According to some, Paranormal Activity is the new Blair Witch Project. Filmed for $11,000, it is now scaring the crap out of everyone* that sees it and is scheduled to be released in 10 college towns on Sept 25. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSSqxrh5kp8 *OK, probably not EVERYONE, but you know...
I'm looking forward to this film but the way it's being hyped is a turn-off IMHO. Not a good idea to tell your audience in advance that they ARE going to be very, very scared. Let expectations set themselves with a good trailer ... the "test audience was really scared!" thing is so cheesy.
I agree with the cheesy comment. But I am choosing to ignore their poor judgment in that respect cuz the trailer gave me goosebumps. Looks fun. Possibly scary...
They should bring back the free life insurance in case you die of fright promos like you see for some movies form the 50's & 60's. And comparing it to Blair Witch is a turn off for me. A shaky cam of people running around screaming 'Oh Fuck!' is NOT scary, it is annoying. I could not wait for everyone to die so I could go home.
It looks ok, i guess my problem (and you can't blame them) is that they made the activity too much and it quit feeling real. Just skip the movie and buy a few seasons of Paranormal State. Truth is more frightening than fiction.
And the quotes from such non-shill pubs like "Bloody Disgusting" validate it even more. I think I could make a nice parody of this exact film with a the premise being someone accidentally left a rabid raccoon into the house. That or a "re-imagining" of My Dinner With Andre... BUT WITH A GHOST!!!!
i watched it last week, and it was pretty good.. my friends had problems going to bed.. but it was easy for me.. still a good movie and you shoudl check it out.. when it says blair witch.. dont think jumpy and shakey camera...
I think me and the woman are going to make the pilgrimage to Rochester this weekend to see it. I doubt it will scare me but looks interesting. I know it will be a million times better than the awful free movie we made the mistake of seeing last night out of boredom! They really need to tell Rob Zombie to spare the world his hot topic goth kid gore for the sake of gore fantasies suck and never be allowed to make a film.
So I saw this tonight. Played locally to my surprise. Don't want to give too much away because I know some people haven't seen it. Gotta say, not that impressed. I love the fact that they took awhile to build up, but after awhile I just kept thinking of scarier plot revisions in my head. The end was like, ok saw that coming, why did you take so long to do that? I left the theater thinking to myself "Well Hollywood really fooled me this time" Here I thought it was going to be really scary and they probably had this grassroots hype thing planned from day one! I can see the executives having that meeting now...."normal commercials and publicity are doing nothing, lets fool everyone into thinking this is some indie phenomenon"
Yup. Not impressed. I mean... where was the scary? If you've seen the trailer, you've pretty much seen all the excitement.
Saw it. Would haved liked it a LOT more had we not been deluged with hype (not here, the promotional hype) telling me that I was going to be REALLY REALLY SCARED! I wanted to be, and might have been a little more if I wasn't told that I would be. The film is definitely creepy but being a non-professional film, the acting, especially the young woman, was a little too amateurish and hammy. It kept me from being able to just "suspend disbelief" and go with it. Still, there were details I liked. The sleepwalking seriously creeped me out. I did that when I was a kid, same sort of thing. Spooky. The investigator was a good aspect. The relationship between "the relationship" and the haunting was great. I liked the ending. Kinda-sorta saw it coming due to a rather prominent indication early in the film, but was still happy that the movie didn't wimp out if you know what I mean. Not bad, especially for a non-industry low-budget movie, but again, way overhyped for being S C A R E Y when "atmospherically creepy" is more like it.
when i first saw the trailer i thought it was a joke, like not a real movie. could be due to the quotes from places i have never herd of. From this trailer i can not see how this is supposed to be a scary movie. I dono why, it just looks to fake and boring for some reason.
saw this yesterday. was just ok - liked the premise and film style. kept waiting to be really scared - things jumping out and such (like in the trailer), but just ended up tense and with a slight headache. definitely not impressed with the ending -- heard that it was not the original one, so looked it up online and original sounds way better to me. another case of hollywood messing things up imo...
Because it IS. This shit is nothing but a lukewarm, stale rehash of the Blair Witch Project (which I never thought to be that great either). Don't believe the hype, go watch Don't Look Now or the original Tale of Two Sisters if you're looking to get seriously creeped the fuck out...
Just watched Tale of Two Sisters last night. Really great. Definitely some creepy parts. Also sad + beautiful, which is rare for a scary movie.
saw it with my gf Saturday. We thought it was pretty damn creepy. the old apartment I grew up in had some moments like this so I guess it hit a nerve with me. a friend of mine grew up in a house that was haunted so he was a bit shaken by it as well. So I guess when I was alone at home, I thought about it. my gf thought it was a super creepy movie, but it didn't really fuck with her after she went home. well...she told me that last night she was creeped out a bit. I thought it was well done. When it hits DVD, I'll pick it up. if it doesn't get under my skin a second time I won't recommend it. EDIT: oh and I know ppl said the camera was too shaky; made them feel motion sick. Eating food while you watch helps.
my girlfriend and I caught it on a shitty night (cold that got colder, rain, turbo winds, etc in a meat-locker cold theater). Luckily the quantity of little middle-school bastards was low so it wasn't too noisy. slowly building dread = name of this one. I loved how things were subtle and left more up to your imagination. Frankly I thought the baddie would be this giant three-toed frog or something from Ghostbusters! The only minor quibble I had was the very, very last second which seemed tacked on. And I mean the last second - I'd say it but, spoilers and all. And yeah, the frakkin' trailers all show what they shouldn't show! WTF. Someone should have done a better job editing. I read on bloody disgusting a good point that this isn't as effective in a home as it is in the theater, which I have to agree with. You need the larger atmosphere to really get into this, so get out and support smaller horror films!
