Mountain FogPARANORMAL ACTIVITY
November 28th 2009 08:43
A New Release Film Review
by
mountain fog
Not only is this film effective in scaring people, (theatres report people walking out before the film ends, because they were too afraid to stay) it is the most successful film for profit (against production costs) in American film making history. It is now slowly becoming a massive global hit. It cost a mere US$15,000- to produce and has taken; so far, in excess of US$100,000,000- I kid you not!
The road Paranormal Activity has travelled, since being made in 2007, has had many pitfalls; but through support from some big players in the film producers' world and some brilliant marketing techniques, it was saved from an ignored and ignoble lonely place on a suburban DVD store’s shelf, with all the other tripe that, usually deservedly, never gets to the big screen.
Eventful.com was used to virally market the film, asking people online to vote where the film opened next, as the producers carefully staged a limited screen release. Initially choosing to market it to the main target audience, in university towns, word of mouth quickly saw over a million people begging for the film to have country wide release, leading to its incredible and rapid success this year.
Oren Peli, the original conceptualist, director, part camera operator and 'set designer' of this amazing little film, started work on it a year before they shot it, preparing his own house as the set. Peli stated this idea turned out to be advantageous, not only for the film’s budget, but also for getting his house renovated! The actual filming took only seven days, with the actors and Peli working 18 hours a day. It was shot in San Diego, in 2007.
Peli, in order to heighten the reality, or believability of the film, chose to instruct the two young unknown lead actors, Katie Featherston as Katie and Micah Sloat as Micah, as to the scene’s purpose and then allowed them to ad lib. An added advantage was Sloat having had some camera operator experience.
The camera was not a tricked up professional cinematic camera, with its cumbersomeness and large attendant crew, but was actually a hand held home movie camera, as was used in The Blair Witch Project. Even though that association initially felt a little like, ‘seen this before’, the special effects and tension builds made this a rather novel experience.
First screened at the 2007 Screamfest Horror Film Festival, thanks to the efforts of the Creative Artists Agency (Peli had just signed up with) they then handed out DVD versions to any distributor they could find. The road it then travelled took quite some time before the support of DreamWorks’ Prod. Exec. Ashley Brooks convinced their Production Chief Adam Goodman to see it. Goodman then turned it over to Spielberg.
Now we come to either, another little promotional trick, or it actually happened. If so, I would advise anyone invited to Spielberg’s house to think twice before staying the night! According to reports, Spielberg was not only impressed with the film, just after viewing it, the doors of his bedroom locked shut unassisted, trapping him in the bedroom until he got a locksmith to release him. Sounds very impressive, but its veracity seems highly dubious. Unless, of course, Spielberg owes his own success to a deal done with a daemon?
(SFX Cue: spooky cackle and thunderclap!)
Putting all that aside, Jason Blum and Steve Schneider of Miramax, the film’s eventual producers, worked with Peli to re-edit the original film as shown to them. Eventually, after test screenings, they also decided to not re-produce the film, with screenwriters and the usual Hollywood palaver and go with the film as shot by the intrepid Peli and his cast. In addition, there were three possible endings to choose from. I would be intrigued to see whether any of those would have had a more satisfying effect on me?
I found the released version’s ending too abrupt and slightly annoying, as things were only just hotting up. However, the ending begs the audience to scream for more and a sequel is being planned, as I write.
The abruptness of the ending also says something else which, upon reflection, is proof of my undivided attention and that the film flies along at a good pace, after an initial slow, draw you in start. The slow start is a clever device used to heighten suspense, perfected by some of the greats of suspense of yesteryear, like Hitchcock.
The special effects were minimal, but done with expert finesse. As for the storyline; I did get slightly annoyed at times, as I felt logic would have dictated the girl would run screaming from the house never to return, but, as we are told by a scared psychic, who stays only long enough to blurt it out, that there is no sense in leaving the house, as the daemon will only follow its chosen target. Even so, that scene seemed a little too contrived, an almost Shakespearian theatrical device to drive the plot.
