn sure.

I said in the context of the seemingly realistic vibe the movie was trying to keep. It would be like if Michael Myers sprouted wings and flew back up to the balcony after Loomis shot him or if the truck Sally rode away in at the end of Texas Chain Saw Massacre turned around and brought her back and the driver just looked back and laughed like a billbilly at her. I could see dumb stuff in other movies coming and forgive it more easily because the accompanying scenes were also extremely dumb.

[p1zl3]

It would be like if Michael Myers sprouted wings and flew back up to the balcony after Loomis shot him.

I'm not quite certain what point you're trying to make, but a winged Michael Myers would be pretty damn sweet!!!

http://img38.imagefra.me/img/img38/2/10/29/p1zl3/f_ko4faw1bdh7m_ced90d5.jpg
(awesome)

------------------------------------------

I could see dumb stuff in other movies coming and forgive it more easily because the accompanying scenes were also extremely dumb.

So, if I understand your point correctly, you enjoyed Paranormal Activity up until the ending... So you think it was a good film, but the ending was bad. Me too... but I didn't let it kill the whole entire movie for me.

[pythagoraz]

Good review, Chrono.

Sounds nice'n asian. Except for the hand held camera. That's shit..

Ugly duckling... I have it with the original ending. And I have the theatrical one too if You like... I can bring it next time you invite me.

:D Say hi to Auntie :p

[massacre man]

So, if I understand your point correctly, you enjoyed Paranormal Activity up until the ending... So you think it was a good film, but the ending was bad. Me too... but I didn't let it kill the whole entire movie for me.

I didn't like the movie, I liked that it tried keeping a semi-realistic feel throughout but killed the vibe, raped it's corpse, tied it to the back of a dirtbike, dragged it down a gravel road, raped it again, and punched it in the face.

[AmericanManiac]

I loved it! Just watched it here at my house in the dark all alone, great film! Some of the scenes gave me the chills and had my whole body froze, def worth checking out!

[roshiq]

Just saw it lately...**SPOILERS**at the end the cops show up & shoot the girl**SPOILER**...Which ending it was? original, fake or theatrical?

[massacre man]

Just saw it lately...**SPOILERS**at the end the cops show up & shoot the girl**SPOILER**...Which ending it was? original, fake or theatrical?

That's the original.

[AmericanManiac]

Thats the one I have.

[ChronoGrl]

The original ending sounds better than the theatrical one.

SPOILERS














It's clear with the "theatrical" version that they were trying to springboard off the popularity of the onryo in JA ghost flicks.











/SPOILERS

[iSeymore]

I actually liked this movie, I went to go see it sometime last week or the weekend before with a girl, and I could hear so many people gasping, just didn't like the ending. threw everything off. :P

[newb]

Ugly duckling... I have it with the original ending. And I have the theatrical one too if You like... I can bring it next time you invite me.

:D Say hi to Auntie :p

GHOSTHOUSE

http://www.horror.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12981


http://cdn3.ioffer.com/img/item/117/943/163/1VbY38TnfzElyAb.jpg

[p1zl3]

I didn't like the movie, I liked that it tried keeping a semi-realistic feel throughout but killed the vibe, raped it's corpse, tied it to the back of a dirtbike, dragged it down a gravel road, raped it again, and punched it in the face.

...and punched in the face?!?! damn... so what you're trying to say is, you didn't like it. ;)

Well, you know what they say; "an opinion is like an asshole, we all have one and they all stink." (I'm not really sure who "they" are, but I f*cking hate em' for being right all the time!)

[garciajohn24]

i was pretty surprised when i found out that paranormal activity was a low budget movie. why cant other good independent movies out there wasnt as good as paranormal activity?

im pretty sure there are a few indie movies out there that are just as good or even better, and some people just wont know cus its an independent film

my list of good independent films i liked and would like to see:
The Blair Witch Project
In the Company of Men
The Evil Dead
Donnie Darko
Chain Letter

[Angra]

And don't forget... Dark Remains. ;)

[p1zl3]

...I just caught the non-theatrical ending for this movie and it was as mediocre as the one I saw in the cinemas. I just can't think of a good way to end this film...

