Now, this was a genuinely scary, piss-your-pants, movie. And it's so scary that even if I spoiled anything, it wouldn't do any good. But I won't.
Here's what I liked about the movie, spoilers are indicated and only for those who've seen the movie:
- No ensemble casting. In horror movies, filmmakers generally like to load the screen up with enough characters simply for the sake of filler. Slasher movies especially like to do this to "feed the villain" basically. More characters mean more gruesome death scenes. Paranormal Activity had that sense of isolation and true survival horror thriller.
spoiler
Although the cast includes four characters, the focus is on the two main characters. Katie's sister shows up for a couple scenes, and the psychic is in for two scenes, the latter scene being very quick when the psychic leaves rather in a hurry.
- What was the prodruction company? You might miss this if you weren't paying attention. It's a Paramount movie. But there's no logo animation - you know with the row of stars and circles the mountain - before the movie. There's a "Paramount thanks these people for this movie... yada yada yada" as a simple typed message before the film. The production company, the director, or any other people involved in making the film were credited.
spoiler
When you get to the end of the movie... no credits, not even a cast list. You all noticed that?
- No CGI - In fact not a lot of special effects period. What special effects were used, really were good. Not to down the movie at all, but you could really figure out how to do most of this stuff at home and make a youtube video of it. In fact I'd like to see someone do that. The sfx were that simple. Yet it geniusly scarry. They built up to everything pretty near perfectly.
What I didn't like, and this is a spoiler:
spoiler
The ending smile. I hate vamp acting. I hate it. I so would have done something different there. Don't get me wrong. Scarry movie. I'm going to have nightmares. But the scene where she looks at the camera, gives that stupid mischevious vampy smile I hate, and then attacks the camera. That's teen horror crap right there. The entire movie was realistic. The acting. The characters were genuine, real characters. And then that damn smile at the end ruins any illusion you have that this is a real home movie. Then it just turns into "Jennifer's Body". :thumbsdown:
Other than that, this movie will scare the piss out of you, so remember to go to the bathroom before watching the movie.
i laughed my ass off when the psychic showed up the second time and dipped out real quick. and yeh the ending was pretty fucking scary, except for the part when her face contorts. there were multiple alternate endings to the film, and you can google them if you'd like. i honestly like this one the best though. i honestly think the scariest part of the movie was when it's getting towards the end and katie is laying in bed after telling micah that she doesnt want to leave anymore. once he leaves the room, and she's just staring at the camera with her eyes wide as fuck...that shit got to me later that night. i have no idea why, i just thought she was staring right at me. on a side note, the only part i actually physically "jumped" at was probably the least scariest (in a loose sense of the word) part. when the damn ouija board caught on fire, i literally left my seat. i have no idea why, it just caught me by surprise i guess.
yeh, good flick. every noise that happened at my gf's house last night was fucking with my head. even heard FOOT STEPS on the stairs, and if you've seen the movie, thats a not a good fucking thing!
I have many leather bound books.
I'm kind of a big deal.
Changing the plans that I’ve been setting on, I’m scared by the way that my life is getting gone
i laughed my ass off when the psychic showed up the second time and dipped out real quick. and yeh the ending was pretty fucking scary, except for the part when her face contorts. there were multiple alternate endings to the film, and you can google them if you'd like. i honestly like this one the best though. i honestly think the scariest part of the movie was when it's getting towards the end and katie is laying in bed after telling micah that she doesnt want to leave anymore. once he leaves the room, and she's just staring at the camera with her eyes wide as fuck...that shit got to me later that night. i have no idea why, i just thought she was staring right at me. on a side note, the only part i actually physically "jumped" at was probably the least scariest (in a loose sense of the word) part. when the damn ouija board caught on fire, i literally left my seat. i have no idea why, it just caught me by surprise i guess.
yeh, good flick. every noise that happened at my gf's house last night was fucking with my head. even heard FOOT STEPS on the stairs, and if you've seen the movie, thats a not a good fucking thing!
