Paranormal Activity

Uh, should go to the movies more often, lately all the films I watch is more like filling the gaps of what I've missed in the recent years. "Paranormal Activity" caused some ruckus a year or two back, being an independent low-budget horror movie that received widespread attention after scaring the shit out of the audiences that first viewed it (which was very effectively used in marketing, as you can see from the trailer). Then it was noticed by some studio bigwigs (including Steven Spielberg) and eventually became one of the most profitable films ever made. Now there has been a sequel (actually a prequel), which hasn't been that warmly received and also the third episode is in the works. From what I hear, it's going down the "Saw" path - brilliant mindfuck film being bought off by a big studio and turned into a mindless money-milking gore-or-whatever-fest.
"Paranormal Activity" itself is a found-footage type of horror film (like "Blair Witch Project", which also got a crappy sequel by the way. Well, crappy by audience's and critics' opinions, I was probably the only person to actually enjoy the film, although I was like 15 at the time) about a young couple having trouble with a demon. The demon has followed the woman since she was young and might have been behind her house burning down as a child. His boyfriend finds the whole thing fascinating and starts videotaping her when she sleeps to get video evidence of something paranormal happening. He gets what he wants but the demon gets more and more agitated from the attention. It's a very tense movie with a "less is more" attitude. The characters are shallow yet believable and the pacing fits the premise wonderfully.
I don't want to spoil anything but the ending is utter crap. No real conclusion, just a cheap sell-out. I found out from Wikipedia that there actually three different endings. Apparently they chose the most boring one for the theatrical release. Shame...
Anyways, filming the audience's reaction has since then become a real hit. It was one of the things behind the success of a horror indie game "Amnesia: The Dark Descent". Search for "amnesia the dark descent reactions" from youtube if you're interested in that sort of thing. Didn't enjoy the game much myself for some reason. Now "Call of Chthulhu: Dark Corners of the World", that was a scary fucking game.

Saiko