Paranormal Activity

[Draegan]

I'd say it's about as scary as Exorcist (but not as scary as The Exorcist of Emily Rose).

That doesn't compute for me.  You think Emily Rose was scarier than Exorcist?

[WindupAtheist]

I never saw Exorcist until the special edition rerelease years ago. Went to see it at the show with a friend of mine and laughed my ass off. "Fuck me Jesus! Fuck me Jesus!" It was a comedy, right?

[schild]

Not necessarily, but it's certainly only scary to the god-fearing types.

[Tarami]

Omen, being in the same vein, is an infinitely scarier movie than The Exorcist. Neither has a very high baseline of scary, though.

[schild]

Much like Paranormal built up dread better than Blair Witch, I felt Emily Rose built it up more than Exorcist.

Dread being the most important part of any true horror movie imo.

[Ratman_tf]

Much like Paranormal built up dread better than Blair Witch, I felt Emily Rose built it up more than Exorcist.

Dread being the most important part of any true horror movie imo.

Huh. I didn't hate Emily Rose, but it seemed more like a girl falling into schizophrenia than demonic posession. And that's not scary so much as sad.

[schild]

Sorry, I don't "feel" while watching movies. They're entertainment, not Diary entries.

[Ratman_tf]

Sorry, I don't "feel" while watching movies. They're entertainment, not Diary entries.

I do. It's part of the escapism for me. If I watch a scary movie, I'd like to actually be scared at some point.
Emily Rose came across as a girl in need of an institution. Regan came across as truly posessed. Although The Exorcist really hasn't aged well.
It's a very 70's movie, and the SFX are kinda sad now. (Cue pea soup jokes)

[Draegan]

Sorry, I don't "feel" while watching movies. They're entertainment, not Diary entries.

I do. It's part of the escapism for me. If I watch a scary movie, I'd like to actually be scared at some point.
Emily Rose came across as a girl in need of an institution. Regan came across as truly posessed. Although The Exorcist really hasn't aged well.
It's a very 70's movie, and the SFX are kinda sad now. (Cue pea soup jokes)

This.

It's still a great movie.  Not has creepy/scary as some Japanese films, but Exorcist is probably the scariest American made film.  If not the scariest, top 5.  Shall we have a top 5 scariest movies thread?

[schild]

Shall we have a top 5 scariest movies thread?

People who have a fear of gore will ruin it.

[Draegan]

People who think the Saw movies are scary?  Those people?  Or people who thought the Texas Chainsaw Massacre was scary?

[schild]

:groan:

I, too, like using fringe cases to make a point.

[Draegan]

I was actually agreeing with you.  Those two movies are different types of gore, one being not scary at all and the other could be considered suspenseful/scary.

[Samwise]

RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE!
This is on Netflix Instant now.  I just finished watching it.  Now I am alone in the house and hearing things.     Somebody hold me.

I have to agree with others that the stupidity of the main characters stretched belief.  After the first sleepwalking incident you'd think they'd take precautions to make sure that she couldn't get up and drown herself in the pool without waking him up.  Having more people come spend the night and get some "positive energy" in the house might have been good too (it's not like they didn't have enough spare bedrooms, fuck).

Personally, I'd have gone for the "hallowed ground" angle and found a church to sleep in until the whole demon thing blew over.

[Ratman_tf]

I kinda dislike ghost stories that can be solved, unless they're done really well. (Poltergeist) It kinda turns it into a Scooby Doo mystery IMO.

[DraconianOne]

Personally, I'd have gone for the "hallowed ground" angle and found a church to sleep in until the whole demon thing blew over.

Budget constraints aside, that would have been interesting - better if they then found that the hallowed ground was no safe haven either thereby entirely fucking over the notion that God will save you and you're screwed no matter what you do. Fundamental rule of horror - you will not find salvation in the arms of either God or your mother. See "Nightmare on Elm Street" or "Alien".

I can't be arsed to rant about this film. It had moments and concur that it is head, shoulders and ankles better than Blair Witch but it pissed me off for very similar reasons.

[Ironwood]

I kinda dislike ghost stories that can be solved, unless they're done really well. (Poltergeist) It kinda turns it into a Scooby Doo mystery IMO.

Wait, Poltergeist was solved ?

Really ?

When ?

[Slyfeind]

Budget constraints aside, that would have been interesting - better if they then found that the hallowed ground was no safe haven either thereby entirely fucking over the notion that God will save you and you're screwed no matter what you do. Fundamental rule of horror - you will not find salvation in the arms of either God or your mother. See "Nightmare on Elm Street" or "Alien".

I can't be arsed to rant about this film. It had moments and concur that it is head, shoulders and ankles better than Blair Witch but it pissed me off for very similar reasons.

Yeah, I think this pinpoints where Paranormal Activity went wrong. They said that no matter where she went, the demon would follow her, but they never showed it, and it was otherwise a movie about showing rather than telling.

[Ratman_tf]

I kinda dislike ghost stories that can be solved, unless they're done really well. (Poltergeist) It kinda turns it into a Scooby Doo mystery IMO.

Wait, Poltergeist was solved ?

Really ?

When ?

When the dad yells at his boss about not moving the bodies. In the presense of the house itself. He solves the problem by showing the entity that he wasn't responsible. Transfering the responsibility to his boss, the house then implodes and the family can move on, which they do.

/ot How does everyone feel about the sequel? I'm afriad that with a bigger budget, and more attention, that it's gonna be hollywood-ized and lose the charm of the first one.

[Velorath]

/ot How does everyone feel about the sequel? I'm afriad that with a bigger budget, and more attention, that it's gonna be hollywood-ized and lose the charm of the first one.

I wasn't expecting much, since it feels like they rushed it out pretty quickly, but the sequel is absolute shit, but not due to any sort of budget or holloywood-ized reasons.  Mind you, I wasn't a huge fan of the first one, but everything the sequel does, the first one did better.  Plus it needlessly tacks on story to the first movie (it acts as both prequel and epilogue to the first movie).  The acting is worse, the "scares" are worse, and it does a much poorer job of building up the tension.

[Draegan]

/ot How does everyone feel about the sequel? I'm afriad that with a bigger budget, and more attention, that it's gonna be hollywood-ized and lose the charm of the first one.

I wasn't expecting much, since it feels like they rushed it out pretty quickly, but the sequel is absolute shit, but not due to any sort of budget or holloywood-ized reasons.  Mind you, I wasn't a huge fan of the first one, but everything the sequel does, the first one did better.  Plus it needlessly tacks on story to the first movie (it acts as both prequel and epilogue to the first movie).  The acting is worse, the "scares" are worse, and it does a much poorer job of building up the tension.

I haven't seen it yet, but the one consistent thing I hear is that if you liked the first one you would like the sequel.  If you hated the first you will hate the second.

[Teleku]

I've actually heard almost nothing but positive response from people I've talked to, so hmm.

[Rendakor]

Just saw the second one, I thought it was pretty good. I liked the first one a lot, and this one is very similar.