Review Detail
9.4 4 10
Overall rating
9.2
Audio/Video Quality
9.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
9.0
Narrative
9.0
Enjoyment
9.0
Overview - The original Paranormal Activity is marred by the godawful “found footage” crutch, unsympathetic, foolish characters, and a decrepit, snail like pace. Frantic Canadian’s edit trims 12 minutes of unnecessary footage, quickening the tempo and boosting scare ratio.
Video - Quite a bit of cuts in this. Edits well chosen, and because of the fade to black structure of the original there is nothing noticeable. I calculate half the film are semi-lit, nighttime shots, and the blacks stay solid throughout.
Audio - Nice 5.1 sound that responds during some of the quietest scenes. Mumbled - garbled dialogue often difficult to understand, probably by design. Subtitles could help - though most of the talk is everyday prattle and unimportant.
Narrative - This is a light edit, so the story holds together. Good result here, and a better experience than the original.
Enjoyment - Tough to call. I do not like “found footage” movies. They strike me as lazy, self indulgent, and bucket level cheap. That said, my bride is a big fan of the Paranormal series, and unexplained themes in general. She has premonitions and sees ghosts. Me? If a chair is spinning in the air in front of me, I chalk it up to a breeze. She rated this highly, and she would be the target audience.
The characters are introduced as likeable goofs and grow dangerously stupid.
- SPOILER - Midway through, I’m telling them to phone the demonologist specialist. Of course they do not. - END SPOILER -
Why do they stay in that house / apartment night after night? Come on, go to a motel! Go to Mom’s! But get out of there! Fools. Very hard to enjoy a film with characters you cannot empathize with because they have less sense than a tennis ball.
Appreciate would be a more appropriate term for this. Frantic Canadian offers an excellent edit, and a better choice, of a film that will not appeal to everyone.
γνῶθι σεαυτόν.
Recommended.
Video - Quite a bit of cuts in this. Edits well chosen, and because of the fade to black structure of the original there is nothing noticeable. I calculate half the film are semi-lit, nighttime shots, and the blacks stay solid throughout.
Audio - Nice 5.1 sound that responds during some of the quietest scenes. Mumbled - garbled dialogue often difficult to understand, probably by design. Subtitles could help - though most of the talk is everyday prattle and unimportant.
Narrative - This is a light edit, so the story holds together. Good result here, and a better experience than the original.
Enjoyment - Tough to call. I do not like “found footage” movies. They strike me as lazy, self indulgent, and bucket level cheap. That said, my bride is a big fan of the Paranormal series, and unexplained themes in general. She has premonitions and sees ghosts. Me? If a chair is spinning in the air in front of me, I chalk it up to a breeze. She rated this highly, and she would be the target audience.
The characters are introduced as likeable goofs and grow dangerously stupid.
- SPOILER - Midway through, I’m telling them to phone the demonologist specialist. Of course they do not. - END SPOILER -
Why do they stay in that house / apartment night after night? Come on, go to a motel! Go to Mom’s! But get out of there! Fools. Very hard to enjoy a film with characters you cannot empathize with because they have less sense than a tennis ball.
Appreciate would be a more appropriate term for this. Frantic Canadian offers an excellent edit, and a better choice, of a film that will not appeal to everyone.
γνῶθι σεαυτόν.
Recommended.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
DVD
V