For those in love, I suggest the following;
See the film first, so you appear calm and unperturbed when you go again, with a person with whom you are currently enamoured, thus allowing the object of your desire to cuddle up for protection, from the seemingly strong silent type. If you still accidentally scream, try to cover it with a cough!
I hope the sequel does the following;
Does not rely on a totally handheld format, as this becomes really tiresome, jerking your eyes around and any handheld needs to be interspersed with an ‘outside view’ through a cinematic camera. Also, that the lead does not scream so shrilly and quite so often, unless being rendered limb from limb. Lastly, that any heavy handed production effects are done with subtle sophistication, to complement the (hopefully more deeply drawn) characters in the plot and the subplots. One other thought, a few more gratuitous blood curdling scenes, a la Poltergeist, never go astray.
Overall, I found suspense and the scare factor was raised significantly numerous times during the film, but for me, never quite causing me to reach for the Holy Water and a crucifix. Many who see this film will not agree, for it will scare the believing pants off them!
As this film was shot in seven days straight, shooting eighteen hours a day, for only US$15,000- and taking into account the response so far by so many viewers, that should ensure Paranormal Activity takes pride of place in the annuls of horror moviedom for quite some time to come.
In closing;
Paranormal Activity is a tremendous introduction for a new international rising star of horror film makers, the brilliant and redoubtable Mister Olen Peli.
Directed by
Oren Peli
Produced by
Steven Schneider and Jason Blum
Written by
Oren Peli
CAST
Katie Featherston as Katie
Micah Sloat as Micah
Mark Fredrichs as the Psychic
Amber Armstrong asAmber
Ashley Palmer as Diane (girl on Internet).
Editing by
Oren Peli
AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTORS: ICON FILM DISTRIBUTION
Distributed by Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures
Running time 86 min.
Language English
Country United States
Release date(s)
Australia
December 3, 2009
United States
October 14, 2007
(Screamfest Film Festival)
January 18, 2008
(Slamdance Film Festival)
September 25, 2009
(Limited)
October 16, 2009
(Wide)
United Kingdom
November 25, 2009
Budget $15,000
Gross revenue $106,407,695
IMAGE CREDIT: POSTER DESIGN: This is the cover art for Paranormal Activity. The cover art copyright is believed to belong to the distributor of the film, Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks, or the publisher of the film. Please advise me if you wish your name as poster designer to appear here.
FAIR USE RATIONALE: Low Resolution image not meant for reproduction. Image used here for illustration of film's identity and public promotional image for film review purposes only. Please advise me if as copyright owner you wish image removed.
by
mountain fog
Official poster: copyright protected (see below).
Not only is this film effective in scaring people, (theatres report people walking out before the film ends, because they were too afraid to stay) it is the most successful film for profit (against production costs) in American film making history. It is now slowly becoming a massive global hit. It cost a mere US$15,000- to produce and has taken; so far, in excess of US$100,000,000- I kid you not!
The road Paranormal Activity has travelled, since being made in 2007, has had many pitfalls; but through support from some big players in the film producers' world and some brilliant marketing techniques, it was saved from an ignored and ignoble lonely place on a suburban DVD store’s shelf, with all the other tripe that, usually deservedly, never gets to the big screen.
Eventful.com was used to virally market the film, asking people online to vote where the film opened next, as the producers carefully staged a limited screen release. Initially choosing to market it to the main target audience, in university towns, word of mouth quickly saw over a million people begging for the film to have country wide release, leading to its incredible and rapid success this year.
Oren Peli, the original conceptualist, director, part camera operator and 'set designer' of this amazing little film, started work on it a year before they shot it, preparing his own house as the set. Peli stated this idea turned out to be advantageous, not only for the film’s budget, but also for getting his house renovated! The actual filming took only seven days, with the actors and Peli working 18 hours a day. It was shot in San Diego, in 2007.
Peli, in order to heighten the reality, or believability of the film, chose to instruct the two young unknown lead actors, Katie Featherston as Katie and Micah Sloat as Micah, as to the scene’s purpose and then allowed them to ad lib. An added advantage was Sloat having had some camera operator experience.
