October Horror Challenge 2023 #7: "Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension"

This movie promised something that none of the other movies had done, and that was to show us the activity going on in the ghost dimension. We were supposed to see for the first time what's going on behind all the scary demonic crap that happens in these movies. Of course, what that means is this movie has to have a lot of expensive special effects to show us the demons, which kind of goes against the premise that made the first movie special: the barebones footage that could come from any of us and could be our neighbors or friends, the footage that looks so real it scares us just because it looks like something that could actually happen. I'm not opposed to special effects, but the movie does lose some of its charm with the addition of special effects. I really liked this movie in spite of the downsides, so we will see if it holds up on repeated viewings.

In this chapter of the story, a family (mom, dad, and 6 year old daughter) start experiencing some strange phenomena when they find a box of old VHS tapes of a family in the 80s. These tapes turn out to be the same ones recorded by the family from the third movie. They also find a video camera which still works, and they start using the video camera to record their own videos. Soon their daughter starts acting weird and they begin to suspect that she may be possessed by a supernatural being. Eventually they must decide what to do to try and save their little family before the evil takes their lives and their daughter's soul.

I like how this is the first family in the series to actually call a priest when the supernatural happenings in their home become too concerning. That would have been my first move when things started to go wonky. As with all found footage movies, it stretches the suspension of disbelief to see how the family keeps recording things with a camera way after you or I would have dropped it, but that's true of many found footage films. At least this family tries to fight back against the evil, first by calling a priest and later by leaving their house when things get too scary (which we know won't help from previous movies in the series, but at least they're making an effort). Now that all the jump scares are played out from watching the movie twice before, it's not as scary for me to watch now, but I still appreciated this movie, especially when the characters decide to hunker down and kick some demon butt. I still think this was a good way to wrap up the series, and at least they tried to answer some questions and tie the other films together. I think it's definitely worth a watch.

October Horror Challenge 2023 #6: "Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones"

With the fourth movie in the series making a good amount of money (though still less than the original) it was inevitable that the studio would push for a sequel. This time around they tried to take a different track than the other movies and introduce us to some new characters who stumble upon the Paranormal Activity by accident and can't resist investigating the supernatural happenings until they're fully entangled in the events and unable to turn back. Idiots.

This movie took an even bigger departure from the first three movies than the fourth one did. Here the protagonists are a group of teenage friends who are looking forward to a fun summer after high school graduation until a neighbor of theirs is murdered and that shatters the peaceful facade of the summer. Two if the teens break into their neighbor's house and they discover some freaky supernatural crap, and instead of leaving it alone, they decide to investigate it farther, and they entangle themselves in a deadly supernatural game that they can't hope to win.

unlike the other people in the previous films, these teenagers are not doomed by familial obligations to be a part of the Paranormal Activity. They're not related to anyone from the first four movies, they're just nosy neighbors who stick their noses where they don't belong and then keep pursuing the issue until it's too late and they're trapped. It's hard to feel sorry fir them, but I guess I should, because my friends and I did some stupid things when we were teens, and if there was some kind of supernatural mystery happening around us, we would probably have involved ourselves in it too, trying to find answers, especially when it seems like one of the friends has some sort of superpowers and starts acting strange. It takes them way too long to realize that something supernatural is going on and it's probably dangerous and they should stay away from it. Soon it's too late and they have to try and figure out how to stop the evil force surrounding them before it's too late. the movie is ok, and as with the other movies the ending is pretty good, but you can definitely tell that the franchise is running out of steam and maybe it's time to put things to bed.

October Horror Challenge 2023 #5: "Paranormal Activity 4"

When this movie came out, it felt like it was doomed from the start. By this point, everyone was getting sick of found footage horror flicks,and this was the fourth in the series, so it was in danger of simply treading the same old ground instead of showing us anything new, especially after the success of the third movie (which was the highest grossing out of all the films) it would seem that nothing could live up to that, so this poor movie had a lot of weight on its shoulders right from the beginning, which isn't really fair, but that's how it is with horror sequels in general and this movie in particular. Now that it's years later and I can watch the movie as-is, separate from all the hypr, I can see if I enjoy this movie on its own merits.

