'Activity' has drawn many comparisons to 'The Blair Witch Project' thanks to it's high-fright, low-cost history. Shot for just $15,000, and has since grossed more than $62 million at the box office. It also used viral marketing and buzz to generate interest, a technique pioneered by 'Witch.'
The film, based on a couple who are taped in a house they believe is haunted, was touted in the advertisements as causing movie-goers to panic, cry and even leave the theater out of fear. They cleverly used hidden-camera footage from screenings in the trailers for the film.
This past weekend, it even beat out horror mainstay 'Saw,' pulling in $22 million compared to just shy of $15 million for 'Saw.'
I'm sorry folks, but the ONLY thing I found scary about this movie was the fact that I got roped into paying $10 to see this piece of garbage. The scare factor ranks right up there with "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown". This is NOT scary, and it turned out to be a total waste of my time and money. The makers of this film (and I use the term loosely) should be paying me for my time. I believe that ANYONE that truly got scared at this movie would be the biggest lightweight on the planet, and should not be allowed to breed.
I 100% agree with you. I bought in to all the hype. It was not playing in my area so my 20 year old son and I drove 1.5 hours and were SOOOOOOO disappointed. If that movie really caused "people not to sleep" for a week they have an issue as I almost feel asleep just watching the movie it was sooooo bad.
WE'VE BEEN HAD! IT WAS NOT...I REPEAT NOT SCAREY AT ALL...AND I'M 60 YEARS OLD..I THOUGHT I'D BE SCARED FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE! NOT SO...IT IS A WASTE OF FILM....I THINK IF WE ALL GO TO THE CEMEMTARY AT MIDNIGHT WE MIGHT BE MORE SCARED! I TEND TO AGREE WITH SOME WHO SAY..THOSE PEOPLE WHO SAY THEY WERE SCARD AND HAD TO SLEEP WITH LIGHTS ON AND WITH OTHER PEOPLE WERE "PAID" TO SAY THAT..HOW STUPID IS THIS FILM? TO ACTUALLY "THINK" THEY COULD COME UP WITH THE "SCARIEST FILM EVER!" NOT SO..!!!!!DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY...
This film was TERRIBLE! People got up & left it was so bad. The freaky parts they played in the trailer...well, that's it folks. Alot of laughing in the audience at how lame it was. UGH...I could have rented 22 movies from REDBOX instead!
i got this movie on bootleg a while before it came out.. if you believe in things like this happening then it might scare u. In the movie i got was the original ending so ive never seen the one in the movies... overall it was put out to be something more then it really is.
This movie was terrible! My 20 year old son and I bought into the hype. It was not showing in our immediate area so we drove 1.5 hours to get to a town that was playing it and 1.5 hours drive back home. Talk about a waste of time, gas and money. I was furious. People got up and walked out. As far as people "not being able to sleep after seeing it".... that is not possible. What IS possible is to fall asleep DURING the movie... it is THAT bad and THAT slow. WHAT A PUBLIC RELATIONS FARCE! VERY false advertising!
Cheap trick...learned my lesson, never fall for the media hype. Major disappointment. The movie was boring except for maybe the last 15 minutes. A lot of dead time, non-creative, and someone with a little video camera experience could have easily made this movie and gave it a more creepier flare. The movement of the home camera affect was annoying. It's so obvious it was cheap to make, too bad a little more expense and thought wasn't put into it. On a scale of 1 to 10 I'd rate this movie a -1.
I WAS EXPECTING TO HOLD ONTO MY BOYFRIEND OUTTA FEAR FROM THIS MOVIE I HELD HIM , BUT NOT OUT OF FEAR. THIS WAS AN AVERAGE SPOOKY MOVIE, BUT SCARY HELL NO..........
That's messed up. That IS the ending I saw in the theater, so if you haven't seen the movie people don't watch the Youtube clip, it will ruin the ending for you. That's really not cool.
I think that it takes a certain degree of imagination for this film to be effective. It doesn't spoon-feed the audience and tell them at every step how they should be responding at each moment, so most of the general audience might be confused or disappointed by it. I'd assume that these people would be more satisfied by movies trying to appeal to the lowest-common-denominator moviegoer - such as Jennifer's Body.
