Escape to the Movies: Paranormal Activity

BlueInkAlchemist

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Jun 4, 2008
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Saw has become a parody of itself and should come to an end.

As for PA, I'm glad to see that it's doing something a bit different than Blair Witch or Quarantine.
 

BlueInkAlchemist

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Jun 4, 2008
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lacktheknack said:
If that's torture porn, then I don't understand the fetish.
Unfortunately Saw has meandered away from its original themes of testing people to the brink of destruction in order to redeem them and has become more of a Hostel-style gornfest. See the first two films and let it end there, focusing on the character portrayed by Tobin Bell and the message he's trying to send, rather than the severed limbs and gouts of blood.
 

guardian001

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Oct 20, 2008
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Saw it yesterday. It's definitely a pretty good movie, although by halfway through the movie not much was getting in except how much of an idiot the boyfriend was being.

I still prefer the POV camera to cinematic in this kind of film though, even if the shaky camerawork is a bit annoying. Makes it seem a bit more believable. Tripod was a good compromise.

Edit: Oh, and the fucking boo got me as well. That was mean.
 

letsnoobtehpwns

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Dec 28, 2008
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I saw Paranormal Activity last night and I thought that you were going to do a review on Saw 6! I really enjoyed Paranormal Activity but, I just gotta say Bob, Drag Me To Hell was absolute shit.
 

Deacon Cole

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Jan 10, 2009
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They made a Saw 6?

Holy shit! They made a Saw 3 - 5?!?

Why?

Personally, I hate the pseudo documentary trend in horror as much as bob if not moreso. I watched REC which many had been saying was really, really good and I found it to be shit. (I didn't watch the American remake Quarantine because I didn't want the fans telling me how much better the Spanish version was. So I watched the Spanish movie and it was still shit)

Bob's review has me thinking I should check out Paranormal Activity. I'll probably rent it when it hit pay-per-view because despite Bob's recommendation, I'm still skeptical. I also used to watch Ghost Hunters a lot so I'm kind of burned out on this kind of shit. But that he says the camera is used in a realistic manner might make this one worth something.

I'm toying with the idea of watching it in the theater since I won't be home for Halloween (fuck candy!) but I might watch something else or just pick up a hooker or something. I'm not sure yet.
 

Vohn_exel

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Oct 24, 2008
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The movie is great, it even unnerved me a bit. I went home and turned the lights on, lol. But it's because it's so subtle, and I hope that people realize this is good for movies eventually. It doesn't have many "BOO!" moments, because thats not what it's about. It's not about cheap thrills but actually creeping you out. There's a difference in creepy and scary, and this movie definately proves that. I think most of the people that don't like it are either looking for the BOO type scare, or are just hoping on the hate train. Let the movie suck you in with it's subtlety and it'll really get you.
 

mhitman

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Sep 10, 2008
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I gotta say i saw the movie yesterday and i liked it. It had some pretty freaky parts
 

douf

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Oct 14, 2009
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i seen the movie before i saw the review and i actually do agree, paranormal activity is indeed a good movie but not anywhere close to being the the most horrifying movie ever or whatever they are saying, its an alright movie and i think it beats alot of the bigger horror movies
 

Therumancer

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Nov 28, 2007
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I enjoy Saw largely because it's one of the few movies that doesn't seem to be afraid to show horrible, and nasty things without resorting to making things too dark, jumping around, or simply implying the violence and such. Saw for the most part does NOT pull punches with the gore and violence. Don't misunderstand what I am saying here though, I am not saying Gore and "splatterpunk" nessicarly make a movie horryfying.


To me (someone who grew up with the "Nightmare On Elm Street" franchise) this is a big thing, and no matter how badly the script blows I am going to support Saw as long as they continue to not pull the punches.

Oh sure I would LIKE to see *other* movies take this kind of approach and do something new (after six movies, and apparently 2 more on the way), but it doesn't seem to be happening.

See, all too often "cereberal" and "psychological" horror is basically an excuse for "we didn't want to slot off the censors". In many cases, to me, it's obvious when they are pulling punches to avoid offending sensibilities. Saw takes the opposite approach. You don't NEED gore, but when it should be there, they should include it, and they shouldn't be writing horror movies just to get around it.

To me the "perfect" horror movie is one that both includes a novel story (or at least well told stereotypical one), along with not pulling the punches. When the bad stuff happens I want it to be there in all of it's sexy, bloody glory.

I tout "Nightmare On Elm Street" and it's sequels as the best series of all time for horror movies because to be entirely honest Freddy Kreugar was an original idea when it came out. Also when he killed people in these surreal dreamscapes, they did not pull punches. Indeed for the time these movies were made they were using some very awesome special FX. Of course I also suspect that their success was partially rooted in the fact that they had guys like Johnny Depp, and Laurence Fishbourne in them before they were famous (vague shades of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show").

