Author Topic: Paranormal Activity.  (Read 12761 times)

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Offline 8ullfrog

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Paranormal Activity.
« on: October 15, 2009, 05:14:57 PM »
Paranormal activity:
http://www.paranormalmovie.com/?gclid=CIPH__WWwJ0CFRHxDAodVjqpig

So far, everything I've heard about this movie is hype. That being said, I like the supposed "effect".

The movie is supposed to "sting" you three times. In the theater, it's supposed to scare the hell out of you.

When you leave the theater, you're supposed to be shaken.

And when you try to go to sleep, you can't.

That's some pretty big hype, but I'll bite. It's opened in limited release today, so I'm going to try and head out to san marcos to see it.

Here is one of the hype videos from youtube:

Offline frankcapri

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #1 on: October 15, 2009, 09:21:39 PM »
Digg currently has a sticky thingy that pops up on every page of their list.  It was kinda annoying when I was looking for stuff yesterday.

I'm definitely intrigued though.  I'll probably not be able to see it in the theater.

Maybe I'll save it for a lonely night if I ever get one of those  ;D
Size, it doesn't matter to me so long as I get it...Gotta go now.

Offline 8ullfrog

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #2 on: October 15, 2009, 11:10:49 PM »
Don't. Not because it's scary, but because it's an elaborate setup for a "screamer".

You do of course, know what a screamer is.

Essentially, you know when things are going to get "spooky" because they telegraph it. Sound goes from basic to full bore high gain microphone, which cheapens the scare.

There are a few genuine bumps, which I will not spoil, but overall the characters have the same problem as the blair witch kids, they're unlikeable douchebags.

The first time the boyfriend swears on film, the girlfriend tells him to "be sweet". It's a southern colloquialism, but it made me want her to die.

Needless to say, when things get spooky, she can swear like a sailor.

I don't know if the guy is a better actor than the girl, or if he just brought more to the table.

There are a few interesting bits that are cut down to 5-10 second bits, such as when micah is reading a book on the occult, or when he gets the name "Dianne".

I did like that the psychic was a chickenshit.

The producers didn't really try to bring the love or care the makers of ghostwatch did.

One thing I really did like was that during the "night" segments, the air conditioning got turned up full blast in the theater.

That being said, the douchebag with a clipboard who kept walking around the theater almost ruined immersion to the point I was going to get up and ask for a refund.

But I was with someone, and she didn't want me to cause problems. Still, golly you edwards cinema!


Well well well. Learned a few things from the interwebtron. First, yeah, Spielberg tacked on the hollywood ending.

several possible endings were filmed originally.

Spoiler (hover to show)
« Last Edit: October 16, 2009, 06:18:41 AM by 8ullfrog »

Offline JackFrost

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #3 on: October 26, 2009, 08:34:18 AM »
Just DL'd an avi of this, so I'll check it out soonish...

Offline Diabolico

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #4 on: October 26, 2009, 11:16:55 AM »
^ Ditto, except I got a mkv and its 300mb. Looks like a load of rubbish.
Quote from: Brian Moore
Despite the tons of examples and docs, mod_rewrite is voodoo. Damned cool voodoo, but still voodoo.

Offline Robin-Graves

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #5 on: October 26, 2009, 12:47:23 PM »
Seen part of it, and didnt like it. And I LOVE horror movies.

Watch Shutter, its sooo much better.
I keep my standards low.
That way im never disapointed.

Offline ohcheap1

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #6 on: October 26, 2009, 01:15:15 PM »
^ Ditto, except I got a mkv and its 300mb. Looks like a load of rubbish.

Has nothing to do with the film but anything in mkv is a load of rubbish. I still want an explanation for this stupid freakin file type.

Offline JackFrost

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #7 on: October 26, 2009, 02:05:00 PM »
Funny, mines a 1.2 Gig avi....

I haven't looked at it yet, but that sounds much better than 300M...

Code: [Select]
PM me for a linky-poo...

Offline dweez

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #8 on: October 26, 2009, 02:21:26 PM »
MKV isn't a type of encoding, it is merely a container.  MKV can contain good quality film or bad.  Sounds like you just got crappy luck oc1.
--dweez

Offline ohcheap1

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #9 on: October 26, 2009, 03:05:10 PM »
What? Its a file format just like .avi or .mpeg I thought. You have to go through the same kind of conversion methods.