The camera was not a tricked up professional cinematic camera, with its cumbersomeness and large attendant crew, but was actually a hand held home movie camera, as was used in The Blair Witch Project. Even though that association initially felt a little like, ‘seen this before’, the special effects and tension builds made this a rather novel experience.
First screened at the 2007 Screamfest Horror Film Festival, thanks to the efforts of the Creative Artists Agency (Peli had just signed up with) they then handed out DVD versions to any distributor they could find. The road it then travelled took quite some time before the support of DreamWorks’ Prod. Exec. Ashley Brooks convinced their Production Chief Adam Goodman to see it. Goodman then turned it over to Spielberg.
Now we come to either, another little promotional trick, or it actually happened. If so, I would advise anyone invited to Spielberg’s house to think twice before staying the night! According to reports, Spielberg was not only impressed with the film, just after viewing it, the doors of his bedroom locked shut unassisted, trapping him in the bedroom until he got a locksmith to release him. Sounds very impressive, but its veracity seems highly dubious. Unless, of course, Spielberg owes his own success to a deal done with a daemon?
(SFX Cue: spooky cackle and thunderclap!)
Putting all that aside, Jason Blum and Steve Schneider of Miramax, the film’s eventual producers, worked with Peli to re-edit the original film as shown to them. Eventually, after test screenings, they also decided to not re-produce the film, with screenwriters and the usual Hollywood palaver and go with the film as shot by the intrepid Peli and his cast. In addition, there were three possible endings to choose from. I would be intrigued to see whether any of those would have had a more satisfying effect on me?
I found the released version’s ending too abrupt and slightly annoying, as things were only just hotting up. However, the ending begs the audience to scream for more and a sequel is being planned, as I write.
The abruptness of the ending also says something else which, upon reflection, is proof of my undivided attention and that the film flies along at a good pace, after an initial slow, draw you in start. The slow start is a clever device used to heighten suspense, perfected by some of the greats of suspense of yesteryear, like Hitchcock.
The special effects were minimal, but done with expert finesse. As for the storyline; I did get slightly annoyed at times, as I felt logic would have dictated the girl would run screaming from the house never to return, but, as we are told by a scared psychic, who stays only long enough to blurt it out, that there is no sense in leaving the house, as the daemon will only follow its chosen target. Even so, that scene seemed a little too contrived, an almost Shakespearian theatrical device to drive the plot.
For those in love, I suggest the following;
See the film first, so you appear calm and unperturbed when you go again, with a person with whom you are currently enamoured, thus allowing the object of your desire to cuddle up for protection, from the seemingly strong silent type. If you still accidentally scream, try to cover it with a cough!
I hope the sequel does the following;
Does not rely on a totally handheld format, as this becomes really tiresome, jerking your eyes around and any handheld needs to be interspersed with an ‘outside view’ through a cinematic camera. Also, that the lead does not scream so shrilly and quite so often, unless being rendered limb from limb. Lastly, that any heavy handed production effects are done with subtle sophistication, to complement the (hopefully more deeply drawn) characters in the plot and the subplots. One other thought, a few more gratuitous blood curdling scenes, a la Poltergeist, never go astray.
Overall, I found suspense and the scare factor was raised significantly numerous times during the film, but for me, never quite causing me to reach for the Holy Water and a crucifix. Many who see this film will not agree, for it will scare the believing pants off them!
As this film was shot in seven days straight, shooting eighteen hours a day, for only US$15,000- and taking into account the response so far by so many viewers, that should ensure Paranormal Activity takes pride of place in the annuls of horror moviedom for quite some time to come.
In closing;
Paranormal Activity is a tremendous introduction for a new international rising star of horror film makers, the brilliant and redoubtable Mister Olen Peli.
Directed by
Oren Peli
Produced by
Steven Schneider and Jason Blum
Written by
Oren Peli
CAST
Katie Featherston as Katie
Micah Sloat as Micah
Mark Fredrichs as the Psychic
Amber Armstrong asAmber
Ashley Palmer as Diane (girl on Internet).
