Day 242: Paranormal Activity

Paranormal Activity

The least sexy bedroom scene ever

When the general public loves something, I tend to ignore it. Be it music, television, or movies, if the majority of people like it, that means I should stay away. It's not some subconscious angst-ridden “I hate the world” feeling, I just don't trust the majority's taste. Take a look at the Top 100 on Billboard. Nothing but horrendous pop and toothless hip-hop. Good music is out there, it's just not what's on the radio and what's consumed by the masses. I have never heard that “Call Me Maybe” song, but I know I don't have to. I already know it's an audio piece of shit thanks to all the attention it's been given. When a horror movie gains popularity among non-horror fans, I avoid it at all cost, knowing that I am not going to like it. Paranormal Activity is a prime example of this practice. Well, enough time has passed for me to give it a shot.

Paranormal Activity is a 2007 supernatural horror movie written and directed by Oren Peli (Chernobyl Diaries, Area 51). The movie stars Katie Featherston (Mutation, The River) as Katie and Micah Sloat (Paranormal Activity 2) as her boyfriend Micah. Katie and Micah live together in a nice townhouse in San Diego, California. Katie claims to have been haunted by an evil presence ever since she was a young child. Fearing that the presence has returned in their new home, Micah purchases a fancy new camera to document any paranormal activities in the house. He also mounts the camera in their bedroom to catch any happenings while they sleep. The first night, footsteps are heard, but nothing else happens. A psychic named Dr. Fredrichs visits the house and determines that Katie is haunted by a demon, not a ghost. Micah does not take him serious and inquires about using a Ouija board to contact the demon. Dr. Fredrichs implores them not to use the board because contacting the demon could be seen as an invitation. Out of his depth, he advises the couple to contact a demonologist , Dr. Johann Averies. Over the next few nights, the camera picks up minor activity such as lights turning on and off and the bedroom door moving. As the days pass, Micah begins to taunt the demon and goof on Katie who is becoming more and more frightened. On the thirteenth night, the are awoken by an unearthly screech and loud bang. Two nights later, Katie gets up In the middle of the night and stands in front of the bed for hours before Micah finds her sitting outside with no recollection of what has happened. Micah gets out a Ouija board despite Dr. Fredrichs's warning, infuriating Katie. When they leave, the board catches fire and leaves a strange message. On the seventeenth night, Micah leaves powder on the floor to leave a trail for anything that might walk through it. When they wake, they see non-human footprints in the powder leading to the attic. In the attic, Micah finds an old picture of Katie that she thought had been lost in a childhood fire. They ask Dr. Fredrichs for help, but he quickly leaves, citing the great evil in the house being too strong. With the paranormal activities becoming more and more violent, what will Katie and Micah do?

Thrilling

It's no surprise that Paranormal Activity reminds me so much of The Blair Witch Project. Both films found major success thanks to a viral advertising campaign based on it's “found footage” and usage of unknown actors. While found footage allows movies to have a more realistic feel (as well as a much cheaper budget), it also takes away from the storytelling aspect of horror. Thanks to the found footage style, Paranormal Activity connects with the audience on a more personal level. Rather than being set in a haunted house, the movie takes place entirely in a nice suburban townhouse. This real-world setting allows the audience to identify with the characters as we've all heard strange bumps in the night at one point or another. When you take a step back, though, there really isn't much of a story in Paranormal Activity. It was a smart touch to have Katie be haunted rather than the house, solving the all-to-common problem of ghost movies where people just don't move out of the house. By creating this past, though, it leaves a big gap in the movie for potential story interest and character development. We never really find out why she is haunted or by what? We don't need complete answers, but a little something would have gone a long way.

There are some frightening moments in the movie thanks to implied horror and fear of the unknown. Most of these scenes are accomplished through good old-fashioned horror tricks and movie making. Sound is an important part of the movie as there is no music to give the audience warning that something is about to happen. The problem with the movie is that it's just a series of events with minor things in between. By the time we get through half of the movie, we already know the pattern, making the movie predictable. A thump here, a bang there, some chit chat, more sounds etc. The movie also lacked in character development. I would have liked Katie to have been more sympathetic than how she was portrayed. Micah is incredibly annoying and unnecessarily douchey, making me almost cheer for the demon to get him. This also makes the movie like The Blair Witch Project because by the end of that movie I was also cheering for the villain to kill the main characters. It's never good when you want the main characters to meet a horrible end. 