Offline Diabolico

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #10 on: October 26, 2009, 03:15:38 PM »
Paranormal Activity (400MB)

Thought I found a 300MB rip, RS stated links were active. Checked afterwards and they were all blocked.




Clockwork Orange (510MB)




Vantage Point (410MB)



The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (3.1GB)



If its a film I will either watch once, or watch one in a while I prefer smaller rips. Stating that, if the film is good, I may download a bigger rip. Got a 3GB rip of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, a 2.2GB rip of Saving Private Ryan and Planet Terror. Had a nice rip of Full Metal Jacket.

Quality varies a lot with different releases, as you can see above.
« Last Edit: October 26, 2009, 03:29:20 PM by Diabolico »
Quote from: Brian Moore
Despite the tons of examples and docs, mod_rewrite is voodoo. Damned cool voodoo, but still voodoo.

Offline dweez

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #11 on: October 26, 2009, 03:29:28 PM »
Matroska == .mkv, .mka, .mks

Container

This is a good example of actual encoded video == MPEG-4
--dweez

Offline Robin-Graves

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #12 on: October 26, 2009, 04:22:13 PM »
A Clockwork Orange rocked.
I love Stanley Kubric
I keep my standards low.
That way im never disapointed.

Offline ohcheap1

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #13 on: October 27, 2009, 11:56:35 AM »
Paranormal Activity is as bad that Blair Witch poo. WHY do I get suckered into these things? I watched the first 45 minutes continually and then I couldnt handle the boredom anymore so I FF frames and finished it in like 10 more minutes. CRAP I tell you. But a least now I have a valid opinion.

Offline Robin-Graves

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #14 on: October 27, 2009, 12:38:46 PM »
Didnt I say it was bad?
I keep my standards low.
That way im never disapointed.

Offline Skadi

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #15 on: October 27, 2009, 12:42:26 PM »
^^LOL.. it would prolly scare me then. I still get scared thinking about sleeping in the woods. And if I ever run across a random pile of rocks somewhere, I?ll either frantically kick them over.. or run screaming and crying

Offline Robin-Graves

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #16 on: October 27, 2009, 04:23:18 PM »
I saw the Blair Witch movie when it first came out and caught alot of the subliminals.

My son got the dvd recently to show me all of them.
Watch the flashlights when they hit a solic object head on, you can see a skull shape.
I keep my standards low.
That way im never disapointed.

Offline 8ullfrog

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #17 on: October 29, 2009, 06:14:23 AM »
See, that's what I figured they would do with this one, faces in the dark, poo like that. And Paranormal activity is certainly not for the impatient, it's a film that builds.

Still, I like the idea of an ending they screened at a horrorfest better than the ending they went with for the theatrical release (hollywood screamer).

Offline JackFrost

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #18 on: October 29, 2009, 08:21:52 AM »
I've got about 30 minutes left of the flick to watch yet, but I think part of the scare comes from one's own imagination.

And not just what could be making the bumps and thumps, but things like:

Spoiler (hover to show)

That's really creepy, at least to me...

Offline dweez

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #19 on: October 29, 2009, 08:24:34 AM »
* dweez stares at Jack
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Offline ohcheap1

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #20 on: October 29, 2009, 08:32:28 AM »
Still, I like the idea of an ending they screened at a horrorfest better than the ending they went with for the theatrical release (hollywood screamer).

Where can we see this?

@ Jack- I would change my sleeping habits after watching the film clips of the first time it happened! Seriously.

Offline JackFrost

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #21 on: October 29, 2009, 10:49:16 PM »
Where can we see this?

Go here to see original ending. Be sure you've seen the movie before you watch this as it gives away some things, obviously...

I had to go look for the 'alternate ending' after seeing the one on my vid because there's really nothing 'Hollywood' about it.

As it turns out, the version I DL'd has the original ending and not the 'Hollywood' ending, so I haven't seen that.

So if someone wants to tell me what happens in the other version (spoiler tags or a PM, y'all) I'd be interested in knowing what they changed.

Tho' I will say the addition of the footage of the 'girl from the 60's' who'd had the same experiences as Katie seemed rather... er -- borrowed from The Exorcist... ;)

It isn't the greatest or scariest movie I've ever seen, but it does have some genuine chills in it.

I imagine it works better in a dark, cold theatre with a bunch of people who get caught up in the tension to get the full effect of the flick.

And it certainly wasn't Ghost Hunters - the gayest show in the bless'ed world!

