Patwoman's Birthday Movie Review

Yeah, it's my birthday. As if that isn't scary enough, we went to see Paranormal Activity last night. I'd been reading all these reviews about how scary it was and how it was the scariest movie of the decade and how people got up and walked out of the movie because it was so scary...

So you know I had to go see it.

Let me say first, it's not that scary. It is very well done, though. I was very impressed with what they were able to do with an $11,000 budget. I'm thinking they spent most of it on film processing and the camera. (Maybe 2 cameras? Not more than 2, I'm sure.) Set was minimal, only 4 actors (plus the guy in the green suit). Very well done.

I won't spoil anything for you, because I think you should go see it. It is very enjoyable, if you can make it through the initial (slow) 30 minutes. Don't hold that dullness against it, either. It's a tension-building thing that works very well for the last half of the movie. (I did have the uncharitable thought of "People walked out halfway through because it was boring." But I'm glad I stayed.)

This movie is being compared to The Blair Witch Project pretty frequently. It does have that feel to it--kind of an unscripted, hand-held camera, this-is-how-it-really-happened sort of feel. And the marketing is just as ingenious as BWP was--except, thank God, they are not trying to say it's a true story. I just don't think I could take arguing with another idiot who can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality.

There were a couple of nice scares in the movie, too. Don't get me wrong. But seriously, the best part of this whole experience was listening to the two grown men in the row behind me--"Oh God!" "Oh no!" "Oh shit!" "I can't watch this!" "I'm not going to be able to sleep for a week!"