13 Nights of Hallowe'en 2010: Night #8 Paranormal Activity

Tonight I have for you one of the big name recent horrors, Paranormal Activity. It got a lot of press and a lot of support--I for one have myname amongst the throng of people who petitioned to get this movie released. Some people love it, some people are indifferent, and of course there are the hardcore detractors. I for one thought it was great for what it intended. It wasn't a heavy effects movie, it certainly wasn't a gory movie, or one chockfull of spectres jumping out from every corner. It kept my attention all of the way through, which is a good testament for a movie with so few characters or sets. If you don't know what it is about here it is without spoilers--I hit a spoiler myself sadly, just a few weeks before getting to see it the first time. A couple decides that a ghost is haunting them and the man gets a video camera to catch the haunting on tape.

Pretty simple set up for a movie that received so much talk. Paranormal Activity was the first movie from writer-director Oren Peli. Despite being filmed in English it was still under consideration to be remade for North American audiences. That was apparently taken off of the table after the efforts of many horror fans to convince the studio not to do such an unjustified things. So, we have the movie as is, and the sequel is in theatres right now. Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat are the two stars of the movie playing characters with the same first names and no last names given. There is a psychic that Katie calls in to help, and one of her friends. That's it for cast. Everything takes place in or just outside of the house. It just goes to show that you do not need a lot to make a horror movie that works. It also doesn’t require a huge budget either. However, we knew that.

Mood: expectant.

Music: Halloween in Heaven by Type O Negative. MP3s