Written by Tiffany
Opened October 2, 2009 | Runtime:1 hr. 39 min. R: For language
I’ll tell you upfront, I’m a horror movie junkie. I grew up watching the black and white B movies with my dad on Saturday afternoons. Jason, Freddie and Michael Myers are as much a part of my childhood as Bambi, Cinderella and Julie Andrews.
I was one of the masses totally freaked out when The Blair Witch Project came out. And so when I heard that Paranormal Activity was being hyped as one of the scariest movies ever made, well, obviously I just had to see it.
Since the R rating was for language only, I allowed my 13 year old to talk me into taking him too. He has inherited my love of horror movies and was totally psyched that I was letting him see this one. His friends are totally jealous. I am definitely in the running for most awesome mom ever.
Candy and sodas in hand, we were all ready to be scared out of our gourd. And we watched and waited… and watched and waited some more. And some ever so slightly weirdish stuff happened… and that escalated a bit… and well, there’s a “shocking” ending. And then we all sit there staring at the black screen going “wha? is it over?” And the lights come on and we all shuffle out slightly confused. And sadly, not all that scared.
Tad was flat out disappointed. He wasn’t scared at all. Maybe we are just too jaded. Maybe we knew too much about the movie going in. Maybe it was just over-hyped.
I will tell you that for the best experience, do NOT go researching this movie beforehand (like I did.) I knew what to expect, I knew what was going to happen. I even knew what each of the three alternate endings were. That totally sucked the scare right out of it. Big time bummer. But Tad knew almost nothing going in, and he had the same experience. Of course, he also blows up Zombies on a daily basis.
My overall review: horror movie over-hype and too much information killed this one for me.
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12 Responses to Paranormal Activity: To See Or Not To See?
I am a middle-aged woman who cannot see a horror movie. I watched “Halloween” on HBO when I was babysitting as a teen about 30 years ago and have never seen another since. I can’t take them. How do you do it?
I used to watch Creature Feature with my dad – all those old black and white horror movies from the ’50s and ’60s where you could see the zipper on the monster’s suit. It just progressed out of that. I love to be scared. I love horror novels (Stephen King!!) and roller coasters and just about anything else like that. That doesn’t mean that I don’t watch half the movie through my fingers with my hands covering my face – I’m a total girl!! And I squeal. And have been known to jump sky-high out of my seat and inadvertently throw popcorn all over the people sitting behind me (twice!) I think part of it is because a horror movie is like a good mystery – Who’s going to survive? How’s the killer going to be taken down? How will it END?!
I guess I should have prefaced all of that with saying that my two very favoritest movies ever are “Jaws” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas”.
I’m kind of intrigued by this, I must admit. I never see horror movies in theaters, but I did see “The Blair Witch Project” in a theater years ago, and by the end my heart was pounding so hard I thought I was going to have a heart attack. When I’ve tried to watch it on TV since then, it’s not scary or interesting; I think it’s something about the big screen experience.
I don’t know, Jennie. I saw a small itty-bitty part of the Blair Witch Project accidentally on TV ( a few years ago.) I thought it was a documentary. I was so spooked by it, I had to turn it off. My sister told me later what it was.
The Nightmare Before Chritmas doesn’t relly count as a horror movie, to me. If he weren’t computer-generated or claymation or whatever, I think I’d have a crush on Jack Skillington. I had to be talked into seeing the film by my father, though. He loved it and wanted to share it with everyone. The title is scary! But what a delightful movie. Great music.
I did see Jaws (on TV) and I hated it. It ruined the beach vacation. I didn’t watch the whole thing. It was so gruesome. I had to come back to watch the end because an unresolved horror like that really would keep me up at night.
So, Tiffany, what were the two popcorn-throwing movies? Do you remember?
Maybe it was just it being the second time around on Blair Witch, Ann. I mostly remember there being a lot of improvised dialogue that mostly consisted of swearing. When *I* think there’s too much swearing, you know it’s bad.
