Paranormal Entity

I decided to review this film as if it was not a knock off of Paranormal Activity. The title and the execution invites comparison, but what are the film's own merits?

The set up in Paranormal Entity is quite interesting: Having lost her husband, a woman seeks contact with him through automatic writing. Something from the beyond reaches out to her, but it becomes increasingly clear that is it not her dead husband. And soon the entity starts showing an unhealthy interest in her nubile, young daughter. What is it and how can they stop it?

In the hands of a skilled film-maker, this plot could have had the makings of a blockbuster. Instead the device used is "found footage", which is very much hit or miss. If it's done well and is believable there is very little chance of screwing it up. If it's done badly, it is vaguely embarrassing to watch, like failed attempts at viral videos. Paranormal Entity is not too bad, although, occasionally over-acted.

The pacing is more of a problem. It starts out fairly decently, with the creepiness being turned up slowly. But about halfway through, the creepiness is dialled up to 10 and left there for the remainder of the film, completely desensitising the viewer. By the end of the film, I found that I just didn't care any more.

Another problem is the inactivity of the family. Beyond calling and calling a parapsychologist that inconveniently has gone on holiday, they don't actually do anything to solve the problem, which means that it's difficult to root for them.

This film should have been thrilling, but it isn't. The concept is good, but the execution just doesn't live up to it.

This film is in the same vein as Paranormal Activity and is just as good. Unlike another reviewer here I had no confusion about this being a "real" situation. The film is not as stark as PA.... and more goes on. But it maintains that edge of tension and there are moments when your skin will pop with goosebumps and your heart will jump. There is no gore, just good old fashioned mood and ambiance. Some of the acting is a bit stiff and the female characters are less than sympathetic...but the movie moves along and you don't have time to be worried about emotional involvement with them anyhow. This movie is about the events more so than the people. Its a good watch... catch it if the opportunity arises... its not a hyped up movie so just watch it and let it play out... you won't be sorry.

I'm surprised that the same people who made Monster, Transmorphers the fall of man, and H.G. Well's War of the Worlds made a relatively descent movie. the Asylums rip off of Paranormal Activity isn't great, but it's definitely in the category of good.

The acting is, OK, it isn't amazing, but the actors do their jobs. The atmosphere is great, although stolen. The scares are pretty descent, and it's an entertaining time.

Can I say it's amazing, no. Paranormal Activity is far superior to this film. But if you want something to warm you up before you watch that scare-fest, watch this.

6/10

This movie start with Thomas who is document the house, while Samantha Finley ( he sister and their mother Ellen think they have made contact with their deceased father and husband David. Then are series of horrible attacks upon Samantha, they begin to suspect a Demon is Haunting the house.

This movie got bit more activity then ( Paranormal Activity) and It's did not take long for think start to happen however those scene did not have the same impact as Paranormal Activity as there was no hint of Back Story at all, It's did not make those scene lit.

The acting was descent in this movie and there some really interesting scenes, which could have been much better. This movie is was just way too similar then paranormal activity.

I think it was good movie 5 out of 10

I'm a huge fan of the first "Paranormal Activity" but I love B-movies and especially horror films so I gave this a shot. Granted, it's of course no masterpiece, but The Asylum's more or less direct rip-off of the "found footage" hit has its moments.

The film begins when Thomas invests in a few small home camcorders to videotape the odd and supposedly paranormal events that have been plaguing the house ever since his mother's attempt at communicating with their recently deceased father. The entity has had a particular inclination for terrorizing his sister, Samantha, who bears an intolerable likeness to Katie Featherston in terms of hairstyle and large endowment (which also of course get more screen time in this film than P.A.).

Beyond that, the film is more or less a cookie cutter copy of the original's even most minute details: the night-time photography, the possession scenes, the cinematography, the "low rumbling" sound when the spirit is present, the title cards for the night scenes, the idea that leaving the house will do nothing as the entity will "follow" the cursed, attempts at contacting a demonologist, footprint markings, you name it.

With that said though, this film does have its gems. This film is definitely more visual and graphic in its depiction of the entities' activities, which is in a way good and also bad. It's nice to see that they didn't skimp on special effects as what you actually see on camera is more interesting and in a way, scarier (one night in particular). However, it's also a lot less subtle than "Paranormal Activity," as the long, patient scenes of waiting for something to happen are less common. A lot of the original film's subtlety is sacrificed for immediate scares and it works against it rather than for it.

The bigger issue with this film is that, while the acting is not nearly as bad as one might think given The Asylum is behind it, the characters are a lot less likable and developed than the original, if you can actually believe that to be possible. Beyond milking the loss of their dad and the direness of the situation for all its worth, the characters are completely one- dimensional and the beautiful and entertaining chemistry between Katie and Micah is nowhere to be found. The scenes add up more like a series of irrelevant moments and transitions are far less smooth. The ending in particular is fairly abrupt and leaves you with a sense of complete and total confusion.

Also, the camera-work and editing in "Paranormal Activity" was far more subtle in the ways that it made you feel like it was legitimately a 'found footage' film (while the sequel did indeed break that formula). Beyond the fact that the multiple cameras break the laws of the film not feeling "edited," there are multiple scenes where any audience member could discern that there is legitimately no reason for the camera to be running at that given time and that certain angles feel very forced or deliberately edited, which unfortunately takes you out of the moment and works against the "mockumentary" style.

Overall, it's not bad, but it's certainly not as good as the original. Good for fans of the genre and style but not much else.