In 2009 there was a low-budget horror that arrived with barely any fanfare or fuss and very quickly it became a huge demonic force to be reckoned with, growing into ammassive international horror phenomenon and cult favorite...that film was Paranormal Activity.
Scaring the living daylights out of audiences the world over and spawning many a sequel, this absolutely massive monster of a horror hit took what could be considered the most mundane of situations/ideas and transforms it into what many consider one of the most terrifying films of its time.
Paranormal Acitiviy was one of the most talked about horror films of the time, and it is highly likely that many people would potentially consider it as one of the horror greats, breathing new life into the found footage genre Director Oren Peli's chiller became one of the most talked-about horror films of the 21st century, going on to earn its place as one of the horror greats and redefining the found footage genre, and now gets a new high-def release courtesy of Second Sight Film'. Let's check it out see if this edition is spookily good!
A young middle-class couple, Katie and Micah, have been together for three years and move into a suburban 'starter' tract house. Micah starts recording aspects of thier life on his video camera...however, all is not well and they soon become convinced that thier what they hoped to be dream starter home is haunted by a what may or may not be a demonic presence while they sleep, or at least when they are trying to. In the hope of capturing evidence and perhaps getting answers they set Micah's video camera up in their bedroom to film the room as they sleep. What they record is more terrifying than they could ever have imagined...and much worse is yet to come.
OK, before I go any further with my thoughts on this film, I should point out that horror movies just don't scare me. I guess being forced to watch I Spit On Your Grave (aka Day of the Woman) at the age of 6 among other things doesn't help....so this opinion may be a little off compared to "normal people".
I did not find this movie scary. At all. Now don't get me wrong, this is a good movie and I did enjoy it, but I just didn't find it scary, although I know many who did. This for me is certainly one of the better found footage movies out there and it feels to me like it rejuvinated the genre. I can fully understand why this was at the time one of the most talked about films in the horror genre, and rhere's no arguing that this movie is going to be in the horror history book books, when you consider this movie helped build Blumhouse and is one of the movies that got the biggest profits of all time, but is it really that scary? OK, sure, it gave Spielberg the willies when he watched the screener and he loved it, and in test screenings people walked out because it was too intense for them, but me personally? Nah, not really...but clever and a fun watch for the genre, that spawned a plethora of sequels (and a not great side story) including one being released very shortly.
The movie had no script, the actors were given guidelines in regards to what they should do or discuss, and that seemed to turn out really well. The budget for this movie was $15,000 (many down to having to reshoot the ending as it didn't go down well with test audiences) and made back an estimated Worldwide gross of $93,000,000 which makes it one of the hightest movie profits of all time. They also got people to demand the movie at thier local cinema to great success.
The movie actually has 2 versions, and there's 3 different endings. There is the Theatrical Cut and then the Director's Cut which has 3 endings (Theatrical, The Festival Cut ending and Alternate ending). Director Orin Peli was rather fond of the original ending (and I tend to agree) and took a lot of persuading to change it, as well as exptra money. One thing a lot of people may not realise is that producer Jason Blum actually formed Blumhouse on the money he made from this movie...so a lot of movies like The Hunt and Fantasy Island wouldn't have been made if not for Paranormal Activity.
When it comes to the disc itself, the movie transfer quality is good as always from Second Sight Film, with crystal clear audio and video, as well as English SDH subtitles. There are some great special features on the Blu-Ray, including audio commentaries, interviews with cast and director and the alternative ending as well as the Festival Cut ending.
The box set comes in a rigid slipcase with new artwork by James Neal plus a book featuring brand new essays and a ser of collectors' art cards, and the artwork looks absolutely brilliant!
As much as I do not think this is the scariest movie, I enjoyed thr movie and it's a brilliant Limited Edition. Well worth buying.
Paranormal Activity Limited Edition is rated 15 abd can be bought directly from Second Sight Films HERE.