Paranormal Activity - 'Ware Open Spoilers

Cafe Society
21

Here is the original ending.

I wasn’t really that scared during the film, which surprised me, because I’m generally a pansy. The bloodcurdling offscreen screams definitely gave me the willies, and I did find it suspenseful, overall.

The audience reactions were fun. Nobody was being obnoxious but I heard several people shriek or go “Oh my god!” during the last two minutes and they seemed genuinely afraid. At the end, when Micah gets thrown at the camera, someone in the front row screamed in apparent actual terror, “He’s DEAAAAAAAD!” The whole audience busted a nut laughing and giggles broke out periodically after that until everyone left.

22

I thought it was a reasonably effective movie. The fast-forward bed scenes really worked for me: there was just something creepy about her standing there, watching Micah for two hours. Definitely a good job with the effects, too. I don’t really believe Micah’s behavior and the ending was a little … abrupt, but all in all I enjoyed it.

My audience was pretty obnoxious, though, and it really took me out of the movie. Maybe I’m being sensitive, but why did people have to read out the titles for each night? Why the bizarrely over-the-top reactions to stuff like the shadow passing over the door? Is it nnecessary to shout out “She’s been bit!”?

Even if I am being sensitive, a few people were holding conversations throughout the movie, and that crap’s just uncool. Argh.

23

My audience was obnoxious as well. I think it’s because they wanted everyone else to know they weren’t scared, so to prove it they would scream at every little thing in a clearly over-the-top manner, so you’d know they were making fun of those who would actually be scared. The overall effect of this being that there was no tension in the theater and without the tense atmosphere this film is incredibly lame. Except for the ending, *nothing *really happens at all. It’s all in the waiting, and building of tension, and if that’s not there there’s nothing left.

24

Another vote for “great movie, awesome suspense, pacing and especially sound, and also my audience needs to be strangled with their own intestines.”

We sat in front of a group of teenage girls who would not shut up, at all, and were talking/commenting through the whole fucking movie. And their boyfriends, who made a point of talking in order to show how not scared they were. We told them numerous times to shut up, starting politely and moving on to very not politely. Gah.

Still, awesome movie, glad we saw it.

25

I liked it overall, but it definitely wasn’t perfect and I’ve certainly seen scarier movies. One thing that struck me was that even though it was only about an hour and a half long, it seemed much longer than that. I thought it dragged in parts, and I actually felt bored a couple of times. The actual scary parts were too few and far between. Loved the footprints in the powder and Katie being dragged down the hallway. The ending, not so much.

26

Not much of a story to it. But they did suspense very well.

On the first night of black and white, fish-eye filming in the bedroom, I was sitting there in my seat with every hair on the back of my neck standing on end, my eyes darting left and right and up and down trying to spot the creepy thing that was just about to happen and … nothing did. I thought that was brilliant. Leave the suckers in the theater seats hanging just a little while longer.

I’d give it a little better than average just on the basis that, besides the ending, there was practially no special effects in the whole movie. They didn’t rely on camera tricks to sell the scare. Anybody with a camera could have made this movie.

However, like I said, not much of a story. They mention all this stuff about the girl’s childhood, her sister, the fire, the other woman, and … then they did nothing with any of it. I’m not sure if that was just supposed to be some sort of McGuffin, of if they just didn’t want to fuck with the back story in order to concentrate on the creepy stuff.

Also, I think I would have liked seeing the original ending better.

27

It’s funny… we just got a Netflixed copy of Drag Me To Hell in the mail today, which got pretty damn good reviews while it was out. However, with its budget, and its director ,and its team of special effects wizards, it’s still nowhere even close to being as good as Paranormal Activity. I mean, PA’s horror was scarier, its comic relief was funnier, its suspense a hell of a lot more tension inducing, etc…

If you get a chance, check out PA, it really is a uniquely awesome movie.

28

It was OK. All the daytime repetitive yakking got boring, but I liked how each nighttime scene got a little creepier. At the end, just before she went down the stairs, I felt they had revved up for a big “BOO! Gotcha!” - and I was not disappointed! Shrieked like a ninny, I did, lol!

For invisible hard-breathing things that go bump in the night movies, though, The Haunting (1963) is far more frightening, IMO. Based on The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson - a boring old black and white movie without hot chicks and big 'splosions.

29

I absolutely loved this movie. I haven’t been that scared since The Ring*. The tension was incredible and I loved how they sometimes didn’t pay it off. I never knew when the “boo” was going to happen and I never had any idea what it was going to be. It helps that I never saw the trailer. I only knew about the sheet blowing off them, which wasn’t much anyhow.

I agree that the “watching you sleep” part was the scariest part of the whole movie. And the entire time, I was thinking “what would I do?” Right now, my ghost-combat strategy is to just punch the ghouls in the face. It’s not like they can hurt me, right? I mean, they can’t really touch me. Turns out, demons can bite you. So I guess I’m screwed.

30

For those of you who weren’t scared by this movie, can you list some movies that did? This freaking terrified me and I would like some recommendations.

