Saturday, October 10, 2009

Paranormal Activity (2007)

Director: Oren Peli. Cast: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat. 99 min. Rated R. USA. Horror.

Every five years or so, a true horror movie is made (the last one being The Ring). Using the most simple techniques, Paranormal Activity meets the criteria, and it is your worst nightmares come true. The sheer terror you'll experience during this movie, will remind you of the genre's true masterpieces. During the last minutes, I just wanted it to end, not because of any weakness in the movie, but because the fear I felt was becoming intolerable. Watch this at your own risk - the next time you hear something go bump in the night, you'll have difficulty sleeping.

Mo says:
MojoMagic!

8 comments:

  1. So low- budget movie ( 150,000$) can gain high -benefit (9,000,000$) just by use of realistic- technique in high -popular plot!
    Amazingly, Believe in demons,( our jinn &fairies!,) exorcist, seems so strong still motivates new filmmakers to make and audience to watch eagerly& be affected intensely ! and for providing atmosphere more attractive and realistic what is better than hand-held camera ? practically and significantly decreases the traditional distance between scene & viewer.Feeling yourself on the scene!In addition 2 guys were so natural.
    But honesty after all, I didn't scare much enough! , slept pretty well the night after!

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  2. Didn't scare enough? How about the leg-pulling scene? A friend of mine who also said she "wasn't scared enough", says she had shut her eyes during that scene!

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  3. Sorry if I disappointed you !I didn't shut my eyes too !
    In paranormal phenomena, after "Exorcism" rare movies could ever repeat the same terribly scary feeling in me.,In Demons 's topic, it was really unique.

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  4. somebody please tell me if it is a true story!!! I searched in net and I found is not while as it has been true , both were suffering from schizophrenia!
    I liked it as a trial of ghost horror although I was not scared at all and I some how prefered Katy to talk with it and find a way to methaphysics! actually I do not believe in bad ghosts as I think they are all affected by bad situation and after dying they are all good which is a part of God/Holy spirit ....
    honestly saying I am more afraid of human powers such as what we see in " the Cell" or " irriversible" and etc...
    as Maryam said both two actores were totaly natural and the idea of camera was a good idea while the benefit shows that people are still interested in this subjects.

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  5. It's definitely not a true story, but I love how the camerawork makes it feel that way ...

    What happened was: the director made this at $15,000 two years ago, and gave it to Dreamworks for distribution. It lay there for 2 years, gathering dust. One day, someone gave the film to Spielberg, so they would make a remake, using big Hollywood stars. He took it home, watched it, and then said just by making a small change to the ending, we can distribute this; no need for a remake. The rest is history.

    But wait a minute: Am I the only who got scared to death from watching this. I don't know - maybe it's the effect of watching it in a theater.

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  6. Well, opposed to similar situations, this time I couldn't say to myself: "Hey! Don't be worried! It's just a movie. It's not reality".
    I mean I got scared too, but it was mainly due to a question I had in my mind: How can we make sure if they are around us or not? And if they are, when and how will they interrupt our sleeps? It was the most scaring thing stayed with me.
    And yes, the leg-pulling scene made me jumped from my seat!

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  7. Finally! Someone who freaked out as much as I did!

    The main horror of the story is about what is "not" happening: The first nights are very tense, because almost nothing happens; the girl standing beside the bed and staring at the guy is intolerable, because she doesn't do anything. The same universal Hitchcock lesson: a bomb under a table that doesn't explode, creates much more tension than one that does.

    As you said, the scariest idea the movie thrusts into your mind is: when you so comfortably sleep at night, do you have any clue what's happening around you? That's a very good reason not to sleep comfortably.

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  8. ...or sleep, but at least after turning a handy camera on to record what happens around you!

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