Editing by
Oren Peli
AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTORS: ICON FILM DISTRIBUTION
Distributed by Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures
Running time 86 min.
Language English
Country United States
Release date(s)
Australia
December 3, 2009
United States
October 14, 2007
(Screamfest Film Festival)
January 18, 2008
(Slamdance Film Festival)
September 25, 2009
(Limited)
October 16, 2009
(Wide)
United Kingdom
November 25, 2009
Budget $15,000
Gross revenue $106,407,695
IMAGE CREDIT: POSTER DESIGN: This is the cover art for Paranormal Activity. The cover art copyright is believed to belong to the distributor of the film, Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks, or the publisher of the film. Please advise me if you wish your name as poster designer to appear here.
FAIR USE RATIONALE: Low Resolution image not meant for reproduction. Image used here for illustration of film's identity and public promotional image for film review purposes only. Please advise me if as copyright owner you wish image removed.
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Comment by Linh
Celluloid Fun
I'll be seeing this tonight! I wasn't scared when I watched Blair Witch Project, so hopefully this is horrifically scary for me.
Cheers!
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
As for Paranormal Activity, i still haven't seen it yet and am regretting every moment...fine write up.
Comment by Mountain Fog
Infognito
Screen Trek
QUOTE ME NO QUOTES!
sounds like you are a horror officiando, not scared when watching Blair Witch!! You are tough! I got a little scared when they were in the forest but the ending was a let down I remember.
Good luck with this film and let us know what you thought!!
cheers
fog
Comment by Mountain Fog
Infognito
Screen Trek
QUOTE ME NO QUOTES!
big shoes to fill...hmmm.. doesn't really big shoes belong to clowns JD???!!! Are you having a go at poor Matt??? tee hee!! Just kidding!
tanx for the compliment too!
fog
Comment by Linh
Celluloid Fun
I think the main reason Blair Witch failed to scare me was because I felt so annoyed with the silly jerky camera work and put off by the bad acting.
I wasn't expecting an arthouse style production, but Blair Witch was quite amateurish for a horror film. Am I a horror genre snob? Maybe.
I'll let you know what I think of Paranormal Activity.
Cheers!
Comment by Mountain Fog
Infognito
Screen Trek
QUOTE ME NO QUOTES!
I totally agree about the 'let's pretend it's real' jerky hand held camera nonsense, that was one of my biggest annoyances with Paranormal.
Anyhoo, I wait with baited breath for your take on it!
cheers
fog
Comment by Matt Shea
20/20 Filmsight
Comment by Mountain Fog
Infognito
Screen Trek
QUOTE ME NO QUOTES!
yes, it does have its creepy moments I must admit. The ending annoyed me though, I wanted much more...another 30 minutes of mayhem would have been nice, less the hand held nonsense.
And what? YOU a clown...NOOOO never! I would fit that roll better than anyone, Booozoh the clown should be my name, well once upon a time it would have been! hehe
cheers
fog
Comment by Linh
Celluloid Fun
I liked Paranormal Activity for its originality in story-telling and the good performances, but I felt I was held in suspense for too long during the film , except for the final few seconds. The little surprises/shocks that came after some of the waiting was not scary. The final few seconds did unsettle me and I think the ending is better than the one with cops shooting dead Katie.
The screening I went to was almost a full house and most of them were talking about the film to each other. I wish they did that after the film ended.
Overall, a great night out at the movies.
Comment by Mountain Fog
Infognito
Screen Trek
QUOTE ME NO QUOTES!
thanks for letting me know what you thought!
People talking through a film is downright annoying and really rude!
Did you know, a company recently advertised for a "Shusher" in Sydney?
That's right, people are paid to sit in films where talking has been a problem and give out a loud and annoyed SHUSH!!! whenever they speak!
What an oddball job, but it does sound like some satisfaction comes with the job!
Anyhoo, I saw flaws in the film, and small annoyances, but it will definitely feature in horror history!
cheers
fog