[massacre man]

...I just caught the non-theatrical ending for this movie and it was as mediocre as the one I saw in the cinemas. I just can't think of a good way to end this film...

Katie wakes up and finds a note on the bed.

"Sorry. Good luck.
Goodbye forever.
-Micah.
P.S. I did BUY the Ouija board."

[p1zl3]

Katie wakes up and finds a note on the bed.

"Sorry. Good luck.
Goodbye forever.
-Micah.
P.S. I did BUY the Ouija board."

Sounds feasible. I've dumped girls for more insignificant reasons than demon possession... but I have seen the dumping process bring out the devil in some women. If Micah wasn't so p*ssy-whipped, he'd have walked when Katie put on that 20lbs only six months after they started dating.

I think I would have ended it like this: Micah looks for Katie downstairs in the dark. His body is flung up and hits the camera, knocking it over. Katie lumbers in and drags Micah to a blind-spot in the hall (just outside the bedroom door) and slowly dismantles him. Camera switches to dash-cam of police cruiser with radio chatter about "domestic disturbance". Squad car stops in front of house, with front door in full view. Police enter, ruckus ensues and one officer crawls out crying and holding a bleeding face. Silence apart from gurgling cop. Katie comes ripping out the front door with officer in pursuit. He fires and hits her in the back of the head which sprawls her out over the cruiser's hood (face cracks windshield for effect). Her eyes roll up into her head and slowly a smile appears in the corner of her mouth. Auto dash cam loses focus and screen goes black. Case number and date pops up in plain white text... no credits.

PRESTO!!! A good ending!

[stenchofdeath]

I have read that some people love this film and some people hate it. I have seen the posters and all the quotes of opinions and i have to say that i am amped. I have not seen a preview to this and i will wait until it it is actually released to cinemas in early december here.....

[_____V_____]

Who needs Decepticons, CGI or motion-capture when you've got slamming doors, billowing sheets and a hand-held camera?

Paranormal Activity has passed the $100 million mark at the U.S. box office, making it, dollar for dollar, the biggest cinematic success story of 2009. It has also become the top grossing "R" thriller of the past decade.

Sure, it's no Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen-size $400 million, but Michael Bay's special-effects extravaganza required at least $200 million to make everything go boom.

Paranormal Activity, which features five unknowns and a demonic presence, cost $15,000 to make. That's T-H-O-U-S-A-N-D.

The goosebump-inducing (albeit a tad overhyped) horror flick spent its opening weekend playing in 12 theaters total, before hurling into wide release on Oct. 16.

The film-masquerading-as-found-footage is also the fifth-highest-grossing R-rated film of '09, trailing only The Hangover, Inglourious Basterds, District 9 and Watchmen—and only $19 million separates it from the No. 2 spot.

"What is truly amazing about Paranormal Activity is the depth of commitment from fans who demanded to see it," said Paramount Pictures chief executive Brad Grey. "All of us at Paramount are proud to have been involved with his revolutionary project."

[urgeok2]

brilliant movie.

should be used as a tool to teach fim school

a textbook example of effectiveness without excess.

[pythagoraz]

GHOSTHOUSE

http://www.horror.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12981


http://cdn3.ioffer.com/img/item/117/943/163/1VbY38TnfzElyAb.jpg


Hahahhaa... Autistic memory?

[WillCarter]

I went to see Paranormal at the cinema last night and I have to say it was the most refreshing piece of Horror film making I have ever seen. It's subtlety in it's build up through it's introduction of the characters as an everyday young couple, through to the haunting's gradually escalating to the big finale was perfect in my opinion. I have read and heard people say that the first half was boring, but I think that shows what the current state of movies and society as a whole is like. If a movie isn't all action from the first two minutes until the end, it's seen as boring. Have our attention spans really become this poor that we can't even focus on 30 minutes of build up anymore?

