I've expressed my dislike for the Paranormal Activity films on this blog before. They're the most cynical approach to horror film i can think of, edging out super-gory slasher remakes by a landslide. Zero budget is required, next to zero crew, an astroturf marketing scheme: These films are pure profit. I can stick with cynical, bankrupt horror films if there's at least a trace of something interesting happening at all in any of them, but not once in any of these films is an element of imagination seen. Just a cashgrab based on "Hey, the Blair Witch Project was cool but I bet we could make way more money."
Paranormal Activity 3 is no different from the two previous entries in the series. Absurdly rich people go about their banal, idle lives while dumb, uninteresting things happen til them and then suddenly, in the fifth act, something crazy (and usually stupid) turns everything on its head in a violent way. Formulaic at the best, artistically worthless at its worst.
One good things I can say about Paranormal Activity 3 is the child actors they got are definitely above average. The adult actors are another matter. Everything in this movie is boring and rings false to a point where there's no point in even discussing it. Its a Paranormal Activity movie. It is intentionally bland. In spite of, or possibly because of this, the most egregious problem with the movie is the screaming anachronism. Technology, interior design, and vocabulary that did not exist in 1988 is all over the place. The editing and continuity, just within the movie let alone within the year 1988, is a nightmare. Not a single person involved with this film gave one wit about detail. Bad movie, dont watch.
Showing posts with label 2011. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2011. Show all posts
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Halloween 2012 Day 3: Grave Encounters (2011)
Things you should/probably already know about me: I'm a sucker for cinema verite, I'm a sucker for abandoned buildings specifically hospitals, I'm a sucker for women with multiple facial piercings. Things you might not know but will now learn: I watched Paranormal State religiously in high school. I watched it every Tuesday in a huge block with American Gladiators, Dog the Bounty Hunter, and Intervention. Grave Encounters is Paranormal State with a payoff.
The film starts with a cast almost exactly identical to Paranormal State, Chip Coffey included. It continues in predictable found-footage style as the crew investigates a closed down asylum, chanting incantations and using "science" while the cameras roll and listening to hip hop and making fun of ghosts while the cameras are off. Things start to quickly spiral out of control when the caretaker locks them in for an eight hour ghosting session. Time begins to pass inexplicably, hallways seem to lead in circles, and crew members begin to disappear. Soon the crew, lead by Ryan Buell stand-in Lance, realize that something supremely messed up is happening.
Cinema verite is used most of the time to hide budget issues, like in the Blair Witch Project. Its easy, and Lovecraftian, to look terrified and let the audience imagine what horrible things are on the other side of the lens. Grave Encounters is not that film. It attacks its set-pieces stronger than many bigger-budget fall horror films and it accomplishes its scares in fine order.
There aren't a ton of issues with this film. The plot is thin and a vehicle for parody and scares, but to expect more isn't really appropriate. The effects are generally well-done but some shots look fairly cheesy and clearly just "one guy wearing a big glove in front of a green screen."
In short, if you don't love cinema verite, haunted asylum films, and Paranormal State, you're probably not going to get a whole lot out of this film. Imagine REC and Session 9 with a PRS gimmick and you've got this film. It's not groundbreaking, its not earthshattering, but its definitely worth a watch.
The film starts with a cast almost exactly identical to Paranormal State, Chip Coffey included. It continues in predictable found-footage style as the crew investigates a closed down asylum, chanting incantations and using "science" while the cameras roll and listening to hip hop and making fun of ghosts while the cameras are off. Things start to quickly spiral out of control when the caretaker locks them in for an eight hour ghosting session. Time begins to pass inexplicably, hallways seem to lead in circles, and crew members begin to disappear. Soon the crew, lead by Ryan Buell stand-in Lance, realize that something supremely messed up is happening.
Cinema verite is used most of the time to hide budget issues, like in the Blair Witch Project. Its easy, and Lovecraftian, to look terrified and let the audience imagine what horrible things are on the other side of the lens. Grave Encounters is not that film. It attacks its set-pieces stronger than many bigger-budget fall horror films and it accomplishes its scares in fine order.
There aren't a ton of issues with this film. The plot is thin and a vehicle for parody and scares, but to expect more isn't really appropriate. The effects are generally well-done but some shots look fairly cheesy and clearly just "one guy wearing a big glove in front of a green screen."
In short, if you don't love cinema verite, haunted asylum films, and Paranormal State, you're probably not going to get a whole lot out of this film. Imagine REC and Session 9 with a PRS gimmick and you've got this film. It's not groundbreaking, its not earthshattering, but its definitely worth a watch.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Halloween 2012 Day 1: The Innkeepers (2011)
So, Ti West is a certifiable genius.
It takes a real certain mind to make a genuinely scary movie. West's House of the Devil proved he had the writing chops and love of genre to pull it off, and, coupled with his superb directorial ability helped no doubt by House of the Devil's gimmick, created a modern classic. The Innkeepers removes the ability to rely on nostalgia and gimmick while also adding in a certain humor, a recipe for disaster for your average director/writer/editor.
Mr. West is no average auteur.
With The Innkeepers, Ti West manages to make a genuinely funny movie with the characterization and the scares to back it up. The film very much feels like a modernization of mid-20th century genre filmmaking techniques. You don't see the villain in the first act and really you get little more than the vague impression that not everything is as it seems until the third, allowing the film to devote itself to developing the protagonist, Claire. Claire hits all the buttons for a good horror protagonist and Sara Paxton's portrayal of her does her credit.
The film is very, very cool and proves that Ti West can stand on his own merits without the coat of paint that is 80s pastiche. The Innkeepers is a veritable classic.
It takes a real certain mind to make a genuinely scary movie. West's House of the Devil proved he had the writing chops and love of genre to pull it off, and, coupled with his superb directorial ability helped no doubt by House of the Devil's gimmick, created a modern classic. The Innkeepers removes the ability to rely on nostalgia and gimmick while also adding in a certain humor, a recipe for disaster for your average director/writer/editor.
Mr. West is no average auteur.
With The Innkeepers, Ti West manages to make a genuinely funny movie with the characterization and the scares to back it up. The film very much feels like a modernization of mid-20th century genre filmmaking techniques. You don't see the villain in the first act and really you get little more than the vague impression that not everything is as it seems until the third, allowing the film to devote itself to developing the protagonist, Claire. Claire hits all the buttons for a good horror protagonist and Sara Paxton's portrayal of her does her credit.
The film is very, very cool and proves that Ti West can stand on his own merits without the coat of paint that is 80s pastiche. The Innkeepers is a veritable classic.
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