Paranormal Activity

[Angra]

Originally Posted by 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.

Good review, Chrono.

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

[Despare]

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Originally Posted by _____V_____

"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]

Originally Posted by Despare

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.

Originally Posted by 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.

[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]

Originally Posted by 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.

** 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-...x-office-grave

http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2009/10/24...office-report/