Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2007)
- Michael
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 12:09 pm
Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2007)
With all the hype surrounding Paranormal Activity escalating lately, I'm surprised there is no mention of that film on here. I love a good haunted-house-ghost-story movie. Anyone seen this?
- mfunk9786
- Under Chris' Protection
- Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
- Location: Philadelphia, PA
Re: Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2007)
It just opened in the Philadelphia area today (at The Bridge by UPenn and the King of Prussia 16) so the missus and I will be seeing it Sunday night, and I'm sure you'll get a report one way or another. I'm excited - for once a marketing campaign has managed to get me revved up about a film that I know absolutely nothing about. And I'm keeping myself in the dark on it as much as I can. It worked for The Ring, which I saw no ads for - it managed to make me literally scream at one point as a result. I was totally spooked.
- swo17
- Bloodthirsty Butcher
- Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
- Location: SLC, UT
Re: Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2007)
Ruh roh.
IMDb trivia wrote:The original ending was changed at the suggestion of director Steven Spielberg.
- mfunk9786
- Under Chris' Protection
- Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
- Location: Philadelphia, PA
Re: Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2007)
Ruh roh indeed! But maybe it'll be like when Kevin Smith was discouraged from his "Spike Lee" Clerks ending of having Dante shot by a burglar (that was actually still in the film when it screened at Sundance).
- swo17
- Bloodthirsty Butcher
- Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
- Location: SLC, UT
Re: Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2007)
Whatever it is, just make sure you bring a box of Kleenex with you to the theater!
- mfunk9786
- Under Chris' Protection
- Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
- Location: Philadelphia, PA
Re: Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2007)
If it's anything like the ending of The Terminal, I'm going to track Spielberg down so I can grab him by his neck and ask for my money back.
- oldsheperd
- Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2004 5:18 pm
- Location: Rio Rancho/Albuquerque
Re: Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2007)
The paranormal activity is actually Oskar Schindler who will weep about how many more people he could have saved and then everyone will be friends and Schindler will go back to his home planet with some Reese's Pieces.
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
Re: Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2007)
Maybe this is Poltergeist-era Spielberg fiddling though
- oldsheperd
- Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2004 5:18 pm
- Location: Rio Rancho/Albuquerque
Re: Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2007)
You mean like f%cking with Tobe Hooper so it no longer becomes a Tobe Hooper film?
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
Re: Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2007)
I just read the Wikipedia entry and uh, uh, more like Amistad Spielberg
-
- Joined: Tue Aug 12, 2008 1:18 am
Re: Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2007)
It's simultaneously overrated and underrated - people call it either the scariest thing since The Haunting or nothing at all, and it's neither. It's not incredible, not the scariest film ever, but it's a good scary movie. I think it's best seen at home, alone, though. The audience experience is fabulous, and everyone should have that, but every nuance of the whole "home invasion" is much more real and unsettling when you come home and are in your own space. I'm going to see what becomes of my longer write-up of it before I put it here. I do think the cuts made to make the film leaner and trimmer probably didn't help; they could've done even more with the sense of dread that permeates the film, made it longer and more intense.
There were other endings (be warned, SPOILER heavy) and I think they'd be far preferable than the silly CGI bit at the end, which damages the film as a whole. I particularly would've approved of the one with
All in all, I think I preferred [REC] for a totally immersive, visceral experience, but that's my gut reaction - I have to go again, as well as, I think, see the film in a more proper, quiet setting.
SpoilerShow
I also felt they should've done more with the attic, as it was clearly the demon's inner sanctum and every time things went down over there my heart stopped.
SpoilerShow
Katie sitting in the bedroom for days, though the police showing up is a bit much.
- mfunk9786
- Under Chris' Protection
- Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
- Location: Philadelphia, PA
Re: Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2007)
Paranormal Activity set a new all-time weekend gross record for a film playing at under 200 screens, surpassing Platoon. Shit, I hope I can get a ticket tonight.