Well yeah, there's like 3 endings. The original full on ending is on youtube.
spoiler
The one where she comes upstairs after killing Micah, she's got a knife, sits by the bed and rocks back and forth the entire day. Her sister shows up, sees Micah's dead body, runs out, gets the police. The police show up, and I guess the part where while the police are downstairs, the light in the hallway turns on and then off, signifies when the spirit leaves her body. And then she's starting to come back to her own self again. The police come upstairs, she still has the knife, and they shoot her when she approaches them, still a little out of it but still holding the knife. Still pretty scary, but the shooting scene was kind of awkward.
The ending I haven't found is the one I want to see:
spoiler
She comes upstairs and slits her throat in front of the camera.
But yeah, I'm up now getting ready for work, and creaped out. Still dark, no sound, just a couple lights on.
A lot of people are saying the scarriest part is the attic.
I can't really tell which is the scarriest part for me. Probably
I don't know, nothing scared me in this movie while I was watching it. Some of it was creepy, and it was well done on the limited budget, but all in all I found it sort of boring. BUT, I must admit sometimes when I'm walking up the stairs at night I get a tingle up my spine. But I'm NOT scared! (really I'm not!) The only two movies that ever scared me at the theater were THE EXORCIST and THE GRUDGE, both of which had me looking over my shoulder for a couple of days. I saw THE EXORCIST at 10PM in a very dark auditorium, and I think I was possibly the only patron. Then I had to drive home in the dark. And even though I don't believe in any of those things, the primitive part of my brain was in full terror mode. What fun!
Do we need to keep spoilering things, or can we just make it a whole spoiler thread?
I think the moment that scared me the most was when
Spoiler:
she wakes up in the middle of the night and stands and just watches Micah sleeping (that part alone really creeped me out for some reason), but then she goes downstairs and you can't see or hear anything. Then Micah gets up and goes to find her. I was on the edge of my seat because you didn't know exactly where she was or if she was ok.
And even all the little parts with footsteps coming up the stairs and you can't see anything, the attic door being open. I don't know usually movies don't scare me, but this was one the very few that honestly creeped me out.
I have to go check out those alternate endings. I wasn't aware that there were any floating around.
Ending spoiler
Spoiler:
The part where he comes flying at the camera I was not expecting whatsoever. I was just expecting her to come walking up the stairs all bloody. I think I would have prefered it end right as she comes into view after that. The final shot of her face changing at the end was a little silly in my opinion. And I agree with ArtherEld, the part where she smiles when she's laying in bed, I thought was unnecessary. We already know somethings not quite right with her. I think it would have been just as effective to have her lying there eyes wide open without that cheesy grin.
All in all this is easily one of my favorite horror films to come out in recent years.
So I went and watched the alternate ending, and I think I preferred the one we got in the theater. Yeah it wasn't the most realistic scene ever, but I enjoyed it. The other one was ok, but I'd agree that the police part didn't really flow with the rest of the film.
If anyone finds the third one let me know. I'd like to see it.
My only question is would a demon actually make you kill yourself? They're living off your energy, so if you're dead what would they have to go off of? Or am I just completely wrong?
Okay so some thoughts. Please, no sequel. But... okay, if they really, really feel that a sequel needs to be done, please for the love of all that's good and holy, don't do some "Book of Shadows" bullcrap. Remember that?
"Hey, Blair Witch was a success! Let's do another one. But let's do it different. Let's do it in the style of a big budget, glossy teen horror flic that the first movie was actually aspiring to be alternative to."
katie gets dragged out of bed and then down the hallway screaming
...scared the shit out of me. seriously.
Im a horror lover, movies usually dont scare me, gore films dont bug me, but that goddam scene has been popping up in my head since saturday night!