31

I saw the matinee yesterday. The place was completely empty so no obnoxious interruptions for me. :slight_smile: At one point, as I sat alone in the theater, there was some noise coming from the front exit door as if someone was trying to get in. I thought maybe one of the employees was messing with me. :slight_smile:

I loved the movie. Could it have been better? Yeah sure but I was happy with the movie as is. I wasn’t scared but only because I don’t get scared by movies. The build up was great and I kind of like that they did not answer all the questions.

One of my favorite scenes was when the door slammed shut and then something was banging away on it. If that had happened to me I’d have gotten the hell out of there. I just would not have been able to stay in the house. It kinda took me out of the movie briefly because “in the real world” who would actually be able to go back to sleep after something like that? This wasn’t one door slam that you could maybe explain by a strong draft or something. That door slammed shut and some damn thing was banging on it. Then they open it and it gets slammed shut again. At that point it’s not your imagination and I am out of that house. Never mind that the demon is following her wherever she goes. I would need to get out.

I loved the last scene. That terrifying scream and then the stomp, stomp, stomp up the stairs in the dark was great. I think I would have preferred that the “demon” not look into the camera right at the end but I can live with it.

32

The Haunting! I’m watching it on TCM right now.

33

Just saw it, very little distractions so I had a good movie watching experience for once.

I agree with those who deem this a phenomenal movie given the budget they had to work with. Also true that plot wasn’t very evident, but then again the idea is that it was just Micah trying to document something weird and being obsessed with it while Katie gets more and more crazy shit happening to her and gets more and more terrified. So really if it’s Micah’s amateur attempt at a documentary of some sort, it wouldn’t be much about plot anyway.

Micah got on my nerves, but I didn’t think he was an unrealistic character; I’ve known people like that and they’re just as annoying in real life. Of the two main characters I do think that Katie did the better acting job, and WOW can she scream!

I had not seen any of the trailers for it and I’m really glad I didn’t; trailers these days absolutely ruin horror movies (Quarantine, anyone?) and someone should fire the trailer producers who do that sort of thing. Horror movie trailers should only hint at what’s scary in the movie, not give you practically every scary moment before you even see the movie. Especially horror movies that are focused on building tension.

Comparisons to The Haunting I think are appropriate in the sense that the scares are mostly based on sounds and shadows and the reactions of the actors. I wouldn’t at all be surprised to read that the filmmakers are big fans of The Haunting.

I also have to ask those who seem to be dismissing this movie with a wave of your hand; if you didn’t find this movie scary or suspenseful at all, what movies DO you like? I mean, some people genuinely prefer Hostel-type movies, some prefer Blair Witch style, some prefer suspenseful ghost stories like The Innocents, some like monster movies, etc., right? I happen to like just about every sub-genre of horror out there, I’ve seen a LOT of them, and I was impressed by PA. Every year at SDMB there are threads about horror movie recommendations around this time, and I’ve seen a lot of the ones that were suggested, some much better than others, IMO. Of the more recent horror movies I’ve seen, the ones I suggest the most are [REC], The Descent, Skeleton Crew, Martyrs, and now I will add PA.

34

I like suspenseful and creepy, which is NOT so easy to do. Any idiot film maker can douse an actor in fake blood and have him chased around by an axe swinging lunatic, and you have a lot of noise and movement, but where’s the scare, where’s the fear (for the audience, that is. I find it gross and often boring).

Silence of the Lambs has a good balance - a growing sense of suspense and dread, with just enough ‘eewwww’ blood n’ guts.

35

Paranormal Activity is the time of movie I would like, I just had a horrible viewing experience with it. I wish I had seen it on my own, late at night. I think it would have worked a lot better then.

36

I saw it tonight. I have never walked out on a movie before, but wish I had on this one.

It was boring. With no tension or suspense. How long can you watch people sleeping? Oooo, something is bound to happen. Contrived and predictable.

The acting wasn’t and outside of a moment or two, there was no scare in the movie.

I could not connect with either of the whiny characters, and had zero empathy for either of them.

I would never think that I would say that Blair Witch was a good movie. But compared to Paranormal Activity, Blair Witch is a great movie.

I can only say that PA is perhaps the worst movie that I have ever paid to see.

Save your money, and take a nap.

37

I thought it was a good movie, especially to watch on Dan Rather’s Birthday (i.e. Halloween). I thought for sure something else would happen after the words went up on the screen at the very end describing what happened to the people. The screen was just blank for about a whole minute, with the suspense still building until the projector shut off.

Did anybody else notice that one of the refrigerator magnets and a “…for Dummies” book were blurred out near the beginning of the movie? Later on, the magnet was shown unblurred.

38

OK, so I pose the question to you directly, then; if you thought this was horrible, what horror movies DO you think are good?

39

The Ring was good. Alien was good.

40

Just saw this last night at home w/ the original ending. Thought it was very effective. After reading a recap of the theatrical ending, I don’t think I would have liked the ending as well.