Paranormal Activity is a pretty famous horror film and it’s almost considered a household name at this point. I believe that I can safely say that every big horror fan has seen it at this point. I’d definitely heard of the film, but I’d never gotten around to seeing it before. Could it match up against the Ring or the Grudge? Let’s find out!

Disclaimer time! This review is of the edited version that you may come across on TV, which edits out the language and tones the film down to an acceptable rating. Naturally if I were reviewing the uncut version, the score would be lower. Either way that’s an impossibility since I don’t watch R rated films. Now back to the review!

Paranormal Activity uses a shaky camera which is always a bad sign when you really think about it. Maybe it adds a sense of horror to the movie, but I think that you don’t need to have a camera to generate that effect. I’ve never been a fan of the whole shaky camera technique and it may have wrecked Cloverfield. That being said, it worked well for the scenes where it wasn’t moving, but was left on the tripod. Night vision always looks pretty intense in movies.

It’s still intense how they were able to do the whole film inside the house and in the backyard. That could have gotten old if a lot of films had done this already, but it’s so unique that it was fun. I didn’t really find myself missing the outside world at any point. Considering the low budget that the film had, this one definitely did well. This is why we really don’t need to have huge budgets to make a decent film.

The main characters are Katie and Micah. Katie is worried because a demon has been following her around for a long time. We don’t know how long the demon has been following her, (Not at the beginning anyway) but we can safely say that it has been for a while. She decided not to tell Micah for a while, but now he knows…and he’s ready! Micah thinks he’s ready at any rate, but how can you beat an invisible, intangible demon?

Well, this demon isn’t very fast, which definitely helps Micah’s case, but it’s also supernaturally strong. Micah uses powder to follow the demon’s movements, but Katie believes that he’s letting them follow his tracks. The demon even leaves clues for them to follow which is pretty thoughtful of him.

Katie calls in a Professor/Doctor type of fellow, but he’s no help. He senses how disturbing the whole affair is and quickly dashes out. We don’t see him again and it’s safe to say that he may have survived this ordeal. Sometimes the tactical retreat option actually works, but I can’t say that it made me like the character.

Katie and Micah panic a lot, but I guess it’s to be expected. I can’t say that I liked either character, but when do I like the main characters of a horror film? Micah was able to overpower the demon at one point, but did the demon just let him think that? Also, you do have to ask several questions. “Is Katie the demon?” It may not seem like it at first, but she does have moments where she will go in a trance. Perhaps she just gets possessed once in a while or maybe she’s finally cracked. During the ending where she yells and the Micah goes to help, I think that the demon may have just been sending him into a trap. Katie did mention that the demon may have left a trap for them earlier in the film. The demon may be more cunning than we realize.

The ending is pretty epic and while Micah doesn’t look so good, it’s to be expected. I like to think that he put up a decent fight, but it’s possible that he went down without dealing much damage. Since we are stuck with the camera, we have to miss out on the intense fight. The ending definitely shows that the demon is in control, but we’ve still got to consider the Katie is a demon theory. It would explain how her picture got into the attic, maybe she put it there? Either way, if she isn’t the demon, it doesn’t matter. The demon can possess people whenever it wants and there’s no defense against the supernatural powers that it possesses. If only the military had gotten involved!

So, in the end this was a pretty good horror film. I’d say that it wasn’t nearly as creepy or scary as The Grudge or The Ring, but it would be hard to top those 2 in that area. No animals get taken down for the count which is shocking, but definitely epic. I can see why many people like the series and I recommend it for horror fans. That being said, you should definitely watch out for the shaky camera!

Overall 5/10

I wonder how many of you readers remember Flightplan? It’s one of those movies that seemed to slip by many people. I can’t say that I’ve heard of it before, but you have to admit that it has a pretty cool poster. It’s slightly misleading and my one complaint is that she looks more horrified or shocked than determined and upset. Still, I’d say that the poster came out well and looks like a thriller/horror movie.

Flightplan involves the main character (Kyle) and her daughter (Julia) as they decide to board a plane. David Pratt had fallen off of a building, so they were going to bury him in Long Island. Julia seems to be worried since they were in a pretty seedy neighborhood, so Kyle made the logical choice and hailed a cab. They made it to the plane safe and sound, but that’s where things get dicey for the main characters.

Julia had wandered off to the side when she saw a nice snack. That’s never a good habit and Kyle warns her about that. Unfortunately, when Kyle takes a nap in the plane…Julia is gone! Even worse is the fact that she wasn’t on the Plane list and everyone claims to not have seen her. Obviously, she never got on the plane, but the heart that she drew is still there, not to mention that her Teddy Bear is still around. Kyle decides to check the entire plane, but she’s running low on suspects. There are two shady looking figures in the front, a really, overly cheerful guy in the back, a mean flight attendant, two irresponsible flight attendants,….The Captain! Maybe the suspect list isn’t as small as I had thought. Of course, if Everyone claims to not have seen Julia, could the entire crew be in on it? Julia must race against time as she tries to find Julia before the crew can arrest her.

Flightplan was a pretty solid movie, but it had some moments that were tough to believe. I won’t say whether she was hallucinating the whole thing, or if it happened. If it was the latter, wouldn’t someone notice a little girl being abducted? The crew was remarkably slow on the uptake in this film and nobody was willing to do what needed to be done. I can’t say that I was a huge fan of Kyle either, but she definitely beat the crew. Towards the end, the government gets involved, which definitely increased the stakes. There isn’t really a soundtrack on the film, but since there aren’t too many action scenes, it wasn’t necessary…right? Having a soundtrack is always a +, but not having one won’t hurt the film. (Of course, having one Would help the film) I’d recommend this film if you like classic mysteries and thriller films. Of course some scenes may make you facepalm.

Overall 5/10