I actually saw it in a midnight screening about 2-3 weeks ago and I thought it was absolutely terrifying.
Of course, it seems that the mainstream audience is more polarized on the film, some saying it's scary and some saying that it sucks.
I would have to estimate that the backlash is probably based on the mainstream audience being constantly fed gorefests such as My Bloody Valentine, Final Destination, and Saw that they are conditioned for horror films to be more visual than atmospheric.
Take this quote from the "Last Movie You Watched" topic:
Yeah the film did have "cheap" scares, considering the film cost only $11,000 to make. I personally thought the haunting scenes were really well done, considering the budget and the film has the realism factor going for it.CodenameV wrote:I saw paranormal activities with CL today. Cheap scares, although it did have atmosphere going for it. It was more funny than scary. But I was probably the biggest wimp in the theatre when it came to the scary parts. xD
Personally, I thought the film was more successful than (the similar) The Blair Witch Project at being a truly scary "found footage" type film.
I probably can't convince the mainstream audience made up of mostly young teens that this little independent horror films is probably ten times better than nearly every so-called horror film released this year.
However, you do have to agree that is is amazing in this day and age that a film can still be released in (very) limited release and go on through word of mouth to top the box office a month later.