This movie introduces us to a new family from Nevada, unconnected to the other families from the first three films. This family has a mom, dad, teenage daughter, and six year old son. They seem like a normal everyday family, until the creepy new neighbors move in next door. the neighbors are a single mom and her six year old son. right from the beginning, there's something strange about them. The mother is hardly ever around, so the little boy, Robbie, spends a lot of time with the family's six year old son Wyatt. Soon Wyatt is acting strange, keeping secrets from his sister, and doing strange things, all spurred on by the encouragement of his new friend Robbie. The teenage daughter Alex is the only one who seems to think anything supernatural is going on, and she even tries to convince her parents that Robbie brought a strange presence into their house, but of course they don't believe her. Soon the creepy happenings start escalating, and Alex has to figure out a way to save her little brother before it's too late.

Any horror movie with creepy little kids is sure to be one that I like, and this movie has the incredibly creepy Robbie, who spends time with Wyatt and turns him creepy too, so we have double the little kid creepiness going on. It seems like it takes extra long to get this movie going, with not a lot happening, but once things start happening, it moves more quickly. There's a bathtub scene that is particularly effective (what is it about taking a bath that makes horror movies more creepy when it happens? Maybe the fact that we're so vulnerable in the bath or shower, while we're naked and we can't run away from whatever is chasing us).

I have to give orops to Alex, the teenage daughter in this movie, for realizing that something weird is going on way before anyone else realizes it. She spends most of her time being afraid and trying to convince everyone else there's reason for them to be afraid too. The actress, Kathryn Newton, does a good job with her role, making me care about her character. Katie Featherston is also good in her role as the creepy neighbor lady. The mom and dad are mostly clueless as often happens in such films, and I just got aggravated with them for not even trying to listen to their daughter when she tries to convince them that something is wrong. They just think she's crazy and dismiss her concerns that way. I have to say, this movie seems to move at a slower pace than any of the other films except part 2, which I also found boring. Once the spooky stuff finally Starts really going down, the movie isn't bad, but in my opinion it takes too long to get there. Overall this one was a letdown. The ending was ok, but it just takes too long to get there.

October Horror Challenge 2023 #4: "Paranormal Activity 3"

This one scared me. I saw it while it was still in theaters and even after the first movie scared the crap out of me, the second one kinda bored me, so I wasn't expecting the third movie to scare me. I just ran right into it and smacked right into a wall of creepy-crawly feelings. I watched the third one in theaters, then had to walk home alone in the dark. the previews for the movie had quotes from moviegoers who said that this movie was even scarier than the first movie, but what did they know? I was sure I would be fine heading into the theater. I was tough, no horror movie was going to scare me. Pride cometh before a fall, Eileen.

This movie takes us back to the past, when Katie from the first film and Kristi from the second movie were little girls living with their mom and their mom's boyfriend in a brand new house in the 80s. Back in those days they only had video cassette recordings, none of the fancy new digital cameras like we have today. The boyfriend sees something that looks supernatural to him and decides that he's going to film their new house while they're sleeping at night? trying to catch something otherworldly happening. Soon he's pouring over hours of grainy VHS footage and his girlfriend thinks he's crazy, but strange things keep happening around the house, getting more and more frightening, until everything starts to fall apart and the family has to make a choice as to what they're going to do to stop the demonic activity before it's too late.

Throughout the film, we learn many things. Like it takes these people FOREVER to have sex. Seriously. that's a thing that we learn about these people while we're watching the early videos they took, when they were trying to make a sex tape before they got rudely interrupted and some footage of what appears to be a ghostly figure standing in the corner of the room prompts the boyfriend to seek answers by videotaping their lives. it also doesn't feel like this movie takes too long to get going, as we start seeing strange things right away and it just feels like the pace on this one is faster to me. maybe it's because I like the family in this movie more than the family in the other movie, so I was invested in watching what happened to them as their lives fell apart.

Something has to be said about the actresses who play the little girls in this movie, because they did an AMAZING job making everything that happened seem real. Kudos, kids. I know plenty of adult actors who can't do that, so I'm impressed. One particular scene in the bathroom works really well to ratchet up the tension. Another scene with a teenage girl they have babysitting the girls leads to a scene with a bedsheet that actually made my heart skip a beat. I'm not kidding. And I can't fault the mom for being skeptical of the story once the boyfriend finally tries to present it to her because he does sound crazy once he starts laying it all out, and the both of them ultimately make the exact wrong decision and fall right into a trap, but I can see why they thought it was the wise decision. in these movies you always wonder why the family doesn't just LEAVE THE HOUSE, but this movie posits the question of what if you DO leave the house but it doesn't make a difference because it's not the house that's haunted, it's YOU. Nifty idea, huh? While this movie didn't scare me as much this time around (for which I am eternally grateful) it was still able to put a chill down my spine and it made me jump several times, too. It's still my favorite of the series, and I don't see that changing even after I watch the rest of the movies in the series tomorrow. Come along with me on my spooky journey! Hope to see you there.

