Hello readers! As you may know, on the TAGO blog I started a new blog series called "Freaky Flicks" where I will inform you of some new scary movies that are coming out or are just rumors at this point. Today I come to you with a movie that has no official release date yet, but has already spooked the crap out of many film fest fans. It is called Paranormal Activity: Evidence of a Haunting. The premise is fairly simple:
"A young couple suspects that their house is haunted by a malevolent entity. They set up video surveillance to capture evidence of what happens at night as they sleep. Their surveillance and home videos have been edited into the 99 minute feature film "Paranormal Activity".
This is a film, much like The Poughkeepsie Tapes, that has been tossed around, seen by few, and doesn't have a clear release date. This film was shown at a film festival called Slamdance a few years back (2007) and was a huge success. So big in fact that Dreamworks Pictures loved it and bought the rights to the film. Initially their plan was to remake the film and "Hollywood-ize" it which many fans on message boards really hated. The original film was receiving rave reviews out of the festival, especially remarks for being incredibly daring and original, not to mention scary as hell. So fans could not fathom why Dreamworks would want to fix something that was clearly never broken.
My thoughts were that maybe Dreamworks doesn't think a film like this, that is very low budget would hack it in the box office. But honestly, most horror films don't. I picture them casting some fairly big names, and doing away with the hand held camera effect. Now I haven't seen the original film, but to me the no name actors and the hand held effect are the things that would make the movie great. Recently someone announced Dreamworks has decided to pull the plug on the remake and just release the original film (which again is just a rumor I saw online, and have NO proof of this statement) and still there is no release date for any version of this movie.
Yes, the whole movie is hand held camera. I know it's been done a lot lately, especially since the success of The Blair Witch Project and more recently, Cloverfield. But to me, this is the type of film where this style of film making would work the absolute best. It makes for a more realistic and gritty horror film. The effect practically would put the audience in the shoes of the characters in the film. We would essentially be experiencing the ghostly happenings just as they do, which for me makes a very, very creepy and bone chilling movie.
I would like to share with you some of the reviews the film did receive from the film festival. People have gone as far to say that Paranormal Activity may very well be the single most terrifying film ever made. Yikes! Here are some review snipets:
"Paranormal Activity is great: calculated, subtle, authentically scary
without being overtly manipulative. Better than Blair Witch."
--Eric Kohn, New York Press"Possibly the Scariest Movie Ever Made and the Best Reason
to Wear Diapers at the Cinema... Paranormal Activity
is not for the weak hearted and is one of the few films that stays with you
after you’ve left the theater to the point that you wished it wouldn’t.
Paranormal Activity is our generation’s The Exorcist" -
BlueBomber
"The entire auditorium was freaked out of their minds...people were actually physically shaking..." - Dread Central podcast (Minute 18)
"Scary as hell" - In This Week
"Paranormal Activity managed to do something that almost no other haunted house movie in the past 25 years has managed to do: actually be scary." - Bloody-Disgusting
"I was so freaked out after watching this film, I did not want to step foot into my house thinking there might be something I can't see waiting for me." - Jorge Ameer, Hollywood Independents
"I hate to use cliches like ‘spine tingling’, but that's what my spine appeared to be doing numerous times. Really scary stuff.”
- Carl Ellsworth (writer, Disturbia)
without being overtly manipulative. Better than Blair Witch."
--Eric Kohn, New York Press"Possibly the Scariest Movie Ever Made and the Best Reason
to Wear Diapers at the Cinema... Paranormal Activity
is not for the weak hearted and is one of the few films that stays with you
after you’ve left the theater to the point that you wished it wouldn’t.
Paranormal Activity is our generation’s The Exorcist" -
BlueBomber
"The entire auditorium was freaked out of their minds...people were actually physically shaking..." - Dread Central podcast (Minute 18)
"Scary as hell" - In This Week
"Paranormal Activity managed to do something that almost no other haunted house movie in the past 25 years has managed to do: actually be scary." - Bloody-Disgusting
"I was so freaked out after watching this film, I did not want to step foot into my house thinking there might be something I can't see waiting for me." - Jorge Ameer, Hollywood Independents
"I hate to use cliches like ‘spine tingling’, but that's what my spine appeared to be doing numerous times. Really scary stuff.”
- Carl Ellsworth (writer, Disturbia)
So as you can see, this movie scared the heck out of a LOT of people. There are more review snipets on the movies website (which is a pretty generic looking site for now). You can view the site by clicking this link: Paranormal Activity.
Also, check out the pretty creepy trailer of the film right down below! There is another even more scary trailer on the film's website which I linked up above! Enjoy!
--Mike--
Also, check out the pretty creepy trailer of the film right down below! There is another even more scary trailer on the film's website which I linked up above! Enjoy!
--Mike--
"Paranormal Activity" trailer - Watch more Free Videos