I don't know, nothing scared me in this movie while I was watching it. Some of it was creepy, and it was well done on the limited budget, but all in all I found it sort of boring. BUT, I must admit sometimes when I'm walking up the stairs at night I get a tingle up my spine. But I'm NOT scared! (really I'm not!) The only two movies that ever scared me at the theater were THE EXORCIST and THE GRUDGE, both of which had me looking over my shoulder for a couple of days. I saw THE EXORCIST at 10PM in a very dark auditorium, and I think I was possibly the only patron. Then I had to drive home in the dark. And even though I don't believe in any of those things, the primitive part of my brain was in full terror mode. What fun!
speaking of the Exorcist... there is a scene where Katie and Micha are talking about what they are gonna do *dont worry, no spoilers here* and a guy sitting behind me whispered "Bring me an old priest and a young priest" and my buddy Juice and I just burst out laughing.
and yeh, when she gets dragged out of bed, i thought once she hit the floor that it was going to be done with, like it would stop grabbing her and she would just start crying or something. but when the demon kept dragging her down the hall, that shit was wild
I have many leather bound books.
I'm kind of a big deal.
Changing the plans that I’ve been setting on, I’m scared by the way that my life is getting gone
The sequel is going to be about this really nasty demon that hangs out in movie theaters and whenever someone opens up one of those really bright phones or blackberries or whatever they are, the demon will enter through their ears and blow their head apart.
i thought the movie was ok...blair witch was better in my opinion. the one scene that should not have been in was
Spoiler:
the scene where he is looking stuff up on the internet about a girl who was possessed by the "same" demon. kinda looked like a ripoff of the exorcist. saying that the footage was over 50 years old and just came out by one of the priests that was there filming it didn't want to ruin the church's image.
This movie scared the living hell out of me!!!
I watched it over the weekend with my hubby and i swear by the end of it i was a complete mess!! (sadly the terrible ending snapped me to my senses!)
Considering it was made on a shoe-string budget job very well done i think
I also have read about the throat slitting ending, but I don't think it was actually made. I think it may have only been a concept. I think I read about it Entertainment Weekly.
Currently Reading (Pleasure): The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan and The Dark Tower
Currently Reading (School): Done reading, done writing. Helloooo vacation.
According to director Oren Peli, a third version of the film was shown at only one public viewing. This version's ending reportedly featured Katie returning to the bedroom with the knife and slitting her own throat in view of the camera.
I can't really tell which is the scarriest part for me. Probably
spoiler
her getting dragged out of bed.
I was like "fuck!" out loud in the theater.[/QUOTE]
That was the scariest part for me. The attic is pretty oppressive too and you're kind of expecting something to come out or at least I was.
I'd like to see the alternate ending you mentioned. I haven't heard about it at all!
According to director Oren Peli, a third version of the film was shown at only one public viewing. This version's ending reportedly featured Katie returning to the bedroom with the knife and slitting her own throat in view of the camera.
cause Wikipedia is Truth
Good work. Turns out the ending that I thought hadn't been made is a third alternate ending. My brain messed it up on me. Here's the blurb from Entertainment Weekly, it was actually an inset to a longer article in the print magazine:
Spoiler:
Serious SPOILER ALERT! Before Steven Spielberg suggested the finale you see on screen, director Peli considered many other endings. Check out these three.
THE COPS
The original ending? Police find Micah's body — and Katie with a knife. When a door slams, a startled cop shoots her dead. (You can see this on YouTube: Search for ''Paranormal Activity original ending.'')
THE THROAT
Katie returns to the bedroom after the melee downstairs. She grins wickedly at the camera — and then slits her own throat. The demon then leaves her body, and Katie falls lifelessly to the floor.
THE CAMERA
A possessed Katie corners Micah and bludgeons him with his precious camera, while viewers watch from the camera's POV. This version of the ending was so complicated that Peli never actually shot it.
This has kept my sister up for weeks worrying lol and every light on in the house at night when her fiance is in Afghan... I asked "how long have you been in your house and has anything happened yet?" she says "3 years and no."
Well it aint gonna happen unless you piss some demon off, and for that you will have to try all sorts of stuff.
Anyway enough rambling, I think this comes under comedy not horror. I wouldnt mind being dragged out of bed
This movie actually wasn't to scary for me. Everyone worke dit up to be, and the only freaky part was when she lunged at the camera (Cuz I got it via Netflix.) I was extremely dissapointed that they didn't have all of the endings. that was a super for me.
Still, it was okay, just not super scary.
Paranormal Activity
Originally Posted by The Gingerdead Man
all matter is energy, all energy is GOD
for me.