[Trailer] Paranormal Activity 4

It should come as no shock that we are going to be four films into this franchise; the series is incredibly cheap to make bringing in a healthy profit as a result.

The 3rd installment expanded the mythology of the story by going back to the past and now this one comes back to the present.

From the trailer it looks like we’ll follow a new family with a teenage girl who’ll play the entry point for the audience. This might sound funny but this trailer feels terribly cheap without the authentic feel of the previous films. We’ll see what happens when it hits theaters….

MOVIE REVIEW: CHERNOBYL DIARIES

IN THEATERS

CHERNOBYL DIARIES



An extreme vacation turns terrifying when a group of friends visit the Chernobyl disaster site, and learn that some nightmares never die. Conceived and produced by Paranormal Activity's Oren Peli, Chernobyl Diaries gets underway as six thrill-seeking tourists hire a fearless tour guide, and travel to the abandoned Russian city of Pripyat. Back when the Chernobyl nuclear reactor was up and running, Pripyat was the place the workers called home. But 25 years after one of the worst power-plant accidents in history, the city serves as an eerily silent testament to the dangers of nuclear power. Later, after getting unexpectedly stranded in Pripyat, the tourists and their guide realize they are being hunted. Now the harder they try to flee, the faster their numbers dwindle until only a few are left standing. Only then will the unspeakable terror that stalks these deserted streets finally emerge from the shadows to launch one last relentless, terrifying attack. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director: Brad Parker

Cast: Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Jesse McCartney, Nathan Phillips, Jonathan Sadowski, Milos Timotijevic

Release Date: May 25, 2012

Rated R for some Bloody Images, Pervasive Language and Violence

Runtime: 1 hr. 26 min.

Genres: Horror, Suspense/Thriller

Review:

The Chernobyl Diaries provides some creepy atmosphere especially during the earlier portions of the film. First time director Brad Parker does a decent job of building up his film and providing some solid, if uninventive, scares. There aren’t many surprises to the whole thing except that it’s not a found footage style film, not that it wouldn’t be easy to confuse it with those kinds of films since the shaky cam effect is in full effect. The plot, co written and produced by Oren Peli, feels like a mash up of Hostel and The Hills Have Eyes. Most of the tropes from the stupid American tourist getting into trouble they can’t handle work their way through the film. The characters are fairly bland and clichéd with some becoming much more grating than others. They are picked off in short order so you don’t have to deal with most of them for very long and you get to enjoy some decent scares.

C

[Full Trailer] Paranormal Activity 3

Full trailer for Paranormal Activity 3 is out and it appears that this entry will be a lot more aggressive and left subtle than the first 2.

By the third entry in this franchise, which I’ve enjoyed, it’s almost required that you go all out since the audience already knows rules of the game.

We’ll see if it works in October……

Movie Reviews: PARANORMAL ACTIVITY

Saturday, October 10, 2009
Movie Reviews: PARANORMAL ACTIVITY
IN THEATERS

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY

Soon after moving into a suburban tract home, Katie (Katie Featherston) and Micah (Micah Sloat) become increasingly disturbed by what appears to be a supernatural presence. Hoping to capture evidence of the haunting on film, Katie and Micah set up video cameras in their home, but they are not prepared for the terrifying occurrences which follow.

Director: Oren Peli

Opened October 2, 2009

Runtime: 1 hr. 39 min.

Rated R for language.

Genres: Thriller, Supernatural Thriller



Review:




Typically movies that get shelved for 2 years or so are destined to die a quick and painless death either through blink or you’ll miss it theatrical runs or as direct to DVD fodder. Many a big budget film has suffered one of these fates, just ask Mike Judge about Idiocracy, so how a film that was made over the course of a week and for ~$11,000 has survived and made a splash is almost as interesting as the film itself. Paranormal Activity has taken a long strange road the big screen and it’s building the kind of momentum that other recent horror “event” movies, ala The Ring and The Blair Witch Project, have had. Sharing the same DNA as the aforementioned Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity is shot point of view style here using a single camera and most of the action occurs in the couple’s bedroom. The acting and dialogue is decidedly amateurish but effective enough to not become grating. Most of the dialogue was improvised as there wasn’t really a script but only rough ideas for scenes. Micah Sloat does an admirable job as the skeptical and occasionally obnoxious boyfriend who tries to handle the problem himself. Katie Featherston doesn’t do as well and her inexperience is apparent throughout with her attempts at emotion either too subdued or manic. While the two are central to the story, director Oren Peli’s ability to create a slow burning tension is really the star of the show. He uses every haunted house trick available (doors slam, steps are heard, a Ouija board is used and there’s something in the attic) to creates a scenario where every creak or knock has your skin tingling. Slowly but surely ratcheting up the strange and scary activity, Peli becoming less and less subtle with each passing night, further tightening his grip around the audience’s conscience. The familiar setting makes the entire ordeal unsettling and it ensures the effect will remain well after you leave the theater, especially the next time you head to bed. The finale, sadly, comes off as cheap and unauthentic as if Peli wanted to knock it out of the park before sending the audience on their way but missing badly. A rumored alternate, original ending, sounds much better suited for the style and story. So is Paranormal Activity a great horror film? No, it’s a very good one and one that will have audiences, in later showings, bloated with expectations that this well crafted film won’t be able to meet which will invariably result an expected backlash. It’s best to watch these types of films early in the hype cycle with a packed theater and level head, much like The Blair Witch Project, because that’s when it’s most effective.




B-