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First post, woooo! 
Nice to be here. I've been meaning to post this about PA because I'm really getting tired of people hating on it and think many people are missing a crucial element of why others find it so frightening.
*some minor spoilers*
I unabashedly love Paranormal Activity and consider it to be one of the best horror films out there. Not THE best, but damn close, and before you laugh at least hear me out. For the many things it did poorly (and it did many), PA did one thing exceptionally well.....it did a great job of hitting a primal tone and nerve. Namely, it exposed and made apparent the vulnerability of sleep, something that everyone can identify with and must do. I can't identify being lost in the woods with friends with a witch leaving stick figures outside my tent. I can't relate to seeing my daughter's head doing a 360 and spewing pea soup in someone's face, nor of Darth Maul suddenly appearing behind someone (Insidious). But I can relate to having to fall asleep every night and trusting that nothing bad will happen. That is the core element of what makes PA such an effective film, and it honed in and exploited this aspect beautifully.
Being attacked or hunted by something unknown, unseen and unexplainable (which is scary in itself) while asleep is a very fundamental fear and is frightening as all hell. It hit home, got under my skin, got my imagination running, and left me jumping at every creek and bump at night while trying to get to bed. And not because I believe in demons. This film stayed with me long after I had left the theatre. To me, that is an indication of a good movie. I also thought it was paced perfectly, was accurate in the depiction of a haunting (or what I'd imagine one to be like), and the occurrences were so mild and escalation so believable it made it even better, and made its flaws, IMO, overlook-able.
The best scenes in the movie were not because the threat the demon (or whatever it was) presented necessarily, it's that its hunted victims were helpless because of something that they needed to do to live. People saw the apparition as the threat, I began to view sleep as the main one. And as that's inherent to our nature and survival it's an uncomfortable foe to confront. Seeing the footprints walk right up to the side of the bed and stop while Katie is out of it, seeing Katie stand for hours on end over an oblivious Micah, it's the fact that they're unconscious in the presence of danger, not necessarily the danger itself, which is what makes it eerie. This is why I still think PA far outdoes its sequels, as the original focused on sleep whereas the sequels elevated the occurances to normal day hours, which drastically made them less impactful and more dependent on shock and jump tactics. Paranormal Activity is one of those rare movies that does not need to be well made to be frightening because it brings to light and exposes a very instinctual fear that has been with us since the caveman days. The realization that we're utterly helpless and vulnerable while asleep and that sleep is something that we cannot avoid doing for any extended period of time. The demon and all this superstitious nonsense were simply a means to an end to show this, not the ends themselves.
I think that those who simply see a door moving a few inches and lights going on and off and say, "so what, how is that scary?" are missing this point and the underlying goal that the movie's striving for. They weren't meant to scare in and of themselves (aside from the few scenes at the end), they were intended to imply and hint at while building tension and dread about what was to come. If taken just on its minimalistic approach to film-making without trying to look deeper than that I can entirely see why some find it awful. I'll be the first to admit, it really is NOT that good of a movie. There's questionable/laughable acting, some plot holes and stupid plot points (most notably the psychic and Micah's ridiculous and unbelievable behavior), admittedly all of which don't help. Especially if someone doesn't or can't entertain the possibility of such phenomenon existing (though I've never understood why someone who didn't think such a thing was a possibility would go see it and then complain in the first place).
Anyhow, I can see why many hate PA, but I absolutely love it and feel there aren't nearly enough films like it. And I hope through this post I've enlightened those out there who for the life of them can't understand how it's liked and label us all fools and morons with poor taste for having enjoyed it. I believe if PA had had better production values it would be much more highly lauded than it is and would be held up there with the all-time greats of the genre. The concept behind it is brilliant. Unfortunately, the execution fell quite short.
Nice to be here. I've been meaning to post this about PA because I'm really getting tired of people hating on it and think many people are missing a crucial element of why others find it so frightening.*some minor spoilers*
I unabashedly love Paranormal Activity and consider it to be one of the best horror films out there. Not THE best, but damn close, and before you laugh at least hear me out. For the many things it did poorly (and it did many), PA did one thing exceptionally well.....it did a great job of hitting a primal tone and nerve. Namely, it exposed and made apparent the vulnerability of sleep, something that everyone can identify with and must do. I can't identify being lost in the woods with friends with a witch leaving stick figures outside my tent. I can't relate to seeing my daughter's head doing a 360 and spewing pea soup in someone's face, nor of Darth Maul suddenly appearing behind someone (Insidious). But I can relate to having to fall asleep every night and trusting that nothing bad will happen. That is the core element of what makes PA such an effective film, and it honed in and exploited this aspect beautifully.
Being attacked or hunted by something unknown, unseen and unexplainable (which is scary in itself) while asleep is a very fundamental fear and is frightening as all hell. It hit home, got under my skin, got my imagination running, and left me jumping at every creek and bump at night while trying to get to bed. And not because I believe in demons. This film stayed with me long after I had left the theatre. To me, that is an indication of a good movie. I also thought it was paced perfectly, was accurate in the depiction of a haunting (or what I'd imagine one to be like), and the occurrences were so mild and escalation so believable it made it even better, and made its flaws, IMO, overlook-able.
The best scenes in the movie were not because the threat the demon (or whatever it was) presented necessarily, it's that its hunted victims were helpless because of something that they needed to do to live. People saw the apparition as the threat, I began to view sleep as the main one. And as that's inherent to our nature and survival it's an uncomfortable foe to confront. Seeing the footprints walk right up to the side of the bed and stop while Katie is out of it, seeing Katie stand for hours on end over an oblivious Micah, it's the fact that they're unconscious in the presence of danger, not necessarily the danger itself, which is what makes it eerie. This is why I still think PA far outdoes its sequels, as the original focused on sleep whereas the sequels elevated the occurances to normal day hours, which drastically made them less impactful and more dependent on shock and jump tactics. Paranormal Activity is one of those rare movies that does not need to be well made to be frightening because it brings to light and exposes a very instinctual fear that has been with us since the caveman days. The realization that we're utterly helpless and vulnerable while asleep and that sleep is something that we cannot avoid doing for any extended period of time. The demon and all this superstitious nonsense were simply a means to an end to show this, not the ends themselves.
I think that those who simply see a door moving a few inches and lights going on and off and say, "so what, how is that scary?" are missing this point and the underlying goal that the movie's striving for. They weren't meant to scare in and of themselves (aside from the few scenes at the end), they were intended to imply and hint at while building tension and dread about what was to come. If taken just on its minimalistic approach to film-making without trying to look deeper than that I can entirely see why some find it awful. I'll be the first to admit, it really is NOT that good of a movie. There's questionable/laughable acting, some plot holes and stupid plot points (most notably the psychic and Micah's ridiculous and unbelievable behavior), admittedly all of which don't help. Especially if someone doesn't or can't entertain the possibility of such phenomenon existing (though I've never understood why someone who didn't think such a thing was a possibility would go see it and then complain in the first place).
Anyhow, I can see why many hate PA, but I absolutely love it and feel there aren't nearly enough films like it. And I hope through this post I've enlightened those out there who for the life of them can't understand how it's liked and label us all fools and morons with poor taste for having enjoyed it. I believe if PA had had better production values it would be much more highly lauded than it is and would be held up there with the all-time greats of the genre. The concept behind it is brilliant. Unfortunately, the execution fell quite short.
