Not Impressed, and a warning to all Wuss men out there

Rating: 2/10 (23 October 2009)

This film is not scary. Matter a fact it's not even entertaining. One thing PA does is to prey on is our own "fears", "Doubts", "Misconceptions", and above our "Ignorance." And it does it well.
I was talking with a good female friend about this film telling her how dumb it was for the couple to be getting all this footage and to not be trying to get it out there, or get help in general (a psychic doesn't cut it). The fact that the woman has been tormented by this "ghoul" for a couple of years already, and then gets mad at her boyfriend for trying to help (Ouija Board etc. ;-) is hilarious. They should have broken up right then and there with that scene. Even with the footage of seeing it light on fire.
Then he gets mad at her for trying to go and find "outside" help (the Psychic/doctors etc.). LOL. Do we have a pattern here? Yep, it's called IGNORANCE!!!! I even love it how they mention something about Texas (stereo types anyone??)
Let's focus on Character development for a second. I found no reason to care for this couple. I believe the director (who wrote the script) failed greatly in getting you to really understand what it is that they were going through. I did get that they were totally helpless and pretty much had it coming to them (really, if you have footage of doors slamming and sheets moving, Ouija boards burning, and you don't go for help, or get the hell out of the house, then I have some awesome beach front property in Kansas to sell you).
You have a couple who lives in a house that is supposedly "haunted." Then you have them getting some "amazing" footage. With the stuff they were getting you'd think that CNN or FOX news would be at their door step cataloging their every move. Seriously, is this couple really that weird? They have no friends (aside for that one girl who comes over to talk about you guessed it...Ghosts!! lol) Do they do anything besides sit around record themselves thinking about how haunted their house is?
Is everyone really that bored with movies coming out that they had to latch onto this one like it was some savior of the "scary film" genre?
Seriously, for the budget it was made on I give it props but for the raves everyone is giving it (7.9!!?? LOL). The dialogue is mediocre at best and the pace moves slower than molasses.
How much was this film made for again? $11,000? That means that the studio can spend 20 million on advertising and still make a profit. But films like these are geared around "word of mouth." ;-)
Bravo to the director (it's like Winning the lottery, with what he just did with getting everyone to latch onto this film)
I'm not going to compare anything "scare" worthy because I don't think anything is scary anymore (everyThing has literally been over used...watch the original exorcist or rosemary's baby...and to think those movies used to be REALLY scary...now you literally fall asleep watching them...we've become desensitized...) but I will say the Blair Witch Project is still very much more original than this movie, and based around the same premise of "it could be a true story."
Hell, my female friend was even trying to convince me that PA was a true story and that it did happen etc. LOL. Is it me or do people really just want to "believe"?
For reviewers to say things like "this film physically affected me" or "the scariest movie since the Exorcist" really makes me wonder if people are actually getting out and "Living" life to the fullest. Or is everyone just going home everyday to a lifestyle dictated around a 9-5 job they hate and a Prime Time television schedule that they somehow can't live without because they are terrified of getting out and trying new things.
There's one scene at the end where Micha is like "that's it, we've gotta get out of here...blah blah blah..." and then his girlfriend (who's supposedly being possessed by the "demon" is saying "I don't want to leave, let's stay...blah blah blah...") Though Micha is shocked that she would say this ((or is he that daft to even realize that his girlfriend has totally lost it and is psychotic herself now because of this "demon")) he simply says something along the lines of "this is messed up" and walks out of the room to allow yet another night of sleep in that house...lollollol.
This is one of many examples where I feel the director failed to make me believe that this was a real couple who loved and cared for each other. You have Micha who's no more than a Wuss with a dog collar around his neck beckoning to his girlfriend's every call (when she says "jump" he says "how high"). And you have Katie who doesn't even know that she's in danger even though she's been getting tormented since the last house that burned down lol (typical female stereo type in all thriller/horror films). Of course they're doomed. Micha can't even choose his own tie to wear in the morning and Katie is literally sitting around waiting for a real man to show up and lead. (She does end up stabbing him, which, after all the mistakes we see him make, didn't surprise me...There's even a scene in the film where Katie asks Micha "what are you going to do?"...I believe she asks this three or four times ;-)
I've decided that this film is a lesson to all men who don't know how to "lead" the way or really make their women feel secure and safe around them, both in the bedroom and outside the bedroom.