Paranormal Entity

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.

I have to give Shane Van Dyke some words...just because you come from a TV family does NOT mean you are capable of being a TV or film star! I have seen Shane in a few productions and to be honest, he is a talentless actor and now, as a writer and director, he proves he is also useless at these roles too. I have just sat through one of the worst productions I have ever seen. It was not only badly filmed (we all had a giggle at the shot of him on his lap top when he is pretending to press keys and scroll!), the acting was bad! The woman playing the mother in this film was terrible! if you want actors to improvise Shane, then get actors who can improvise! This woman was appalling. I watched Paranormal Activity a few years ago and found it boring and terribly written, acted and directed, however, having now seen this atrocious piece of garbage, I consider paranormal activity a genius production. I have read some reviews of this on IMDb and am totally surprised anyone could class this as good. Are these people part of Shane's gang? Look folks, before you consider watching this, let me save you time, it is a complete and badly done rip off, using a cheap camcorder and BAD acting. Writing wise, it's suffering a great deal from the fact it has no writing and seems all improvised. Badly Improvised I might add. Somebody should inform Shane that a new career really does need looking in to. It is surely not enough to merely trade on your family name, surely you Americans can see where the talent is and where, in Shane's case, it is so obviously lacking. I am a fan of Dick Van Dyke, but Shane, I am sorry love, you just haven't got what it takes.

The first time I tried to watch this movie I turned it off within the first 5 min of it. I decided to watch it again and through the whole thing this time. This movie not only was uninteresting it was stupid. It was so horrible it was laughable! This is not only like PA it is just as funny. Though it being so horrible I don't think it doesn't even deserve a rating. Other than me typing this only one thought crosses through my mind when watching this is YAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't even think of enough lines to actually be able to post this review. If you wish to watch this movie my say on this is DON'T! I'd rather hit my head on the wall then watch this movie. Also if this gets posted I am surprised since I'm sure it's so negative that it won't.

Paranormal Entity (2009)

** (out of 4)

The Asylum's "mockbuster" of PARANORMAL ACTIVITY has a brother (Shane Van Dyke) filming his sister (Erin Marie Hogan) and mother (Fia Perera) when strange things start to occur. You know, you have to love the cheapness of The Asylum. For very little cash, very little time and very little talent they manage to make all sorts of dough with this generic little films. This one here is actually much better than the rest of their "found footage" films but at the same time it's very weak when compared to the other movie and its biggest sin is the fact that it's not scary at all. It's pretty funny to watch this movie and see how closely it comes to PARANORMAL ACTIVITY. There are several scenes that are nearly the same with the only difference being that here it's not scary. I personally loved the other film but as a film buff I'm curious to see the rip-offs. For the most part I thought it was technically a good movie. The cinematography was nice for this type of movie and I thought there were a few good ideas sprinkled across the picture. I won't spoil exactly what's doing the hauntings but this was a nice item that is sadly wasted in a not-so-good movie. I also thought Erin Marie Hogan was good as the sister and her nude scene towards the end did at least wake me up. The highlight of the film? The speech given by mommy when the son asks her and the sister to go to a motel while he stays at the house with the ghost. Priceless.

I'm telling you..it is way more exciting to read the reviews than watch the movie!! Nothing happens ! Absolutely nothing !! Everything is Paranormal Activity wannabe ! And they fail ! It is 1h 28 minutes wasted.

The acting is so bad that it is ridiculous!!

The only cool thing is the house ! It's a cool house!