a review of 灵动：鬼影实录

Arguably the movie responsible for the found footage craze. I think it retroactively gets a lot of hate more for what it caused, rather than for what it is. Expectations going into it are also likely a sizable factor. Everything I had heard about this franchise told me it was going to be all big thrills and jump scares. In reality this is more of a slow burner. Much like The Blair Witch Project, the majority of the experience is about what's happening off-screen with a few big moments saved for the tail end of the film. What worked most for me was that the characters and setup were believable given the context. We're essentially watching someone get too caught up in events to truly recognize the danger he's in. Intentionally egging on the demon haunting his girlfriend because the possibility of capturing it on film excites him, implicitly because he could get famous. Even when it becomes clear that something is going very wrong he refuses outside help for reasons of ego and not wanting to share whatever possible glory that could be mined from something like this. This downward spiral is fascinating to watch, especially in this era of internet clout and everybody trying to make it big on YouTube. I couldn't help but draw comparisons to the whole Logan Paul controversy in terms of someone unthinkingly crossing a line for views. So in a sense this movie might have only gotten better with age. It does a lot for such a low budget and puts it's own spin on the TBWP formula. Not terribly effective at raising the hairs, but it might be deeper than people give it credit for because of the aforementioned context. Worth watching for the influence on overpopulating the found footage subgenre alone, Paranormal Activity is notable for it's unexpectedly above average writing and slow build up to the large scares.