Take a fairly good, well written/designed story like "Drag Me To Hell", or "Paranormal Activity" and then turn the whack jobs who come up with ideas for SAW loose on it.

Right now we have all the makings of great horror movies/franchises but we're too much into an either-or situation.

Plus, as I said, I support SAW more than any of the other cereberal stuff because SAW is uncomprimising, and becoming contreversial hasn't exactly gotten them to chill out.
 

Enzeru92

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Oct 18, 2008
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I got to admit i just went to see this movie and it was actually pretty good tho the ending left more to be desired imo
 

insane n bored

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Mar 22, 2009
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If this does end up selling better than Saw VI, I really hope that dumbass movie executives dont think that it is because of the POV shots and that becomes the ultra gimmick of Halloween from now on.

If that becomes the case, I seriously dont know what i would do during the Halloween season.
 

shadowstriker86

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Feb 12, 2009
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saw it. meh. but i will say i'd rather sit through it 100 times back to back than watching any of the saw movies. i saw the first one and i thought it sucked monkey balls, so imagine my pain knowing that they actually made 6 of em.
 

CK76

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Sep 25, 2009
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I will say to this...meh. I was bored with the characters (what is it with stupid people in horror films?)

Look, I find this whole notion as nonsense, but if something moves on its own and then spontaneously com busts while you are gone and someone is making foot prints in your powder stuff, leave. Don't dick around, leave. Honestly, the ending I was rooting for three toed demon thing to put these people out of their misery. He had the power to...wait for it, walk...and close doors...and drag people. About as intimidating as the aliens from Signs that struggled with wooden doors.

I'm not a fan of horror, and these just emphasized why it bores me. No connection to the characters and found it hard to get jumpy over bumps and knocks. Unless your into this stuff, I'd say pass. Now, I'll enjoy a good comedy or action film, maybe a drama.
 

David_G

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Aug 25, 2009
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I watched it, and I liked it. I think what makes these kinds of movies scary (The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity) is that we spend the whole time watching through their point of view. We connect to them, and we are scared more when bad stuff start to happen.

But what I didn't like about Paranormal Activity, is that it didn't have that final scare. Like in the Blair Witch, in the end, that sound guy is facing the corner, and you're really scared because you've heard the legends, and then suddenly something hits the girl filming, and say what you will about jump-out scares, but that was just icing on the cake, I've never had something terrify me as much.
 

awatkins

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Oct 17, 2008
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Proteus214 said:
I saw this a few nights ago and I haven't been able to sleep since. Not going to dress this up: it was fucking scary.
I have never been so scared of a movie that I couldn't sleep. I have also never been so scared of a movie that I couldn't function on a day to day basis ( going to the bathroom in the dark past midnight, seeing spooky shit from the corner of my eye, etc...). Sure I've been startled by movies when something unexpected jumps from behind the sofa and goes "boogy boogy boo gluugh!" and the the amp gets cranked to 11. But that is a cheap thrill that could have happened in ANY movie.
When my brother told me about The Grudge he said it was so crazy scary he absolutly did not want to go back to the theater and watch it again with me. My brother isnt the kind of person to get all squeemish about little details so I thought I was in for a really scary movie. I made him come with anyway. It was freaky how that dead chick walked, sure, and the stop-and-go type of photography that was used to make her look all jerky and shit was cool and everything, but I could not see why it was so scary.
Even when I was a small child I never got scared of a movie after it was over. I enjoyed them, I went along for the thrill and the ride in general, but once the movie was over the emotion was never carried over into my life. Never projected into the shadows that cloaked the corners of the basement. The movie IT. I saw it way back in the day, I wasnt even 10 years old, IT was supposed to be the scariest movie ever. I thought I was rediculous. And I was still a child.
Maybe I can't be scared by movies, maybe my brain chemistry is different. Anyway, I'm going to see this movie tonight, perhaps I'll get sick with anticipation waiting for something to go bump in the night, perhaps the amp will be up to 11 when ghost #1 jumps out of the closet, but I dont think I'll truly be scared.
 

Tsaba

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Oct 6, 2009
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hungoverbear said:
I watched this movie last night and i did not sleep at all! Great review Bob, hopefully now Hollywood will realize that copious amounts of gore does not equal a scary movie.
They won't hollywood is so stuck on the band wagon like they where with Friday the 13th, before we know it there will be a "Saw X in space!" And oh, for the record, I could only sleep because I already have a pad lock that goes on my closet.
 

chickenlord

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May 14, 2008
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god Saw has gone too far...i think they are already working on saw VII ...i mean god danm it ...people stop going to see them... do they realize its the same movie but with different (retared) unpractical death traps... in the first 1 he actually had a reason for killing the people (who were generally bad people) but in the last...4-5 its just pointless...