Deciphering So-called Documentary Movies

Sitting patiently in front of my laptop, and waiting for the movie to kick up speed and to end was a long wait. Once the ending came, I said to myself, “What?”

The movie Paramornal Activity, which I would say with their low budget was a bit impressive, but for my standards of horror movies, it had a mellow tone to it, meaning the pace was long, and drabby. I cannot complain, because for once in a long time, a film did not have to be about blood, guts, naked females running around, predictable outbursts, and a predictable ending. Watching this movie was a bit refreshing.

The Blair’s Witch Project which will always be remembered for being one of the creepiest movies, believable, and unforgettable, opened the doorway for movies involving a handheld camera. This movie of course was done the same way, at some point you may ask yourself is this a documentary or just one of those hand held camera movies. I will give you a few pointers on deciphering what’s real and what’s not.

Acting

Obviously, this is a dead giveaway. Are the people in the film actually looking like they are really scared? Do you remember that MTV show a few years back called Fear? Now talk about scared. When watching a movie like this watch the characters reactions to certain things, and their reactions to a simple thing as a surprise outburst, this is very helpful.

Everyday Situations

In a lot of horror movies you see the scared characters always running into the woods, or going back to the creepy house to solve the ghost story and only to find that right before the credits are rolling the police finally show up. Thinking about this for Paranormal Activity, anyone in that situation would have left, or gone to a priest to bless house. Also, if your bedroom was where mostly the ghost activity was at, how could you even sleep in it? Situations, in which a normal human being would not do, is an eye opener, put that into perspective when trying to decipher a real movie from a hoax.

The Environment

Notice the surrounding; is it the typical creepy boarded up old house or foggy graveyard? But for this movie, it was a bit difficult to decipher until something gave it away: The house. How did the house give it away?

1.      Too perfect. The house was clean all the time.

2.      Everything was set up like an opening for open house.

3.      Very expensive items in the home.

4.      Two young adult with an expensive house like that? Unlikely.

5.      The female character never studied.

6.      Male character was never online.

7.      They had no social life, and only one friend came over, only to talk about the situation.

These tips will help you decipher the next movie you stumble upon that you may think it real. If you are still unsure, you can always do some online research and get the hard truth about the movie you may question.