Without that 30 minutes at the start, we wouldn't have invested anything into the characters of Katie and Micah and therefore wouldn't have felt like we knew them as a couple once they really started to get spooked. Without that 30 minutes, we wouldn't of known that Micah is more interested in capturing footage than the welfare of Katie and this would of rendered the film phoney and unwatchable.

I've even heard someone say that they wish the whole film had been like the last five minutes and to be honest, other than someone saying they walked after 20 minutes this is the most stupid opinion I've heard yet. If Katie had been chucking Micah about and becoming uber-demon within minutes of the film starting then the ending would of literally been yawn inducing, as it is the end really hits you because of whole the rest of the film focused more on being creepy than making the audience jump.

How anyone didn't even find this film even creepy let alone scary is beyond me. You hear film-makers saying all the time about they wanted the film to be a situation that anyone could find themselves in. But in reality how many people are scared about being attacked by a masked serial killer when they leave the house or being eaten by a cannibal family whenever they go on a road-trip. I know I'm certainly not, but I can guarantee you that if I was asleep in my bed and my door suddenly slammed shut or I heard a huge crash, I would quite literally launch myself six-foot in the air I would jump that much.

I have to say I would be interested in watching the other endings, I think on a small screen, the theatrical ending wouldn't be quite so effective so it'll be interesting to see if they give you the option of the other two endings on its DVD release.

As for a sequel, I can't say I'm looking forward to this. If any film could do without a sequel, it's this! Part of it's scaryness is how the actors were so off of the radar that they could of really been real people. Put anyone recogniseable in the sequel and the whole thing is ruined... so in my opinion that even rules out a return of Katie's character. I think the only interesting avenue they could take with this 'franchise' is to perhaps do a prequel involving Diane (the girl from the website) and base a film around her, however the problem there is that the Diane story was supposedly from the 1960's virtually making a realistic hand held movie believable impossible, with the limitations of period technology etc.

All in all, I would say that Paranormal Activity lives up to it's billing as 'the most terrifying of all time...' simply because in an era where anything is possible on film, where we see everything from peoples heads being chopped off to god knows what else, things as simple as shadows, swinging doors and bellowing sheets have managed to effect so many people. This is my mind makes it a modern day classic and a film that will be remembered and still seen as notoriously scary in 20-30 years time. That is if they don't completely rape the formula with endless sequels and spin-offs... we'll see.

[Angra]

Right...

Overated.


Move on!

[Greg_]

http://gregae.blogspot.com/2009/10/oh-horror-34-paranormal-activity.html


Most over-hyped film in recent years or does it live up to it? Honestly you'll have to see for yourself, but for me personally I'm definitely in the middle. Now not to say I didn't enjoy it, I enjoyed the hell out of it. But when I hear people deem this as the scariest movie made in decades, I have to stop and ponder... and it is rather hard to think of a truly terrifying great movie recently, all I could think about are Drag Me To Hell and Coraline (not really terrifying, but put yourself in Coraline's shoes and view it as a lil' kid, you'll piss your pants!). But yes, this film is a mockumendary directed by Oren Peli starring Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat as a couple who decides to video document strange occurrence in their house. We are presented through this story through the video documents taken by the characters.

We begin the movie with Micah testing out his new video camera then meet his girlfriend of three years, Katie, as we watch them all lovey-dovey on a normal day. As to why Micah has the camera, Katie reveals to us a little later that she's been haunted by a strange entity since childhood. One day while asleep with her sister, she noticed a big black mass standing at the foot of her bed. A few days later her home burned down. A few years later the same entity haunted her and and this time it was happening again now that she was happy with her new wise-cracking boyfriend. The characters are fairly likable which is a plus to have when you make a horror movie, but Micah is definitely the character that gets you irritated watching the movie as he's warned against certain things such as antagonizing the entity and thus making things worse than it could have been. Note to everyone: DO NOT MESS WITH OUIJA BOARDS!