@ Jack- I would change my sleeping habits after watching the film clips of the first time it happened! Seriously.

This has to be the one thing that bothered me the most in the movie. The only other thing that came close was finding ajar the hatch to the pitch dark attic...

And if I ever found out about it, I'd have to ask her what the golly that was all about too... yikes!

Spoiler (hover to show)

And I'm not criticizing anyone's opinion, but just a question for those that didn't like it - what exactly were you expecting to happen?

Were you upset you never got to see anything clearly (though I haven't seen the Hollywood ending so I'm unsure if they reveal more than the original ending)? Or did you just think it was all boring?

I do have to admit it's a bit slow-paced and seemed longer than it was, but the time lapse stuff didn't help for keeping any real sense of time anyway.

It could've used maybe some text items telling some of the progression of the experience. And I'm talking even just for more mundane things like - "Katie skipped school and Micah called in sick..." or something, to explain why it seemed like these two never did anything. :D

Anyway, this is too long...

Sorry. :P

Offline ohcheap1

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #22 on: October 30, 2009, 06:27:05 AM »
Well, it looks like it has been taken down already.  :'(  Oh well. I did see a screen shot of the 2 and it looks like the version I saw was the alternative too.

Offline JackFrost

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #23 on: October 30, 2009, 08:53:45 AM »
Well, it looks like it has been taken down already.  :'(  Oh well.

Really? I just checked and it works fine...  ???

I did see a screen shot of the 2 and it looks like the version I saw was the alternative too.

So are you saying you saw the original or the 'Hollywood' ending?

Offline Robin-Graves

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #24 on: October 30, 2009, 09:39:48 AM »
Why is it that whats released as alternate endings are allways better than the Hoollywood ending?
I keep my standards low.
That way im never disapointed.

Offline JackFrost

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #25 on: October 30, 2009, 10:47:58 AM »
Why is it that whats released as alternate endings are allways better than the Hoollywood ending?

So you've seen them both, then?

What did they change?

Offline 8ullfrog

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #26 on: October 31, 2009, 03:26:03 AM »
According to the director, up to 11 endings were filmed.

The one that interests me is the one in which katie slits her throat at the end. I think that while this ending would traumatize the poo out of the average american viewer, it is the proper end to the film.

Don't expect that one on the DVD though, the director says he "doesn't like" that ending. It only screened once.

Offline Robin-Graves

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #27 on: October 31, 2009, 06:27:15 AM »
So you've seen them both, then?

What did they change?

No,, I havent,,just a question in general.
According to the director, up to 11 endings were filmed.

The one that interests me is the one in which katie slits her throat at the end. I think that while this ending would traumatize the poo out of the average american viewer, it is the proper end to the film.

Don't expect that one on the DVD though, the director says he "doesn't like" that ending. It only screened once.



You underestimate the average American viewer.
Dont go by stereotypes
I keep my standards low.
That way im never disapointed.

Offline Diabolico

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #28 on: November 02, 2009, 08:37:07 AM »
Why is it that whats released as alternate endings are allways better than the Hoollywood ending?

Don't blame Hollywood, blame, Steven Spielberg. Going by Empire (issue 246 / Dec). Page 84:

Quote from: Empire issue 246, page 84
"However, no sooner one bullet had been dodged than another came whizzing towards Peli, in the shape of an ending. There are, in total, three alternative endings for Paranormal Activity. One, a bleak affair that ends with a suicide-to-camera, has only been seen by a couple of test audiences. Another - Peli's original capper, which played at those early festivals - involved murder, catatonia and the boys in blue. And then there's the current ending, weird and unsetting and very memorable...and dreamt up by Mr. Spielberg."

"It tested by far the best," says Peli. "The audience just totally freaks out. Spielberg knows a thing or about movies!"

The filmmaker has already begun work on his next movie, a sci-fi horror called Area 51.
Quote from: Brian Moore
Despite the tons of examples and docs, mod_rewrite is voodoo. Damned cool voodoo, but still voodoo.

Offline Robin-Graves

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #29 on: November 02, 2009, 10:07:28 AM »
Area 51 has been in the planning stages for a while.
Seems more and more horro rmovies are becoming mainstream...Guess I got to go to Musicals now lmao.
I keep my standards low.
That way im never disapointed.

Offline Diabolico

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #30 on: November 02, 2009, 10:48:42 AM »
Probably should be called: Extraterrestrial or Alien Conspiracy; Area 51 gets used too often, you can use Google Maps to check the base. Is it still in usage? As some years ago some conspiracy nut magazine stated the radiation levels were too high.

