Paranormal Activity

I saw this much-talked-about horror flick today. I was totally freaked out about going because my friend said she had nightmares for two days. Apparently what is really scary about the film is when nothing is happening, but you are scared because you think something is going to happen! That doesn't sound scary to you? That's because it isn't. It was pretty ho-hum.

Here is Roger Ebert's review (he seemed to like it).

I did have a nightmare once after watching something scary, but it wasn't a movie. It was a TV show I used to watch in Japan - a sort of children's show called Honto ni atta Kowai Hanashi or Scary Stories that Really Happened. I know it was a kids show, but it was the best!

The show was hosted by Inagaki Goro and was about a group of children who investigate paranormal phenomena (actually, they just sat in a room reading letters, so "investigate" may not be the right word...). Most of the show consisted of reenactments of supposedly "real" letters sent in by viewers who had had contact with ghosts, etc. But the best part was when they showed Shinrei Shashin (Ghost Pictures)!

SRS are creepy photographs (most of which, I'm guessing, are just photoshopped or are double exposures, etc.) that have ghosts in them or where people are mysteriously missing limbs or something. It sounds lame, but it is really scary. They show the photograph first and you don't notice anything, then they zoom in on the part with the ghost and you think... but wait... Oh! Creepy!! Anyway, it's way more scary than anything in Paranormal Activity.

There is a pretty good site with mostly American ghost pictures (here) but they are a lot less creepy than the Japanese kids show nightmare-inducing variety.

I wanted to find a video that showed the ghost pictures, but all I could find was reenactment videos. This is from an episode that I remember! Also, it has English subtitles! Enjoy.

And here is part two...

The nightmare I had was after watching one of these shows. I had a dream that my friend's grandmother had passed away and I went with her and her sister to their grandmother's now empty house to clean it out. I was on the floor on a futon getting ready to go to sleep and my friend and her sister were going through their grandmother's closet, drawers, etc. when her sister started to say, "Maybe we shouldn't be messing with her stuff..." when suddenly a totally scary Japanese ghost old grandmother popped up right in front of my face and screamed "Don't touch my stuff" in Japanese! I jumped right out of bed in real life. That was scary.

As you can see, I am a wimp who is scared by children's TV shows. Paranormal Activity, however, I really just found annoying.