- mfunk9786
- Under Chris' Protection
- Joined: Fri May 16, 2008 4:43 pm
- Location: Philadelphia, PA
Re: Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2007)
My report, in short:
I thought it was a big snooze and the little lady was way more tense/frightened than she admitted once the credits rolled. One trashy young woman left halfway through and said loudly, in a ladylike tone, "Fuck this shit, it's fuckin' borin'! Let's go!" and proceeded to shout "BOO!" loudly to try to sarcastically startle some onlookers before exiting the theater. As if the filmmaker was present to hear her criticism and take it into account.
I certainly admire the filmmaker, though, as he was able to accomplish neat haunted house effects on zero budget. And the acting was far from cringe-worthy - despite having little to do but whine at each other, the leads do an admirable job throughout and never veer too far into over-the-top Blair Witch territory. I just wish it were scary, all the actual startling moments
I actually thought that the ending, despite the Spielberg influence, was the most effective moment in the film.
I certainly wouldn't discourage anyone from seeing this, and I admire those who made it - but its tricks didn't work on me psychologically like they were supposed to, and as a result, the whole thing was a wash. I'd still like to find out how the hell they did that, though, on numerous occasions throughout the film, and am a bit in awe of it from a technical standpoint.
Spoiler alert: here's an article on the original endings of the film, which is making me pretty agitated with the Spielberg ending despite my initial satisfaction with it.
I thought it was a big snooze and the little lady was way more tense/frightened than she admitted once the credits rolled. One trashy young woman left halfway through and said loudly, in a ladylike tone, "Fuck this shit, it's fuckin' borin'! Let's go!" and proceeded to shout "BOO!" loudly to try to sarcastically startle some onlookers before exiting the theater. As if the filmmaker was present to hear her criticism and take it into account.
I certainly admire the filmmaker, though, as he was able to accomplish neat haunted house effects on zero budget. And the acting was far from cringe-worthy - despite having little to do but whine at each other, the leads do an admirable job throughout and never veer too far into over-the-top Blair Witch territory. I just wish it were scary, all the actual startling moments
SpoilerShow
come at night, when they're expected to - and then once they're over and the sun comes up, the movie throws us back into more whining.
I certainly wouldn't discourage anyone from seeing this, and I admire those who made it - but its tricks didn't work on me psychologically like they were supposed to, and as a result, the whole thing was a wash. I'd still like to find out how the hell they did that, though, on numerous occasions throughout the film, and am a bit in awe of it from a technical standpoint.
Spoiler alert: here's an article on the original endings of the film, which is making me pretty agitated with the Spielberg ending despite my initial satisfaction with it.
- Marcel Gioberti
- Joined: Thu Dec 27, 2007 9:55 pm
- Location: Torino, Italy
Re: Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2007)
The comparisons to Blair Witch Project seem a propos, which means I'll probably rent this one in about three years.
I watched Blair Witch at the movie theater and it was one of the most memorably garbage experiences in my movie-going life.
I watched Blair Witch at the movie theater and it was one of the most memorably garbage experiences in my movie-going life.
- Joe Buck
- Joined: Mon Dec 05, 2005 6:59 pm
- Location: New York
Re: Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2007)
Saw this yesterday at my wife's insistance. It was just ok. Not as great as I was lead to believe. Would have preferred something intellectual to interest me, like some kind of background story to attempt to explain what was going on. All we get is a MacGuffin or two that go nowhere. Otherwise, it's just a bunch of spooky noises. Meh.
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
Re: Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2007)
This was the first movie to ever beat a Sawject on opening weekend-- and it was playing in about half as many theatres too. Maybe this will be the film that stops the cinematic Bataan March of the Saw franchise
- manicsounds
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 10:58 pm
- Location: Tokyo, Japan
Re: Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2007)
Naw, it just means that starting from SAW VII, they will start filming in CC-Camera / POV-style
- Michael
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 12:09 pm
Re: Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2007)
I also saw it and ended up reacting "That's it?". I expected to be scared out of my wits but I wasn't. A creepy moment here and there. The final scenes of [REC] are a lot scarier than all the frames PA put together. But I'm thrilled about PA being such low-budget ($11,000!) garnering so much acclaim and cash. Anything is possible.