New Movie -- Paranormal Activity

[Gary]

Saw the preview on TV.  I found the official trailer on youtube.  Looks like a fun movie!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_UxLEqd074

[PPI Brian]

Some acquaintances of ours saw the premier in Boston a couple of weeks ago. They said it was a good movie. 

[PPI Tracy]

Echos of Blair Witch?

[PPI Brian]

For anyone interested, it's playing at the AMC Theater in Mission Valley

Paranormal Activity
‎1hr 39min‎‎ - Rated R‎‎ - Horror‎
AMC Mission Valley 20
1640 Camino Del Rio, North, San Diego, CA - Map
10:30pm

Wish I could go. 

[Tom Bevis]

I'm surprised there's not more of a buzz on here about the picture.  As a film, it's pretty much an astounding entry to the body collectively.  It was made for about $15,000 in San Diego, by a small San Diego film team and starring two San Diego actors.  The fact that it's generated so much attention on the very minimal advertising campaign (relying mostly on college students) is really mind-numbing.  And, to all of you, it's highly relevant.  It's about, of course, a paranormal investigation.  The film team took a lot of cues from the paranormal shows on television, such as Ghost Hunters and etc. 

It just opened up at the Mira Mesa Edwards for full showings, and the AMC Mission Valley also bumped up to all day showings, so I can't recommend it more.  As a side note, the ending numbers for Paranormal Activities against its running rival this week, Couples' Retreat, is as such: Playing in only 33 locations, PA managed to pull in $74,000, where as Couples' Retreat, playing in about 170, brought only $36,000.  Impressive.

-- TB

The parallels to Blair Witch Project totally slipped my mind, and I feel now that I ought to explain a bit about it.  Blair Witch is in the same mind-fuck cinema category.  There are questions abound as to how that film got made and released as a wide presentation, but regardless if you like the film or not (personally, I count it among the best contemporary horror films) you have to admit that everything surrounding its release and marketing was genius.  It was one of the earlier cases on viral marketing and really showed what hype could be built up by word-of-mouth and a few key propaganda pieces.

San Diego's own Scott Marks (www.emulsioncompulsion.com & PBS Movie Club) has already condemned the picture because of it's similarities to Blair Witch.  Catch is, guy hasn't seen it yet, and he's got a major prejuidice against hand cams of any sort (how you can be a film critic with prejuidice is beyond me).  But, yeah, the similarities are there: the hand-cam's the most notable (but audiences of shows like Ghost Hunters or Destination: Truth should be used to that kinda thing by now).  The viral marketing ploy and filmmaking technique are there, too.  The reason for this, really, is because there's no other way to make a movie on such a small budget without looking like some highschool project. 

I've thought a lot about this, and I realized that a lot of writers -- Stephen King, H.P. Lovecraft, and Bram Stoker, among them -- have realized that horror, as a genre, is best served as an experience and not a recounting of events.  Enter, then, the epistolary form, which presents to you the events as its happening, and this is why horror works well in the first-person mode, whether from Blair Witch or Cloverfield: you get the intensity of the experience of the characters and not just a dull play-by-play breakdown.

[PPI Brian]

Hi Tom,

I did not realize that the movie was filmed in San Diego. That's too cool. I am going to see it while it's playing this month. Thank you for the positive review!

Regards,

Brian

[Tom Bevis]

Yeah, I hadn't noticed it was shot in San Diego until this evening, in fact.  That was one of the little details, I guess, that slip in all the hype of the movie.  It takes place in San Diego, and one of my press buddies looked into it.  The fact, then, that San Diego had to do this silly little "demand it" fiasco to get it into our theaters seems a bit absurd.  We've got the home field advantage, for chrissakes.

[Gary]

I can't wait to go see it... I may try this weekend.... Whoo hoo.... now I have to just find a nice lady to take!   

[SCP_Dave]

My Fiance Ellie and I went to see it last night. It was pretty darn good. I am a HUGE SUCKER for horror movies though. The theatre was fairly packed and the audience was VERY MUCH INTO the film. It was a blast! I do recommend it for entertainment purposes

[PPI Tim]

Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 85% fresh.
Not as good as the south park episode where Jay and Grant pee'd themselves and ran out of the house screaming.
Joke.
The movie is starting to gain momentum in buzz. I saw a review on CNN.

[Shellshock]

Hi , My Best friend and I saw this wed's night. We really enjoyed it.  The only down fall for me was I get motion sickness rather easily and I was ready to yack not even half way throo the movie.  But I enjoyed it all.   

I purposefully didnt watch any of the trailers or read up on it , so that I wouldnt have a clue as to what was coming. My Buddy did however , and he regretted it, since he kept expecting some of the scenes to come. Knowing whats to come isnt any fun.
And Im going to have to say , I almost wish I would have waited to see this one on DVD, in the dark, on a rainy night with a few close friends instead. I loove getting spooked out and scared with movies and I think it would have intensified the scare factor for me a lot more if I had . But It was SO fFUN to be in the theater and hearing the crowds reactions and what not.
Anywho , definitely a kick arse movie. Very entertaining. 
I do have 1 "complaint", but ill wait to share that once i know everyone has seen it.

xoxox ~Shell

[PPI Karl]

I'm with you, Shelly, on the whole matter of not spoiling it for yourself.  I, too, haven't really watched any of the extended trailers or read much about it, other than the few non-spoiler comments that have been left about it here and there (mostly here).  I did the same thing with Star Trek.  (Someone, please tell me that will come out on DVD in time for Max's birthday in December.  It will, right?  Right?!

[Gary]

Well... having watched one of the full trailers for this movie, that didn't make the goosebumps on my arms any less active.  I will give it 2 thumbs up, and it even had it's share of humor.  Some real freaky stuff.

[ldwalkup]

I am a huge fan of ghost stories, horror and sci fi movies.  However, I had a hard time staying awake for this one.  Maybe it was the movement of the camera that made me drowsy.  I did get a few good gasps out of it though.

[PPI Brian]

I suppose it's time to chime in on this thread.

I finally saw this movie, and although the premise was intriguing -- at first -- it quickly deteriorated into banality. I could predict the plot from the moment they uttered the "D" word. Some may say: "What do you expect from a low budget movie?" and I might be inclined to agree, but I expected more. Oh I almost forgot -- the alternate ending sucked. 

Having said that, I must say the shadow play throughout the movie was nothing short of excellent. I really enjoyed watching the shadows on the door move in a manner that was independant of the movement of the characters.

[PPI Tracy]

I suppose it's time to chime in on this thread.
I really enjoyed watching the shadows on the door move in a manner that was independant of the movement of the characters.

Umm...would those shadows be from people leaving the movie theatre 30 minutes into it?

[PPI Brian]

I suppose it's time to chime in on this thread.
I really enjoyed watching the shadows on the door move in a manner that was independant of the movement of the characters.

Umm...would those shadows be from people leaving the movie theatre 30 minutes into it?

LOL! That wouldn't have surprised me, but I watched it at home. In fact, Tim brought over a copy of the DVD he checked out from the Library, so we didn't spend hard earned money renting it. 

[PPI Tim]

I'm surprised that Dave and Ellie haven't made a remake of the Movie and called it, "South Coast Paranormal Activity".