It is very difficult to give a full review of a film such as this buzz-worthy and future cult classic (trust me!) without giving away too much or just ruining it. Sadly I overheard the ending to “Inglorious Bastards” last night even though I had been trying not to even read reviews until I had seen it myself. Oh well. Such is life sometimes. So I shall give you my thoughts and opinions, but I shant be sharing much since I would hate to ruin it for anyone. But if you’d like more, simply comment with your question and email address and I will gladly share!

As Promised, “Paranormal Activity” A Notblueatall Review:

Well, I’d first like to thank my friend J for telling me about this film last week and getting us pumped up about it despite the fact that we hadn’t heard a peep prior to his enthusiastic endorsement. I would also like to thank Steven Spielberg for suggesting the ending. It’s a doozy! Lastly I’d like to thank the douche-nozzle sitting next to me that huffed-puff-sighed and fake-snored during the majority of the film who has since made me swear off midnight showings of new movies possibly forever. I don’t know why you didn’t get it, dude, but maybe if you’d have given it a chance you would have enjoyed it. And sorry, I thought your wookie joke was corny-funny but I was simply too exhausted to laugh.

I will say this about the film first: it left me with the overall feelings “The Blair Witch Project” & “The Exorcist” gave me, but like TBWP, it was a modern twist on what could have been a typical dissapointment you’d find at the straight-to-video rental store horror section. Boy, am I glad it was not a dissapointment!

We drove down to Santa Cruz, CA to see it at a midnight showing on 9-26-09. It was fun and cool and exciting. There was already a line of about 8 or so people before we arrived around 8:30 ish. And shortly after we got in line (after a search and decision and finally enjoyment of dinner) the line quickly grew around the block (or so it seemed, not entirely sure). Can I just tell you how much I hate standing in lines? Not DMV type lines, mind you (although seriously, do your car stuff online it’s mega-fast!) but preview or midnight show movie lines. They are always outside in either horribly hot or soul-crushingly cold weather and it’s an endless wait of misery and passersby asking “what’s this line for?” even when there is a giant marquee just above them stating in humongous letters precisely what’s playing! Like we’re all just standing there for hours because it’s fun?! But I digress.

I thought the two main actors were good. They were exactly what they were supposed to be for the mood and type of film they starred in (monster-tits and all!). If not for their “average joe/jane” appeal you might not have believed such horrific “Paranormal Activity” could have ocurred in the cushy San Diego, CA setting. Also, the sound effects were beyond outstanding! Just fantastic! If you’re a horror-geek or if you just like the thrill of a truly scary movie this is a great film! If you’re going into this expecting some Hollywood hack-job or overdone action style flick, forget it! This is not an action-packed thrill ride or slasher movie. This is just good fun gone scary!

If “Poltergeist” or “The Exorcist” scared the bejebus out of you, this will, too! Okay, I’ll admit that M.Knight Shyamalan’s “Signs” scared the crap out of me, too…so? Believe me, you will walk out of this one jittery and awake, even if you walked in half asleep! Allow me to break it down, modern twenty-something couple living together in a large San Diego, CA house (with three bedrooms with made-up beds and all-inexplicably since it’s just them living there), deal with “Paranormal Acitivity” surrounding the female lead. She’s a student, he’s a day trader. They are funny and cute together and have real-looking fights on-camera.

The male lead tends to come off as a douche when he’s just filming his freaked-out girlfriend and you just hear his voice. Strangely though, when he is on camera he seems more rational and caring, just an impression I got. The female lead was very convincing in all of the emotions her character required. Better acting than a lot of big name Hollywood Actors I thought. The “Paranormal Acitivity” starts small with bumps and noises in the night, but soon progresses into sanity-shattering disturbances.

I always try to put myself in the main character’s shoes, asking myself what I would have done in their place. With this one? Um, I didn’t want to consider the options. She does call a paranormal specialist who quickly explains that he can’t help her/them because he only deals with ghosts or human beings and she was dealing with something alltogether not human. He recommends a specialist, but the couple fights over calling him and when they finally do in a time of dire need, he’s conveniently out of the country.

Sure there are flaws to any film, unanswered questions or inexplicable things you may see or hear or events that get only a cursory mention or investigation. If you can ignore or get past them, you will love this film! In originality and acting I would give this movie a strong A. Some of the things that came up that weren’t truly questioned or investigated bothered me, but only after we left the theatre. When you do get towards the end, well, the possibilities are endless. I sat there in tense andticipation and finally terror, with a hundred scenarios in my head that could have played out. I am pleased with the ending they chose and the pace of the latter half of the film’s escalation. Some without patience or an appreciation of tension building and character development may find the film overall boring, but then they would probably be paying to see G.I. Joe or Transformers anyway.

I say go see this indie and enjoy it for what it is: Something different than the norm. There’s no big names or famous monsters. There’s no serial killer or police investigation. There’s no big budget explosions or CGI effects (that I know of), it’s just darn-right good horror-thriller in a homegrown-grassroots sort of way. And sadly, you may have to demand it in order to see it near you. While I’m fairly certain that it will get widely released, in these econmic times and with movie studios gun-shy about anything other than big-name projects I also fear that it won’t. But you can go to the website and hit the “Demand It” button and hopefully enough of us will do just that and it will get it’s due. www.paranormalactivity-movie.com

I shall leave you with that and nothing more unless you specifically ask for it. Thanks for reading! =0)