Movie Review 6: Paranormal Activity (4/5)

first i have to say...
i understand if u do not agree with the 4/5 for this movie...
i sort of think that for this movie people will be split between those who love this and those who think this is plain boring...
and i kind of understand why...

but i am definitely one of the former...

first of all...
there has been tonnes of media hype about this movie...
justifiable considering that this movie made more than 100 million in the US...
then movie was shot on a 5 digit budget...
all the hype kind of spoil the movie a little...

because most people would have already known that although the movie try to makes u feel that the footage are actual footage...
but none of this is real...

so if you go in with the "this is completely unreal" mindset...
half the movie is already spoil for u...
this movie relies heavily on the fact that audience have to relate to the movie...
and given its lack of characters...
special effects...
if u cannot relate to the movie...
there is not much for u to see here...

secondly...
most of another element which works in this movie is the atmosphere...
if u don't buy in from the start...
u probably won't feel much...

but for me...
this movie really worked...

Paranormal Activity is about a couple who lives together...
the girlfriend has been experiencing weird sensations lately...
so the boyfriend, out of concern and probably for the fun of it...
decides to purchase a camera to record their daily lives...
particularly when they are asleep...
so as to find out what caused the disturbance...

and from these footages...
u will come to realise that things are really paranormal here...

what works for me...
is that the home video feel kind of fuse me into the setting right from the start...
i was one of those then begin to form an unseen attachment to the cast...

it helps alot because both characters are quite believable...
especially the boyfriend...
whose character really reminds me of one of my friends...
all the gusto and manliness...

the pacing of the movie is on the slow side...
u would not see anything spectacular through out...
it is always small little build up...

one amazing thing is that although u can pretty much know when strange things will happen...
since everytime something is about to happen...
the camera will be frozen on a static screen...
u will still feel the creeps because u never know what would happen...
so i was pretty much constantly on the edge of my seat...

all it is great that there is no spectacular effect...
the same way that the shark in Jaws and Aliens in...
er...
Alien...
were scary all they way...
until they show themselves completely...
at which point u realise that well...
they are only monsters...

still...
there were a few things that doesn't seem right...

u mean she is that young and just a student?...
why do they not just freaking leave the house?...
u can actually study demonology?...

but these are just minute things that only someone as anal as me would think about...

all in all...
Paranormal Activity is an intense experience...
it is not so much of a scary movie...
but more of an intense thriller...

so ya...
like i said...
if u like it...
u will feel it truly deserves all 4 out of 5...

PS: i should not have watch the cast interview before the movie... now i really want to see all the endings they shot before selecting the final one...