But I still remember watching the ending in the theater – it was an incredible rush! So freaking scary!
I always wondered how it ended. I have to find a description. I turned it off long before the ending.
Maybe I am inspired to rent The Blair itch Project for Halloween. I haven’t even bought a pumpkin this year…too busy. I should really do something for the holiday.
I don’t do well with scary movies either. I went into labor back in 1981 right after watching When a Stranger Calls.
However, I did like watching The Blair Witch Project. I also saw it on the big screen and my heart was pounding out of my chest.
Nowdays, when anything comes on TV that is nasty or gruesome, I cover my eyes and tell my husband to let me know when I can watch.
The shows that bother me the most are the true stories of crazed killers that 48 hours, Dateline and CBS Mystery shows.
Thanks for the heads up Tiffany. I rarely go out to movies anymore, unless I’m taking a child. I watch it all at home. I don’t watch scary movies that often, but love the classics. Halloween is a family favorite. I never watch them alone. My boys and I would sometimes watch the more well-known ones together from their teen years on. It’s a “thing” w/us to try to scare the other while we’re watching. A hubby once shut off the electricity to the house in the scary part of Halloween. We didn’t even miss him from the room It’s easier than you think and we would always forget when taking a bathroom break or coming in with a snack. It’s horribly frightening when you’re intensely watching in a darkened room. I like the suspenseful ones more than the gore and bludgeon types. The new ones are so graphic that I don’t think I would watch them.
Yeah, I think this movie was way over-hyped, as was Blair Witch, because they were both low budget, independent films. Which is great, but they both could have been a lot scarier, because the really scary stuff isn’t the big budget special effects and gore. There were a few good moments, but not enough to keep it from being a bit boring. (One of the best parts for me was a guy in the theater saying, “She’s sleep-standing”, when the girl was standing by the bed for hours.)
One of my favorite “things go bump in the night” movies was the original The Haunting, with Julie Harris and Claire Bloom (that horrible remake a few years ago, with Liam Neeson, was nothing like the “real” one). When Julie Harris wakes up alone on the couch and says, “Whose hand was I holding?”, eeeeek!
I’ve always liked scary stuff, even though it would keep me awake when I was younger. I remember hiding beside the couch, “watching” The Twilight Zone when I was a kid (that was the original, first-run TZ, unfortunately).
“The Twilight Zone” re-runs used to scare me to death as a kid and there was no gore – all psychological.
I agree with Pam – some of the “48 Hours” and similar programs, can be more frightening – knowing that human evil does actually exist. Also, Pam, “When a Stranger Calls” sounds very familiar. I can’t remember if I actually saw it or just saw enough promos of it that I thought I saw it!
Tiffany, thanks for the review. Your perspective is very different from the morning radio DJ that I listen to who has been talking this up for weeks. He saw it and he was very freaked out. I don’t genuinely liked to be scared anymore at movies, but I am considering seeing it. And I won’t do research beforehand! One thing is for sure – I am seeing it during the daytime!
I keep coming back to this thread. I am so frightened of horror movies, but I have a strange fascination thinking about them. When I was very young, a frightening old movie called, The Spiral Staircase came on TV and my parents let us see it. I couldn’t have been older than 8. I can’t remember why, but I ended up telling my kids about it last year, and we put it on our Blockbuster Online list. They laughed, it was so, unscary. I should try some of the older ones first. I sat through The Birds (yuk) and that Jimmy Stewart one where he’s in a wheel chair and watches the neighbors…Rear Window? The older ones are suspenseful, more than gory.
While we’re talking about scary movies, I had an “Oh my god! I’m so friggin old” moment. How can it be 30 years since the first Alien? How???? I have been catching a couple of them on AMC this week. I can watch them because I know when it’s coming and the Alien doesn’t use a butcher knife or saw. I still close my eyes a lot.
Btw, I am so happy when the SciFi channel does a Twilight Zone marathon. I always just leave it on to listen throughout the day.