Douche activity

Paranormal Activity is a great testament to how an independent movie with good execution can become a success. I can understand how a movie like this would become popular among the masses. The same thing happened for The Blair Witch Project 20 years ago. That being said, my initial feelings towards avoiding a horror movie popular among the masses were right. The story is very basic and tends to become predictable and boring at times. At the end of the day, Paranormal Activity is just a series of brief scary moments. The scares are decent for the most part and the found footage style fit well with what Oren Peli was going for. I would have liked a little more back-story and more action to make the movie a more complete watch. It's not a bad movie, it's just not as special as some people made it out to be. I don't know if it was worth all the sequels (and horrible ripoffs like “Paranormal Entity”), but there is money to be made, so the studios will milk that cash cow dry. Ignore the hype because it is not the scariest movie ever made. I fully expect another found footage horror movie to become popular in about 10 years or so. You can thank The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity for that.

5/10

Day 205: Farm House

Farm House

Well, it's better than the Out House

As someone who has done a decent amount of driving over the years, I know how easy it is for your mind to wander. You think about all that dangers that may befall you during your travels. You can get a flat, your muffler can fall off, your hose can go. All sorts of things can go wrong. You think you'll be alright because you have a cell phone, but once you get out of the populated areas, you can forget about having service. We've all heard stories about people breaking down and then going to a farmhouse to use their phone. Some of those stories are good (sexy daughter), but most end up with limbs being cut off by a deranged, and possibly deformed, farm family. It's a great setting for horror because the scenario a legitimate, if slightly weird, fear.

Farm House is a 2008 horror movie starring Jamie Anna Allman (The Killing, The Notebook) as Scarlet and William Scott Lee (Pearl Harbor, The Butterfly Effect) at her husband Chad. Chad and Scarlet are trying to make a new life for themselves after the death of the special needs infant son. While driving through the Mid-West, Chad falls asleep and crashes their car. They walk to a local farmhouse, where they meet the owner, Samael (Steven Weber, Single White Female, Wings), his wife Lilith (Kelly Hu, X2, The Scorpion King) and his helper, a deaf boy named Alal. Scarlet tries to use the phone, but the lines are down, caused by their accident. Chad and Scarlet agree to spend the night at the farmhouse. It turns out to be a bad decision as Samael and Lilith kidnap and torture them. It is revealed that Chad had a large gambling debt, and despite telling Scarlet he had paid it off, Samael and Lilith say he owes more. Scarlet is able to escape with the help of Alal, but Samael is able to capture him. He cuts out Alal's eye in hopes of drawing Scarlet out. When that doesn't work, he slits Alal's throat and finds Scarlet. As the torture goes on, it comes to light that Chad was planning to kill himself so Scarlet could get his life insurance policy and pay off his debt. Scarlet convinces him that it is best to kill their son as they could always have more children later. They are able to kill Samael and Lilith and make their escape, but things are not what they seem. How did they end up at this farmhouse and who are Samael and Lilith?

I only have demonic eyes for you

Farm House starts off as your typical “people tortured in the country” horror movie. The story is broken up with bits from Scarlet and Chad's past, telling us all about his debt and their son's medical problems. While that's helpful to explain their motivations, it really kills the movie's momentum. It comes in little drips, but they're not exciting cliff hangers, and come off as more annoying that interesting. It would have been better off telling most of the debt portion of the movie first, with the big reveal that they killed their son closer to the end. I am not one for torture movies, but thankfully the movie isn't just a vehicle for various means of hurting people. That's not to say there aren't some gruesome scenes, it's just not the entire movie. There was one scene where Lilith use a grater on Scarlet's knee that actually made me feel a little queasy. There is a small amount of blood and gore in the movie, but not as much as you'd expect from a movie based around kidnapping and torture.

The movie falls off the rails and crashes into a mountain made of crazy in the last 15 minutes. The movie has a big twist which comes out of nowhere. It's not that it doesn't make sense, it's just never really hinted at beyond the character's names. Foreshadowing is important when doing a movie with a clever twist, but Farmhouse never really gets around to it. Steven Weber and Kelly Hu carry the movie with their fun, twisted performances. They make good villains and almost had me cheering for them, especially after we learn that Scarlet and Chad are murdering scumbags. I don't know if it was his performance or just terrible writing, but William Scott Lee is incredibly annoying. I understand that he's supposed to be a coward, but he doesn't have to be a whiny douche on top of everything. He reminds me of Denny from The Room.

Oh, word?

Farm House is a mediocre torture movie that goes off in an expected at the end. The story itself isn't anything special and the main characters are more annoying than they should be. You can kind of see where things are going and while the twist isn't great, it didn't bother me. There is some decent action and blood, but not as much as you'd think. I could have actually used more if you can believe it. Steven Weber and Kelly Hu are both very good in their roles and should play villains in more movies. While there is a certain creepiness to some scenes, the movie is not scary, which is a shame because it could have been. While it wasn't bad, Farm House is nothing special and could easily be confused for countless other horror movies flooding the market today.

4.5/10