paranormal activity

Tag details

Paranormal Activity is a 2007 horror mystery thriller shot in the "found footage" style, in which a young couple, Katie and Micah, are terrorized by a supernatural entity in their home. The two set up a camera in an attempt to document the haunting and the psychological ordeal they are put through. The "found footage" genre is mostly employed in horror films to provide a sense of veracity and also to create suspense, by not revealing more about motives or causes than can be derived from the events themselves. The style became largely appreciated since The Blair Witch Project in 1999, although it had also been employed in the 1980 graphic horror cult classic Cannibal Holocaust.


Paranormal Activity is considered by many experts to be one the most profitable movies ever made, with an estimated budget of merely $15,000, but grossing over $107 million in the US alone. Its first sequel had a budget of $3 million, yet had a gross revenue of over $170 million, continuing this trend of success. The series has also been praised for its use of silence and waiting to induce suspense and fear, rather than relying on frantic, high-paced scenes to achieve similar goals. One can only wonder if the Paranormal Activity 3 trailer expected to appear soon for the series' third installment will manage to illustrate this very feature. The first film gained its popularity thanks to the long scenes in which nothing is apparently happening, but that seem very real and skilfully convey the torment experienced by the young pair. The audience is gradually introduced to the supernatural phenomena occurring within the house, which escalates as the movie progresses. A grim feeling follows through the entire film, as Katie and Micah's gradual psychological deterioration is intimately experienced, in a strikingly realistic manner.


The first film was created with two possible alternate endings, which were sometimes used during screenings in 2007, and became freely available on the internet. However, Paramount has since made copyright claims on the materials and they were soon removed from widespread viewing. Paranormal Activity marked the directorial debut of Oren Peli, who also wrote the script, and would go on to write the sequels as well. The third installment is expected to be released in the fall of 2011.


Interestingly, this original version of Paranormal Activity was close to never being released: while Dreamworks initially intended to remake the film with a larger budget, they decided to test the original for one screening before going ahead with the second shooting. As people walked out of the cinema before the end of the film, the producers were convinced that it was going to be a flop. Much to the producers' surprise, they later found out that people left because they found it too scary, and so it was that a remake would be uncalled for.


You'll find bloggers talking about Paranormal Activity at sites like fearscene.com and Internet Movie Database Blog.

Blogcritics by RawMichelle Are you a writer, passionate about this or any other topic? Join Blogcritics!
Look up Offsite Link "paranormal-activity" at The Free Dictionary

Original Technorati articles tagged “paranormal activity”

Latest blogosphere posts tagged “paranormal activity”
 

  • Some Of the Most Hair Raising Photos You’ve Ever Seen


    Ghost Theory — Authority Authority: 486
    I often begin my articles talking about my searches for content. Well, guess what? This article is going that route as well. Frankly, I can’t help it as I find most of my stories from daily perquisition. Now, I will preface this article by saying that the content shown is not my bag, per-say. In fact, I tend to ...
    1 week ago

  • 10 Sequels 2013 Just Doesn’t Need


    — Authority Authority:
    Ah, sequels. Hollywood’s main source of income it seems. If you read my last two articles then you know I have a distaste for them. It’s not that I don’t enjoy a good sequel. The problem is that I get sick of seeing ads for so many terrible ones. The rehashed plots and recycled jokes that fill these ads remind ...
    1 week ago

  • French Family Hit by Flying Chairs in Their Haunted House


    — Authority Authority:
    Paranormal activity, for the most part, is subtle. A light knock on a door when nobody is on the other side, light footsteps coming from a room nobody is in, a whisper of a voice when nobody else is present. And the best way to tell that something is probably not paranormal is when it sounds like something out of a ...
    2 weeks ago

  • Frightened Onlookers Watch As Woman Fights A Ghost


    — Authority Authority:
    Jamaican newspapers are reporting that frightened onlookers watched as a woman fights a ghost, only after she regained consciousness from the spirit, also called a duppy, knocking her out at her home... Visit ParanormalUtopia.com for the rest of this and other exciting stories, videos, blogs, articles and more!
    2 weeks ago

  • Writer claims studio stole script, made Paranormal Activity 4


    — Authority Authority:
    In addition to Paranormal Activity , it sounds like the latest found footage sequel might’ve also featured some illegal activities. Writer-director Michael Costanza is claiming Paramount and Paranormal Activity 4 producers stole major components of his unproduced 2010 script Colllingswood , which he submitted ...
    3 weeks ago

  • Lawsuit Claims Paramount Stole Paranormal Activity 4 Ideas from Pitch Meeting


    — Authority Authority:
    Filmmaker Michael Costanza claims the studio and two producers used concepts he submitted in 2010 for the hit 2012 horror movie read more
    3 weeks ago

  • Review: A Haunted House Blu-ray – it’s $*%!


    — Authority Authority:
    Universal Studio sent me A Haunted House Blu-ray Combo Pack for review on my movie blog. The film is a parody that makes fun of the Paranormal Activity movies. It stars Marlon Wayans, and is about a young couple that lives in a house that is haunted by a demon. If you have seen other parodies, then you know how these ...
    3 weeks ago

  • Strange Occurrence in The Shenandoah Valley of Virginia


    One Writer's Way — Authority Authority: 121
    This account is from ‘ Shenandoah Voices ‘  by late Valley Author/Historian John Heatwole: Dark Being : “Between Dayton and Bridgewater (not far from where I live) around Christmas 1901 there were reports of a dark being standing by the road in the dead of night. Apparently, it threatened no one, ...
    3 weeks ago

  • Film Review:Evil Dead


    — Authority Authority:
    Okay, now horror movies today range from the mildly bland to over the top, to the deranged and gory to just plain scary. Director Sam Raimi who brought you ( The Grudge, Spiderman, Boogeyman ) is coming full throttle with this remake from the 1980′s that has the classic tale of teenagers bonding together for a trip ...
    3 weeks ago

  • A Haunted House (2013) – Review


    — Authority Authority:
    3 1/2 Stars Having grown weary of the declining Paranormal Activity trilogy, A Haunted House arrives just in time to uproariously skewer the series and found footage flicks in general. Leave it up to the talented Wayans clan to successfully lampoon the new generation of horror, after having done it 13 years ...
    4 weeks ago

  • Top 10 Horror Movies to Watch in 2013


    — Authority Authority:
    After topping the US box office at the start of the month, Fede Alvarez’s Evil Dead remake has clearly lived up to its high expectations. In honour of the film opening in cinemas across the UK today, we take a look at the top 10 horror movies to watch in 2013. Evil Dead Fede Alvarez’s remake of the ...
    4 weeks ago

  • A Proposed Horror Canon (a work in progress)


    — Authority Authority:
    In an article titled “ Firing Broadsides: Creating a Horror Canon ,” I examine the issues surrounding canon-building. When I first proposed a piece on horror canon I thought it would be a fun time researching classic horror titles. I had no idea what I was getting into. Typing “horror canon” into Google ...
    4 weeks ago

  • GT Exclusive: GhostTheory’s Lindsay Records EVP In Her Home


    Ghost Theory — Authority Authority: 486
    You read that right! As if it weren’t enough that our very own Lindsay single handedly saved our Facebook page from the scrapheap, now she’s providing current, personal paranormal content to the GhostTheory.com. It was Wednesday night (April 10) that I noticed a text message from Lindsay, attached was a sound ...
    5 weeks ago

Comments about paranormal activity

Personal attacks are NOT allowed
Please read our comment policy