Accusing the movie of being stupid, or of people who appreciate what the movie accomplishes of being lightweights or part of an Emperor's New Clothes-esque scheme to "dupe" people shows a stubborn, aggressive type of ignorance that really saddens me to see so prevalent in our culture. Just because it wasn't your cup of tea, or you didn't "get" something, doesn't mean it was necessarily bad. It just wasn't the movie for you.
The fact that so many people do respond to this film shows that it IS effective... but without the imagination mentioned, an ability to really put yourself in the position of the characters on the screen, and a certain degree of open-mindedness, then that effectiveness is going to be lost. It's a pity that this movie DID get so much hype, because I believe that is what's making people take such an aggressive stance towards it. What confuses me is that the movie delivers exactly what it promises in the previews - you can tell that it's a handheld, zero-budget film with few effects from the shots you can see, and can gather from that the fact that it's going to be largely character-driven and tense without much in the way of dramatic pay-off (much like Blair Witch was) - so I have no idea what people were expecting to be so disappointed. I can only assume that they either cannot connect or identify with the actors (which is understandable, I mean, who can really identify with two college age kids who can afford to own a four-bedroom home in this day and age?), or they lack the ability to imagine what it would be like to have something unstoppable invade their home, and therefore can't connect with the basic principle of the film.
All endings aside, it might have helped if the filmmakers hadn't put a name to the entity, since I think belief (or suspension of disbelief) might have also been a factor.
Spoiler Alert: Haven't seen Paranormal Activity yet? 1) Do so. 2) Skip this post. You've been warned.
Comments
(17)Add a comment
Wednesday 28 October
By Yeah, Right
I'm sorry folks, but the ONLY thing I found scary about this movie was the fact that I got roped into paying $10 to see this piece of garbage. The scare factor ranks right up there with "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown". This is NOT scary, and it turned out to be a total waste of my time and money. The makers of this film (and I use the term loosely) should be paying me for my time. I believe that ANYONE that truly got scared at this movie would be the biggest lightweight on the planet, and should not be allowed to breed.
Reply
Wednesday 28 October
By Diane
I 100% agree with you. I bought in to all the hype. It was not playing in my area so my 20 year old son and I drove 1.5 hours and were SOOOOOOO disappointed. If that movie really caused "people not to sleep" for a week they have an issue as I almost feel asleep just watching the movie it was sooooo bad.
Wednesday 28 October
By Laurie
You hit the nail on the head.
Wednesday 28 October
By Bill
I could not agree with you more.
Wednesday 28 October
By noneyobusiness
Personally, I think the first ending was much better and overall-I think the movie was not all that great-or scary. Very disappointed......
Reply
Wednesday 28 October
By xxxorcoxxx
This movie sucked at least she could have been naked
Reply
Wednesday 28 October
By Ofelia
WE'VE BEEN HAD!
IT WAS NOT...I REPEAT NOT SCAREY AT ALL...AND I'M 60 YEARS OLD..I THOUGHT I'D BE SCARED FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE! NOT SO...IT IS A WASTE OF FILM....I THINK IF WE ALL GO TO THE CEMEMTARY AT MIDNIGHT WE MIGHT BE MORE SCARED!
I TEND TO AGREE WITH SOME WHO SAY..THOSE PEOPLE WHO SAY THEY WERE SCARD AND HAD TO SLEEP WITH LIGHTS ON AND WITH OTHER PEOPLE WERE "PAID" TO SAY THAT..HOW STUPID IS THIS FILM? TO ACTUALLY "THINK" THEY COULD COME UP WITH THE "SCARIEST FILM EVER!" NOT SO..!!!!!DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY...
Reply
Wednesday 28 October
By Colie
This movie was soooooooooooo LAME! I was sooo looking forward to seeing something this was going to scare me, it didnt.
Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures, those are way more scary then this stupid movie.
