Friday
25Sep2009
Movie Review - 'Paranormal Activity'
Friday, September 25, 2009 at 4:01AM | Paranormal Activity
Starring Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat  |
Most of the classic, genre-defining horror movies were made for next to nothing. Add up the
production budgets of Psycho, Friday the 13th, Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Texas
Chainsaw Massacre, Night of the Living Dead and The Blair Witch Project, and
you're looking at roughly $4 million in all. Total revenue: Close to a quarter-billion dollars in
the US. Throw in the much more expensive The Exorcist, which still only cost about $12
million, and the profits balloon to nearly $400 million.
Now there's Paranormal Activity, with a reported budget of $15,000. My car cost more than
this movie. And once again, here's a real watershed moment for a genre often maligned for blood
and gore.
Truth be told, none of the movies mentioned above are significantly gory, minus a couple scenes in
Nightmare and Friday the 13th, and certainly not by the current standards to which
we're accustomed thanks to the rise of torture porn. And that's because the most effective horror
movies are the most gripping, not the most dripping.
Paranormal Activity is perfectly constructed fun, expertly designed to make you jump out of
your seat. Director Oren Peli is a video game designer by trade, but his auspicious debut here is
proof that he could navigate a career change pretty easily. Elementally, this is The Blair With
Project in a condominium, but you forget those similarities once the story starts to take
shape.
Micah (Micah Sloat) has just purchased a professional grade video camera because his live-in
girlfriend, Katie (Katie Featherston), has been experiencing some inexplicable phenomena. Noises
in the night, brushes against her skin and hair, that kind of thing. We learn that she has dealt
with these issues since she was a child, and they come and go. But now...they're coming on with a
vengeance.
Because this is framed as a chronological documentary, the thrill of Paranormal Activity is
watching every event in the lovers' lives, anticipating the worst scares cutting through the
mundanity. When the couple goes to sleep, the scenes are dimly lit but grab every ounce of your
attention. You don't know what you're looking for or where you're looking for it, but you know it
will be there.
Reader Comments (19)
It sounds fan-freakin'-tastic! No trailer? I hope to hell it's coming to the valley.
I cannot wait to see this. Colin, where did you see it? I know they're showing it in Tucson. Is that where you saw it or is it playing somewhere in Phoenix?
I was in Tucson, yeah. Only 13 cities this weekend, but I'm sure it will expand.
Playing in Tempe at the International Horror and Sci Fi Film Festival...tickets will sell quick!
http://horrorscifi.bside.com/2009/films/paranormalactivity_horrorscifi2009
I hope you're right man. Previous to this horror film, I saw nothing but positive hype for a movie that lived up to it titled [REC] which based on your posts/blogs I'm sure you're familiar with. That was a very well done and creepy film. Can't wait for the second one. For now...I NEED TO WATCH PARANORMAL ACTIVITY!
Mamacita...you're awesome!
THANKS A BUNCH COLIN
I asked if you could right a review and taadaa, here it is...
Man I cant wait to see this, I want it to come to my vicinity!!!!
The hype and Spielberg were right! Ive heard nothing but good things....
SHOW IN THE BAY AREA DAMNIT !!!!! lol
this movie seriously scared the living crap out of me... i was tense from start to finish. It is still playing in Tempe at the Tempe Marketplace at midnight every day this weekend
Here it is, my final verdict, but before I start, I just want to say;
I've been waiting for this movie for about a year and a half now. I first heard about it makings it way around the festivals, and gaining a lot of steam one could say. Reviews were rave, critics loved it, audiences were terrified, even the big Steven Speilberg was scared of it. I thought I had found the perfect horror film, and I needed to see it.
I spent weeks, posting the "Demand It" widget in forums, telling people "REQUEST THIS MOVIE! You won't regret it!". I had to wait though, as all the screenings I attempted to see were sold out. Finally, after a long wait, I got to sit down and really take in the film for the first time.
The mood was set, and the opening shot planted itself on the screen. I felt tension. A tension that I would feel throughout the movie, as it was constantly built up with every genius fluctuation in "Paranormal Activity". The mood continued to just stay set, and it went on, and on, and on. FINALLY! The demon does something besides slam a door or stamp around!! THIS IS IT!!! Yeah. That was it. The ending came, and was the most disappointing thing I'd seen in years.
Whoever thought this was scary must not have been raised watching horror films, because this is a total bust of a film. The real fear you feel, is the fear that something intense is going to happen. But it never really does. Loud noises, stuff moving, loud noises, stuff moving, bitemark, loud noises, screaming, end scene, jump scare with shitty CGI.