October Horror Challenge 2023 #3: "Paranormal Activity 2"

Thos movie had a lot on its shoulders right from the beginning. it had the reputation of the first one to live up to, and that movie made so much money on such a little budget and it ushered in the popularity of the whole "found footage horror" craze (seriously, for awhile there it seemed like every other movie that came out was a "found footage" movie). There really was no way for this movie to make its own way under the shadow of the first movie, but it did try, and I'm taking a second look at it today to see why I don't think it was successful.

This movie actually starts before the events of the first movie have taken place, and we get to see a middle aged couple shooting a video to welcome their newborn son Hunter into the house. they seem to be a likeable bunch, mom, dad, and teenage daughter. The woman is Katie's sister from the first movie, and we get to see how the demon wreaks more havoc here and slowly destroys the family. First their house is ransacked, which leads them to install a bunch of security cameras all over, and the rest of the movie is mostly footage from those cameras, allowing us to watch as things fall apart, the center cannot hold, mere anarchy is loosed upon this world. Slowly (very slowly) strange and scary things start to happen, and they slowly get worse until the family has to make a choice in order to survive.

Maybe it's because there are more characters to introduce, but this movie seems to take longer than the first one, with just Micah and Katie to introduce. This movie has two parents and a teenager, as well as a nanny who plays a small but pivotal role. we also get introduced to the baby boy, who doesn't do much (because: baby) and we have to wait long stretches of time when nothing is happening. I guess this is supposed to build tension and get us to care about the family, but to me it was just tedious and boring. At least in the first one Micah and Katie realized right away that something supernatural was going on. In this sequel the dad takes FOREVER to admit that anything is even wrong, let alone that something supernatural is happening. And once he finally starts to acknowledge the ghostly elephant in the room, he makes some moves that make me REALLY not like him. I suppose, like the demonologist in the first movie he decides to act selfishly to protect himself and his family, but where these characteristics were endearing in the demonologist, they make the dad out to be a narcissistic monster. If you can'ttell, I still don't like him.

I got distracted after having to wait a million years for something to happen, so it might just be my bias, but I feel like when the scary things start happening they're not as scary as they were in the first movie. like great, we see that you can knock over some pans and move an Ouija board dy itself, thank you, now please do something actually scary. I forgot how the teenage daughter in this movie actually starts believing something evil is happening long before anyone else in the movie sees fit to acknowledge that anything is going on. That makes me like her more than I did when I first watched this movie. Overall I feel like the family is not as likeable as Micah and Katie from the first movie, so that makes it hard for me to care what happens to them. There are some good jump scares to be had here, but I still think they take way too long to happen. I will give it this, when the twist happens, it dies tie in really well with the first movie and makes it seem like it was planned out from the beginning, when I know that didn't happen that way from watching the documentary earlier. I suppose this movie is OK, and if it had been shorter with the extraneous stuff cut out I would probably like it more, but as it stands, I still think it doesn't live up to the original movie

October Horror Challenge #2: "Paranormal Activity "

This is the first movie in the series, where it all began, and it still holds up after all this time. Micah and Katie are very likeable and they still managed to draw me into the story, even if I knew what was going to happen to them in the end.I still like how in this movie the Paranormal psychic therapist type guy comes to give answers and help out, but that he doesn't stick around and sacrifice himself for the good of the whole or something, he just nopes the hell out of the situation and protects himself. Little touches like that make the movie seem even more realistic since they go against what usually happens in these kind of movies. It was interesting revisiting thos movie again. I watched it last year too, but this time I'm planning to follow it with the other movies in the series, so we shall see how that affects my view of the movies. For now I appreciate this as the cultural milestone that it was.

October Horror Challenge 2023: #1 "Unknown Dimension: the Story of Paranormal Activity"

When the movie "Paranormal Activity" first came out, it was a bigtime phenomenon and everyone was telling me I had to watch it, because they knew i loved horror movies and here was a horror movie taking the world by storm. So many people tried to sing the movie's praises, but they all said the exact wrong thing: "it's just like "The Blair Witch Project!" See, I didn't like "The Blair Witch Project," so that wasn't the way to entice me to see this movie. Over time, however, enough people told me that this movie was scary and good and I had to see it, so I decided to watch it, and you know what? it scared the ever loving bejebus out of me. it's rare for a movie to do that, so I admire the movie for that if for nothing else. Several years and seven movies later, the Paranormal Activity series has made its impact on the horror community, and this movie is about that.

