Paranormal Activity
Directed by:
Oren PeliScreenplay:
Oren PeliCinematography:
Oren PeliCast:
Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, Mark Fredrichs, Amber Armstrong, Randy McDowell, Tim Piper, Ashley Palmer, Crystal Cartwright, Spencer MarksPlots(1)
After a young, middle class couple moves into what seems like a typical suburban “starter” tract house, they become increasingly disturbed by a presence that may or may not be somehow demonic but is certainly most active in the middle of the night. Especially when they sleep. Or try to. The presence seems most concerned with Katie, a student who has felt “haunted” her whole life. Her boyfriend, Micah, a day-trader, becomes fixated on learning as much as he can about the phenomenon. Technologically savvy and a lover of toys, Micah spends a few thousand dollars on a high-definition video camera and sets it up at the foot of their bed, creating at once the most intimate of tableaux and an evidentiary medium. The arrival of Micah’s new toy seems to trigger an escalation of paranormal activity, causing Katie to observe that the presence “doesn’t like it.” As tape rolls, Katie becomes increasingly distant while Micah’s fascination grows into obsession. (Paramount Pictures)
(more)Reviews (5)
Paranormal Activity is decent entertainment for viewers with imagination and a weakness for goosebump-inducing moments and fear of the unknown. Unfortunately, it is also a disappointment for fans of interesting and well-thought-out endings. The film is not helped by the fact that being lost in the forest (The Blair Witch Project) or imprisoned in a locked house (REC) is a different situation altogether than being in an ordinary house you can leave at any time.
()
Fortunately (and given the mixed responses), I managed to avoid most of the hype before this film made it to Czech cinemas and today I was able to truly enjoy it. I don’t know what half of the reviewers watched, but it can’t have been this hearty and spooky ghost story that even made a group of teenagers in the last row go quiet (before the film started they were speaking loudly and throwing popcorn at each other). The night sequences are terrifying, but the scenes during the day are also good, with the occasional joke to lighten things up. We can argue about the behaviour of the characters and their reasons to film in some moments, but who wants to go there? Oren Peli gets my respect and I’m looking forward to Area 51. PS: The cinema ending from 2009 is better, scarier and more striking than the alternative ending from 2007.
()
Haunted horror movies are all about whether or not you develop a relationship with the characters. To put it briefly: She’s a cow and he’s an asshole. The positives? TY nights. The handy-cam is irrelevant. The result? Boring as shit.
()
Even though I watched this alone in my dorm room, at night, I still wasn't scared, just bored. So the woman was making me angry, the guy wasn't much better; I wasn't enjoying their fights. I even got the version with the "rougher" ending, yet... I guess I'm just not cut out for horror movies: they don't scare me, and that's too bad, because they should, that's all they’re supposed to do. And if you're not scared, you can't possibly like the movie very much. Just an ordinary ghost movie that maybe even gives you the old happy ending... :-D – of course, it depends on who you're rooting for.
()
I understand that at home in the morning on the laptop with the sound turned down so the parents don't get pissed, it's probably not going to be a jolly good experience, so I can explain the low rating from some users. In the cinema, however, I squashed my phone and made thumb indentations on all my remaining fingers. I haven't seen anything this suspenseful since The Ring. I more or less expected the jump scares, but I was still (especially in the night scenes) in constant suspense as to what was going to happen next. The filmmakers dole out the events very slowly, so it stands out twice as much afterwards when something crucial happens (like the photo of Diana on the net, or the result of the experiment with the powder). In the second half, the viewer tends to scan frame by frame to see if anything is going to flicker or change, while wishing it hadn't. I confess that if I were sixteen, I wouldn't sleep well after a screening in an empty apartment. The only downside I would see is probably the last second of the film (before the credits roll on the characters' next fate), which is unnecessarily self-indulgent and kind of undermines what the film has been trying to do up to this point.This is how the film ranks fourth behind The Sixth Sense, The Ring, and The Blair Witch Project – films that really scared me. Btw only 4 characters appear in the movie and 5 names are listed.... I guess even the spider at the beginning had a name and acting career -). UPDATE: the extended version is even a notch better. Mostly it totally replaces the original first ending with a proper one. The video of Diana on the net biting off her hand also has a lot going for it.
()