Atividade Paranormal: Ente Próximo

Whether by attaching itself to the Paranormal Activity franchise or some other reason, this film commits itself to being a found footage style horror film. This works great for most of the Paranormal Activity films, and even works out nicely for many parts of this film.

The problem is that this film was unwilling to fully commit to this, and thus ends up making some really stupid camera decisions that completely draw you out of the immersion of the film and even prompt laughter.

The film itself is straightforward: a woman, Margot, who is adopted discovers her birth family is apparently Amish and goes to visit them, all the while bringing a camera, boommike, and two friends, Chris and Dale, to film for a documentary. Who she is and why she apparently warrants a documentary is unclear and ultimately irrelevant.

It follows the typical routine of Our Dumb Heroes getting themselves in trouble by ignoring pleas and orders to not do stupid stuff and go exploring forbidden areas, all to further the plot.

None of it was particularly interesting. What really stuck out horribly for the film is that, despite the aforementioned commitment to the Paranormal Activity franchise of found footage, the film goes and does so many stupid things that break the format.

The most blatant and stupid incident, which I had to rewind just to make sure it actually happened and wasn't me misinterpreting something, involved the cameraperson backing away from "something" in a dark hall. They are alone and have the ONLY camera. The camera then cuts to an object BEHIND the "something", a location the cameraperson was nowhere near and completely unable to film at any point in time.

These sorts of impossible camera cuts start to pile up closer to the end, until at one point the camera just seemingly disappears, and we get conventional movie-style shots.... only for the film to somehow return to the "camera"'s framing, as if the camera had been on and filming everything the whole time despite no one holding it.

These stupid camera decisions constantly ripped me out of the immersion of the film, and there was one incident in particular where for no reason at all the camera went into a gratuitous slow motion sequence during a scary bit that was too laughable to take seriously and absolutely should have been cut.

As many have already staten... this movie has absolutely nothing to do with the other Paranormal activity movies what so ever! It features no elements from the other movies, other than found footage and demonic possesion! Though nobody would probsbly watch it if it wasn't called "Paranormal activity"

The movie itself is far from the worst, but also far from the best! The story is not that interesting and very predictable! The characters are also flat and boring with little personality! Instead the most memorable part of the movie is that it has some creepy disturbing scenes and it does scare you a couple of times! It gets points for that! Though some of the scenes feel stupid as they revolve around the characters acting as dumb as possible! The climax is also intens though even if it continues the trend og stupid characters!

I mean it's not bad, it creates a good found footage atmosphere a few elements are just a bit too cheesy and some of the shots detract from the ambiance. Maybe 15 min less chopping some of the cheesiest parts and a few of the camera cuts would have made this a really decent movie. As it stands it's kinda long. It's still entertaining enough and just creepy enough to make a good watch for the Halloween weekend.

I won't go into it too much because it would be basically a repeat of what has already been said. This is not a Paranormal Activity movie, it just borrows from the name for promotional purposes. For that, I was disappointed.

I thought the acting was fine. I didn't dislike any of the characters like you eventually do. I thought story was fine, although not exactly new. It was definitely creepy, so I can't knock it for that. I was entertained. Of course there is a lot of footage where they would have never been filming, as per the norm, but I get that they have to tell a story through the camera. Personally I can't stand reviews that tell you to watch something or not to watch something. Reviews that tell you to ignore the positive or the negative reviews. I mean that the purpose of reading reviews, to eventually form your own opinion, then make up your own mind whether to watch it or not. You decide.

I might be somewhat biased cause I enjoy Eubank's works to a certain extent. I think he's consistently almost a good director. The Signal was an interesting starting project, Underwater was too rushed and too focused on Steward though.

As for the PA franchise, I watched 2 or 3 of these when there was a hype going on, but as it went on it grew old fast so I eventually dropped it.

I don't know if this one follows the story or is a standalone film, but as far as these go, it was ok.

I enjoyed its atmosphere, the overall look, and, surprisingly enough, the dated found-footage gimmick was certainly used well in this.

Obviously, the movie loses a lot if you just ask yourself "why are they still filming?", but in this installment, they seem to mix found footage with a couple of cinematic shots. I actually think that this is a good idea, not wholly original though, since I've seen this done in REC 3: Genesis.

Yes, it was predictable and very reminiscent of the first REC or Quarantine, but all the good stuff I mentioned earlier was enough for me to watch it.

I think that for a franchise this stretched it was an ok addition.

Fans of the franchise might not enjoy it, horror fans might find it too predictable, but it is certainly watchable for the least.