I saw this movie in the theater when it came out, mostly because my girlfriend had seen all of the stuff on the internet and the history channel and didn't know it was fake so I wanted to see what her reaction would be. Of course the movie scared her and I thought it was pretty chilling stuff as well (even though I knew it was fake). The drive back to the apartment and the sleep that night was scary, especially for her, as well.
I have read where many people are flaming this movie but I think you have to understand the publicity around it to know why it has the impact it does on people. It was all over the place and one of the first viral marketing campaigns using the 'net for a movie - and it worked. Thinking that it was based on real events certainly helped many watchers get even more scared than they would normally have been.
The actors did a great job improvising and the crew did a great job at using techniques to get realistic reactions from them. Sure, watching it again nine years later the film loses something without the palpable fright of a movie audience, but it's still a good film.
And to answer the riddle some people who think they are smarter then the rest of us like to pose - there is no "floating" camera at the end. Mike had the camera with the DAT, or digital audio, and that's why Heather sounds so far away while screaming in the house. Her camera comes down the stairs and then hits the ground.
On that, still a great ending.
I have read where many people are flaming this movie but I think you have to understand the publicity around it to know why it has the impact it does on people. It was all over the place and one of the first viral marketing campaigns using the 'net for a movie - and it worked. Thinking that it was based on real events certainly helped many watchers get even more scared than they would normally have been.
The actors did a great job improvising and the crew did a great job at using techniques to get realistic reactions from them. Sure, watching it again nine years later the film loses something without the palpable fright of a movie audience, but it's still a good film.
And to answer the riddle some people who think they are smarter then the rest of us like to pose - there is no "floating" camera at the end. Mike had the camera with the DAT, or digital audio, and that's why Heather sounds so far away while screaming in the house. Her camera comes down the stairs and then hits the ground.
On that, still a great ending.
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