Not to mention the fact the area is gigantic, illegally entering the base and getting close to the buildings would be next to impossible, due to the security and the size of the base imho.

Seems more and more horro rmovies are becoming mainstream...

Don't forget remakes, take Halloween, Friday the 13th, or even Nightmare on Elm Street. In that remake (aNoES), Freddy Kruger, is innocent (?). I hope child murdering rapist isn't changed to a lighter subject.

There was a fan made film on Youtube, that was used to promote an actor for the role. It's better than the official trailer imho.


How many of those were low budget films?
Quote from: Brian Moore
Despite the tons of examples and docs, mod_rewrite is voodoo. Damned cool voodoo, but still voodoo.

Offline Robin-Graves

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #31 on: November 02, 2009, 03:13:14 PM »
1,3,4 and New Nightmare had decent budgets for the times they were made.
The rest were crap on toast.

Probably should be called: Extraterrestrial or Alien Conspiracy; Area 51 gets used too often, you can use Google Maps to check the base. Is it still in usage? As some years ago some conspiracy nut magazine stated the radiation levels were too high.

Not to mention the fact the area is gigantic, illegally entering the base and getting close to the buildings would be next to impossible, due to the security and the size of the base imho.



For a whilethey had orders to shoot to kill.
 They have ascertained that the above ground area is too small for the amount of workers that are bussed in from the surounding area, leaving alot of speculation that most of it is underground.
 Notto mention there is amountian in Wyoming ( Cheyane Mountain?) that is lesser known, but conected with UFO conspiracy theories.
I keep my standards low.
That way im never disapointed.

Offline ohcheap1

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #32 on: November 02, 2009, 04:03:17 PM »
Don't forget remakes, take Halloween, Friday the 13th, or even Nightmare on Elm Street.

I think the new Halloween series is masterful. FAR superior to the originals. Of course they were precident setters in the category of horror in the 70-80's.

Offline Robin-Graves

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #33 on: November 02, 2009, 04:44:11 PM »
Rob Zombie did a good job.
Im curious to see if they are going to make the Nightmare On Elm street movies any good orif theyll flop like im expecting.
I know the new Friday The 13th sucked so hard it wasnt even aproaching funny.
I keep my standards low.
That way im never disapointed.

Offline ohcheap1

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #34 on: November 02, 2009, 07:08:05 PM »
Rob Zombie did a good job.
Im curious to see if they are going to make the Nightmare On Elm street movies any good orif theyll flop like im expecting.
I know the new Friday The 13th sucked so hard it wasnt even aproaching funny.

Agreed

Offline JackFrost

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #35 on: November 03, 2009, 12:57:18 AM »
I wonder if they'll get Johnny Depp to make a cameo in the new Elm Street?  :D (Not to mention Robert Englund... ;))

Speaking of remakes - Invasion of the Body Snatchers has been remade multiple times, and, in general, they tend to be decent to really good flicks. I still think the birthing pod people in the black and white version are very creepy and are awesome special effects, not even just for he time. The 70s version with Donald Sutherland has some great moments. The one with Forest Whitaker and Meg Tilly was alright. But even the most recent Nicole Kidman one wasn't too shabby...

But a horror movie that needs no remake?: John Carpenter's The Thing

That flick is the poo!

Offline Robin-Graves

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #36 on: November 03, 2009, 03:08:40 AM »
There has been talk.

I bought the video game for X Box back in 2002 and heard umors about it or a sequel back then.
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Offline Skadi

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #37 on: November 03, 2009, 10:17:50 AM »
Speaking of The Thing.. that'ts sort of what Whiteout looked like. Did anybody see Whiteout to fiure out what the plot of it really was?

I think one other factor with Paranormal Activity is the expense account that is was made on vs. how much it's pulled in. Lots of people seeing it are proably curious to see if they can manage the same thing. There's ton of people out there trying to find a way to win the equivialnt of the 'lottery' by thinking up the next lolzcats or blair witch.

Offline Robin-Graves

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Re: Paranormal Activity.
« Reply #38 on: November 03, 2009, 10:33:54 AM »
Speaking of Blair Witch, the makers have made a movie a couple years ago called Altered.
Check it out, the movie actualy scaredme,and Im jaded as hell.
Spoiler (hover to show)
I keep my standards low.
That way im never disapointed.