Monday, October 26, 2009

PBenj's Movie Review: Paranormal Activity


Ooh...it's scary movie season!  Last night, I went to see the movie 'Paranormal Activity' with my good friend Ray Pankey.

I do love a good fright!

Now, don't worry...there are NO spoilers here, as I am not one to give away movie endings!  I want you all to enjoy and experience it for yourselves.

The feelings about this movie are pretty split, with opinions ranging from very positive to some pretty adamant, 'I did NOT like it AT ALL' comments.

Personally, I am giving it 2 thumbs up!

However, it took me a few minutes to come to that conclusion.  The movie is one that made me think about it lonnnnng after leaving the theater.  Therefore, it was a success in my book!

So, Ray and I decided to go to an early evening showing, so that by the time we exited the theater it would be DARK and we could continue being spooked!

Ooh...exciting!  I forgot to bring a Boniva, so I was going to have to get through this on the bone-density that I currently had!

The movie wasn't too packed, which was nice.  The previews that were playing before the film started were all for other scary movies, and they were starting to scare the bejeezus out of me!  I was nervous that Ray was going to wet himself! 

For the most part, everyone was very well-behaved.

However, there was one couple down the aisle who decided to bring their kid!  WHAT THE....????

But isn't there always at least one clueless family?  The little boy looked like he was about 6-7 years old.  Way to go, genius family!  You probably just freaked out your kid enough so that he has nightmares for years to come.  Bravo to you!

The dad of this incredibly bright family also decided to answer his cell phone in the middle of the theater, and carry on a minute-long conversation during a part of the movie that was dead silent.  Either he was too stupid to know that you are supposed to turn your phones off, or he is just so incredibly selfish that he doesn't give a sh*t about others around him.  (I'm guessing it's both!)

Besides this specific family, it was a great experience!

The movie focuses on a young couple, Micah & Katie, who decide to videotape themselves around the clock in order to document paranormal activity in their house.  Katie has been haunted since she was a child.

Katie, as a character, gets annoying.
Micah is very nice eye candy!

The movie moves along at a very quick pace, and I found that I was never bored.  The entire thing was thoroughly entertaining! 

I went into this blind, not reading anything about it, or seeing any movie trailers.  Therefore, I was clueless as to what was going to happen.  From the beginning, they had me convinced that this was actual, real footage...but then there were a couple of scenes where the dialog was pretty cheesy and unrealistic, which made me realize that it was fiction. 

When the movie was over, there were a few people in the theater who let out groans, including the ridiculous lovely family down the aisle.  I even heard the dad say out loud, "Man, I want my money back..."

But for the most part, people were leaving the theater generally pleased. 

It amazes me that 'Paranormal Activity' was made on a budget of $15,000.  Yeah, that's right.  $15,000.
So far, the movie has grossed close to $70 million dollars!

I would say that the producers made a good investment!

Luckily, I was able to sleep soundly throughout the night last night, but that's because my apartment is already haunted, and I am used to the ghosts being silly...   :)

Either that, or the drinks I went out for after the movie kicked in!

So, in conclusion...

If you are looking for 'jumping out of your seats' thrills, then this movie isn't for you.  However, if you like that eerie, freaky, spookiness of a movie, similar to the Blair Witch Project, then you will really enjoy this film!

You will remain thoroughly entertained throughout the entire film.  Therefore, whether or not you like the ending or not, you will have a great movie-going experience. 

And that...is just my humble opinion.

12 comments:

  1. I would say that I agree with your general assessment. It wasn't knock your socks off scary, but it did keep me on edge. I enjoy movies like this.

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  2. Did you hear that they are planning on making a sequel? I don't really know how that is going to happen, but I hope it's nothing like Blair Witch Project 2 was. That was a major fail!

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  3. You are so f'n funny!

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  4. I was feeling pretty mixed when I left the theater. I wanted to like it more, i think. You are right, though, I was entertained during the entire thing so I guess that makes a good movie.

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  5. I would like to see this. Not sure I will get to it in theaters but I will try. I like a good scare too. Hell, I'm a kid of the 80s. We were raised on this stuff.

    Isn't it amazing how oblivious some people can be. I'm sure the guy who answered his phone was NOT that important.

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  6. Mike, a sequel? Are you serious? Hmm, interesting...

    HAHA, Michael. We WERE raised on this stuff!
    The guy who answered his phone just carried on very casually. There was nothing urgent about it.

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  7. I hate scary movies. There is no chance in hell that I will see this one! haha!

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  8. "I forgot to bring a Boniva, so I was going to have to get through this on the bone-density that I currently had!"

    this is by far the funniest part of this post. I do wanna see the movie though, sounds good.

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  9. I'm sorry, I must be a wuss, but this movie scared the living daylights out of me! I was pretty scared throughout the whole thing.

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  10. Thanks for the review! I think I will wait for this to come to Netflix. :-)

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  11. Did you know that Speilberg had them change the original ending of the movie? You can check out the original ending here,

    http://www.movieweb.com/news/NEB2gGCGqE0MEJ

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  12. I completely agree. I didn't hate it, but THE PROPOSAL was scarier than this movie. When the trailer is just shots of the audience screaming and telling you, "you demanded it..." uh, no I didn't. I did turn to the screaming girl next to me and ask her if she was genuinely scared or just stupid.

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