Reply
Wednesday 28 October
By Beth
This film was TERRIBLE! People got up & left it was so bad. The freaky parts they played in the trailer...well, that's it folks. Alot of laughing in the audience at how lame it was. UGH...I could have rented 22 movies from REDBOX instead!
Reply
Wednesday 28 October
By Julia
i got this movie on bootleg a while before it came out.. if you believe in things like this happening then it might scare u. In the movie i got was the original ending so ive never seen the one in the movies... overall it was put out to be something more then it really is.
Reply
Wednesday 28 October
By Diane
This movie was terrible! My 20 year old son and I bought into the hype. It was not showing in our immediate area so we drove 1.5 hours to get to a town that was playing it and 1.5 hours drive back home. Talk about a waste of time, gas and money. I was furious. People got up and walked out. As far as people "not being able to sleep after seeing it".... that is not possible. What IS possible is to fall asleep DURING the movie... it is THAT bad and THAT slow. WHAT A PUBLIC RELATIONS FARCE! VERY false advertising!
Reply
Wednesday 28 October
By Mark
SCARY! Not this movie, Most of the people in the audience were laughing at it. I've seen scarier things in my bedroom!
Reply
Wednesday 28 October
By Frances
Cheap trick...learned my lesson, never fall for the media hype. Major disappointment. The movie was boring except for maybe the last 15 minutes. A lot of dead time, non-creative, and someone with a little video camera experience could have easily made this movie and gave it a more creepier flare. The movement of the home camera affect was annoying. It's so obvious it was cheap to make, too bad a little more expense and thought wasn't put into it. On a scale of 1 to 10 I'd rate this movie a -1.
Reply
Wednesday 28 October
By linda
I WAS EXPECTING TO HOLD ONTO MY BOYFRIEND OUTTA FEAR FROM THIS MOVIE I HELD HIM , BUT NOT OUT OF FEAR. THIS WAS AN AVERAGE SPOOKY MOVIE, BUT SCARY HELL NO..........
Reply
Wednesday 28 October
By Sunny
That's messed up. That IS the ending I saw in the theater, so if you haven't seen the movie people don't watch the Youtube clip, it will ruin the ending for you. That's really not cool.
Reply
Wednesday 28 October
By TS
I think that it takes a certain degree of imagination for this film to be effective. It doesn't spoon-feed the audience and tell them at every step how they should be responding at each moment, so most of the general audience might be confused or disappointed by it. I'd assume that these people would be more satisfied by movies trying to appeal to the lowest-common-denominator moviegoer - such as Jennifer's Body.
Accusing the movie of being stupid, or of people who appreciate what the movie accomplishes of being lightweights or part of an Emperor's New Clothes-esque scheme to "dupe" people shows a stubborn, aggressive type of ignorance that really saddens me to see so prevalent in our culture. Just because it wasn't your cup of tea, or you didn't "get" something, doesn't mean it was necessarily bad. It just wasn't the movie for you.
The fact that so many people do respond to this film shows that it IS effective... but without the imagination mentioned, an ability to really put yourself in the position of the characters on the screen, and a certain degree of open-mindedness, then that effectiveness is going to be lost. It's a pity that this movie DID get so much hype, because I believe that is what's making people take such an aggressive stance towards it. What confuses me is that the movie delivers exactly what it promises in the previews - you can tell that it's a handheld, zero-budget film with few effects from the shots you can see, and can gather from that the fact that it's going to be largely character-driven and tense without much in the way of dramatic pay-off (much like Blair Witch was) - so I have no idea what people were expecting to be so disappointed. I can only assume that they either cannot connect or identify with the actors (which is understandable, I mean, who can really identify with two college age kids who can afford to own a four-bedroom home in this day and age?), or they lack the ability to imagine what it would be like to have something unstoppable invade their home, and therefore can't connect with the basic principle of the film.
All endings aside, it might have helped if the filmmakers hadn't put a name to the entity, since I think belief (or suspension of disbelief) might have also been a factor.
Reply
Sunday 22 November
By Nick
Nope. It IS a case of people pretending to see the emperor's clothes.