So yes, the movie documents about two weeks of strange occurrences that includes load banging sounds and creaking doors and lights flickering. Each night is a lil' more and a lil' more and tension grows as you're not sure what to expect next despite quite a few scenes being fairly predictable. The slowness and gradual build-up really grasps you until things really start unfolding finally. The director did a wonderful job growing suspense and using time and quietness to his advantage. It's really refreshing to see how a low-budget movie done in seven days can get you uneasy with hardly much special effects. I also see this as a way of getting into "horror fans" heads who only believe that a good horror movie should be rated R with a ton of gore and tits. If this movie had eliminated all the cursing, it could have definitely been a PG-13 movie and still frighten the viewers it's been frightening. And speaking of, I enjoyed hearing girls scream their asses off and panic through the movie. Now some scenes I felt weren't too strong to fully get me to jump or be fearful, but I did have a hell of a good time watching this film. I felt it was well made and may not be a top favorite of mine, but it's good money spent and good to watch with some buddies. Hell, bring your girl friend. I shoulda done that. Heh... there's always next week or so... But yes, in the end I could have done without the final second or two of the movie as I felt it was a tad cliche but a way of Peli having some fun. So go have some fun with Peli and others and allow yourself to enjoy this good horror film. Don't put too much thought about if this will live up to the hype. Just go see it.

But I do have to ask, though... people really threw up watching this movie?

[marianne]

it looks a load of crap to me a bit. not scary at all. and sorry if i affended any one. maz

[BH14]

I saw this movie and I have to say this movie is overrated. I didn't find it to be a terrible movie but after watching those moviegoers' reactions and rave reviews, you would think it was the scariest movie ever. I didn't find it that scary at all but it had some good parts. I did find the ending predictable. It was an ok movie.

[Elvis_Christ]

brilliant movie.

should be used as a tool to teach fim school

a textbook example of effectiveness without excess.

Totally. Caught this last night and thought it was great. I dug the more realistic
feel of the film compared to [REC]. I'd like to see it with the more graphic ending I've read about... but this sort of film is only effective the first time around.

[Ferox13]

I would have enjoyed it if the cunts in the cinema could keep quiet for 10 fucking seconds..

Totally ruined the atmosphere of the film..

Normally I ask ppl to keep the noise down but this time it was the whole cinema..

[ChronoGrl]

I would have enjoyed it if the cunts in the cinema could keep quiet for 10 fucking seconds..

Totally ruined the atmosphere of the film..

Normally I ask ppl to keep the noise down but this time it was the whole cinema..

Happened to me too. What is WRONG with people?? :mad:

[Elvis_Christ]

Lame that totally would've totally killed it.

A lot of people didn't share my opinion but I thought this was creepy as fuck.

[HarryCanyon]

Exceellent movie! this one outdoes Blaire Witch Project and as good as Cannibal Holocaust or REC in terms of handy-cam horror.

[neverending]

I agree with all the most recent posts. I watched it at home On Demand. I'm glad I didn't have it spoiled by morons in the theatre.

I'm fascinated by the whole life as video image metaphor thing and I think this one was one of the best examples. The scenes where she getds out of bed and just stands staring at her husband for 2 hours at a time were very creepy, IMO. And if you put yourself in that situation and say you wouldn't be scared, you're lying.

One of the best modern horror films, IMO.

[roshiq]

I'm fascinated by the whole life as video image metaphor thing and I think this one was one of the best examples. The scenes where she getds out of bed and just stands staring at her husband for 2 hours at a time were very creepy, IMO. And if you put yourself in that situation and say you wouldn't be scared, you're lying.


Ditto. :)

Although over hyped & may not be the best for me but as a POV Horror feature I think it's a pretty decent one.

[neverending]

This movie shares some similarities with one of yoyr favorites- The Haunting- and the way that it builds its atmosphere impeccably, and it's the UNSEEN which is terrifying, along with those horrible SOUNDS.