Paranormal Activity is about a young couple who have mysterious things happening in their house, so they decide to set up cameras in their bedroom in hopes of capturing something and learning what is going on. Soon they get more than they bargained forms they discover a sinister supernatural presence in their home. They consult an expert on the Paranormal who confirms that there is something malevolent in their home and they have to figure out what it wants and how to get rid of it. Micah Sloat and Katie Featherston play the young couple, and they are better actors than those you find in other found footage films. Their performances really help ground the movie in reality, and since I was rooting for them, I cared even more about what happened to them. It was interesting hearing how they picked the right actors for the film and how they knew right away that Katie and Micah were perfect for their roles.

One thing I learned from this documentary was that the studio originally wanted to buy the film and remake it with professional actors and professional equipment, but the director insisted that the studio first screen the movie as-is for a big group of people and see how well the movie played to an audience, and during the screening people kept walking out so the filmmakers thought the movie was a failure, but near the end of the movie they talked to an usher and found out that people were walking out because they thought the movie was too scary, and when they heard how well the movie had impacted the audience, the studio decided to go ahead and release the movie as it was. This rings true for me, because part of what makes the movie so good is that it really looks like real home movie footage from people who seemed like real people; they could be me and my friends suddenly encountering something supernatural and evil. that's what made it scary to me.

See, the thing that ruined the Blair Witch Project for me wasn't because it wasn't good, it was because I had a friend who watched the movie in theaters, and she came back to her house full of friends and roommates, and she sat in the living room in dim lighting and told us from beginning to end what had gone on in the first movie, like she was telling a ghost story around a campfire, and when I actually got to see the movie itself, nothing could compare to that experience of hearing the story of the movie as if it were a ghost story. With Paranormal Activity, I didn't know anything going into the movie because I threatened everyone with death if they spoiled the movie for me, so I was watching it blind, and it hit me even harder than it would have if I had known what was going to happen going into the movie.

Honestly, I didn't like the second movie as well as I liked the first (we'll see how I like it when I view it this time around) but hearing the cast and crew talk about what they experienced while making the movie, trying to recapture the success of the first movie, and trying to capture lightning in a bottle again. I really liked the third movie, and it scared the crap out of me, so I was totally here for learning about what happened during the filming of the movie. I didn't expect that the third movie in the series would be as scary for me, so I walked into it and ran into a wall and faceplanted in terror. the ending scared me so badly that I almost started crying. The fourth movie always felt rushed to me, and I didn't appreciate it as much as I did the other movies in the series. The filmmakers seemed to agree with me that the movie was less than stellar, but it was still interesting to hear how auditions and filmmaking went. I liked hearing about how it played to audiences once it was first released. the film ended up grossing $142.8 million. the good thing about the Paranormal Activity movies is that they can be made cheaply and they gross so much money that even when your movie isn't as successful, it still makes a lot of money.

The fifth movie was better than the fourth (up to this point it was weird how the odd-numbered films in this series were good to me, and the even-numbered films in the series were less good), so I had high expectations for the movie and it would be hard to live up to those expectations for any movie, let alone the fifth in a series, but I did end up enjoying the movie. That sequel didn't make as much as it could have done, and that's because people were sick of the Paranormal Activity movies by this point, so the movie only grossed about $90.2 million, which is a lot, and only seems like a failure when compared with the other movies in the series. The sixth movie in the series was fighting an uphill battle, trying to overcome the fatigue that audiences felt towards the franchise by this point. They decided to make the movie in 3D, and it wasn't as well received as the filmmakers had hoped. One of the writers says that with all the big special effects, the movie was getting away from what made the first movie work, that barebones "this could be real video footage" aspect of the original movie. it was cool seeing how the crew felt like a family after working together for so long, but the 7th movie in the series took the story off in a new direction with different characters and a whole new story. I think this is why the movie works so well, because it didn't retread the same paths as the first 6 movies. This documentaryends the way it began. it begins with a cameraman asking people what scares them, and their responses are interestingto note, and the movie ends with a Cameraman asking the cast and crew the same question, and it'sfun to see how they answer the question. All in all this movie was interesting, and it hyped me up to watch the Paranormal Activity movies. We'll see how that goes.