I almost want to say this movie was as bad as Gone Baby Gone, which by basic comparison, the 2 are nothing alike, but when you look deeper, have many similar qualities. They both suck 90 minutes away from you, and then in the last 10 minutes, completely slash your hopes and dreams of it ever being a good movie. High school kids will be scared shitless, adults, should know better. I was sitting in a room full of college kids, listening to them "omg!" and squeal, and by the end, they were all screaming. I was just smiling and thinking "thank god I work at this theater and got this ticket for free".
It was a fun waste of time, but as I stated before, this film built up a lot of buzz and steam, but in the end, thats all it was. A bunch of hot and humid air.
the worst movie i have ever seen and i am 50 years old. pointless, boring and disappointing. you lose your money and time.
I have not gone to a theatre to see a movie in a very long time...years, until I started seeing the trailers for this movie. They unfortunately are very short and specific ones that only show the "static" camera scenes in the bedroom! This is so misleading. If I had known that the movie was in "first person" mode complete with the "shakey camera" to let you know that it is being held by someone who is a complete moron I would not have spent a dime on it. 5 minutes into this film I and my wife were ready to vomit from motion sickness. We did not walk out and demand our money back because we kept waiting , and only opening our eyes when the camera was in the bedroom on the tripod, for something/anything to happen. What a disappointment. I love horror movies that scare the s... out of me, I live for them, they are my very favorites, but this one? Take our advice and wait for your neighbor to lay out the money for this when it comes out on DVD in a couple of months and borrow it from them so when you finish it, if you do, you can merely hand it back to them and say to yourself "thank god I didnt buy that one!" Four thumbs down for this one, dont waste your time or money.
this movie sucked... too much hype and not enough "horror".
I don't understand these comments! This movie scared the crap out of me. Maybe because I watched it at home in the dark and not in a theatre full of people. My heart didn't stop pounding for hours after the movie, the rest of my night was a total write-off because I couldn't focus my mind on anything other than what I'd just seen. The acting was great, I really felt like the girl (Katie) was terrified, so I was terrified with her.
For such a low budget movie, the writer/director/etc really knew what he was doing. The psychological effects are way more scary than unrealistic blood and guts in most horror films.
My advice: watch this at home, it will be much more frightening than watching it in a theatre.
I'm going to be sleeping with the lights on for a long time.
Very few horror movies have scared me as an adult. This one did! There is a great build up of terrifying sequences that lead you to dread the actors going to sleep and watching that time lapse on the screen. Its a good ghost story filmed documentary style, which for me, really puts you in the moment. Yeah, the camera work can be shaky, but not nearly like Blair Witch 1. Go in with an open mind and don't pre-judge the movie. Its old school atmosphere chills, not CGI demons and ghosts jumping out and saying "Boo." If you are a fan of scary movies, this one is for you. If all you want are cheesy excessive gore and gratuitous nudity, you're out of luck here. In my opinion, this movie beats any scary movie that's been out in a very long time.
I LOVED THIS MOVIE!! i guess you can say i hated it at the same time cause it scared me half to death. i looove horrors so i was pretty nervous to go see this one. i had heard things about it and thought 'wow i cant wait to see it'. well now i almost should have never seen it cause it still scares me. my stomach was butterflyish the whole movie cause even in the day time when their filming, you never knew when something was going to happen. some scary movies scare me. but having the filming be the way it was made it seem even more real and terrifying.. i almost puked from being scared and at one point i cried from being scared. i was shaking after the movie was over an didnt stop til i got to my car. if you want a scare i def recommend you watch this.. in the day time.. with the blinds open.. with more then one person. and honestly it will prob still scare you.! dont judge from it being a low budget film. go watch it!! =]
I haven't been to the movies in a long time but was compelled to go see this one because of the hype and buzz. What a TOTAL waste of TIME and MONEY. It wasn't scary, the plot was really slow. I was in total disbelief, Wait for this movie to make it to redbox then and only then will it be worth it
i saw the movie tonight and i think the only way to get scared is to keep the fact that ts a true story in the back of your head, if your thinking that its fake then its not gunna be very scary, overall, i would say its an ''Okay'' movie, if it wasnt for the last 20 mins i would say this movie is horrible.
What is wrong with the hippocrites that like this movie. Michael Jackson's This is It was a better movie. If you want to see a movie as scary as this then just go and buy a Barbie movie. So unless you actually like how scary Barbie movies are then you would like this movie.
A TOTAL WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY.....I KEPT WAITING TO BE SCARED BUT IT NEVER HAPPENED.VERY SLOW MOVING FILM, BORING. WHOEVER THINKS THIS IS SCARY NEEDS TO WATCH SOME REAL HORROR FILMS.