[FreddyMyers]

What gave the night vision scenes great creepy and scary atmosphere is the low dull humm that is in the score. As soon as the camera switches and that sound starts getting louder you know something bad is gonna happen. i thought that was great usage of a simple sound but didnt notice it in the theatre. I have surround sound and a big ass TV at home and it made the movie a lot better. Plus no annoying kids talking the whole time.

[missmacabre]

What gave the night vision scenes great creepy and scary atmosphere is the low dull humm that is in the score. As soon as the camera switches and that sound starts getting louder you know something bad is gonna happen. i thought that was great usage of a simple sound but didnt notice it in the theatre. I have surround sound and a big ass TV at home and it made the movie a lot better. Plus no annoying kids talking the whole time.

I noticed this in the theater and totally agree with you. Knowing something bad is going to happen creates this awesome tension. Even though you expect it you don't know when it's coming and it makes the jumps that much better. I think I'm gonna re-watch this soon.

[FreddyMyers]

I noticed this in the theater and totally agree with you. Knowing something bad is going to happen creates this awesome tension. Even though you expect it you don't know when it's coming and it makes the jumps that much better. I think I'm gonna re-watch this soon.

Ti Wests The house of the devil also does this almost better than any movie ive seen. Something about knowing the upending doom that the characters are going into make movies like these very enjoyable to watch. I guess there is something to be said about that

[bigkev119]

i saw this so called hyped movie yesterday, and to me it was nothing like people said it was. it was not scary at all. this type of movie was done before aka.. blair witch. nothing was original. even a 5 yr old kid can watch it without being scared. to me it did nothing for me. it was boring.although the ending was a little different, but that to was not a surprise. You could tell by that woman when she wanted all of the sudden to stay at the house, something was up.Now their making a pt 2, oh brother.:mad:

[neverending]

First of all- the only similarity between PA & BW is the fact that a video camera was used. So, no, this film wasn't made before, and it wasn't called Blair Witch.

Next, if you can put yourself in that situation and tell me you wouldn't be scared, I say to you you're either lying or too stupid to know when you're in danger.

Also- don't start a new thread every time you watch a movie. Use existing threads.

[iSeymore]

Really liked this movie, seen it in theaters with my Girl friend, and we got kinda spooked at some parts...I really didn't like the ending though, gave everything away 'nuff said. >_>;

[Deimos]

I agree with all the most recent posts. I watched it at home On Demand. I'm glad I didn't have it spoiled by morons in the theatre.

I'm fascinated by the whole life as video image metaphor thing and I think this one was one of the best examples. The scenes where she getds out of bed and just stands staring at her husband for 2 hours at a time were very creepy, IMO. And if you put yourself in that situation and say you wouldn't be scared, you're lying.

One of the best modern horror films, IMO.

Agreed, scared the hell out of me for a while.

[nicklord1]

Hi what did people think of this movie ?

[TheWickerFan]

I really enjoyed it.

[ChronoGrl]

http://horror.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52394

:rolleyes:

[Vlad The Impaler]

I've just published a review of 'Paranormal Activity' on my new horror review site:

http://cinematichorrorarchive.wordpress.com/2010/06/27/paranormal-activity-2009/

PLUG! PLUG! PLUG! PLUG! ;)

[ShankS]

I've had a break from watching horrors for the past few months, so got Paranormal Activity for some scares to get me back into the spirit of things...

Had an entertaining 90~ minutes, thought it was paced nicely and built up the atmosphere well using basic video cam and audio effects during the sleeping scary scenes. I watched the version with the throat slash ending, which i prefered. The inclusion of different endings has easily left it open for a sequal, along with the small initial budget and huge payback in cinema takings, I'd be happy to watch a sequal that isn't full of big budget effects.

[ChrisSTC]

I rented this movie just to see, I was pretty creeped out about the idea of going to sleep for about 4 days. Scary Shit Man. Otherwise it was a really good documentary on this kind of stuff.