Paranormal Activity Series

 

 

 

 

Okay, well, not yet anyway. It sure is getting close though and what better way to celebrate the month of October than watching scary movies!?

I have currently been obsessed with Season 3 of The Walking Dead that has finally arrived on Netflix but that doesn't mean I can't watch some scary movies too right?

So, to start the month off right, I have chosen a series that I am up to date and very familiar with. The "Paranormal Activity" franchise.

Now this movie series gets some mixed feelings. You have those who love it, those who hate it, those who can't follow it and those who just want to watch it for the sake of another sexy and scared girl on screen.

Me? I personally love the series and I like the scary movies that make you feel like it can really happen to you. As far as graphics, I like what they did. I didn't see any wires, the reactions I thought were awesome, but the fact that the first movie came out without the idea of it as a series and it had an alternate ending sort of ruined it for me, esp since I saw the first one second.

So, let's start with the summary and then I will get to the reviews. Sounds good? Good. Remember, spoilers as always.


Paranormal Activity was created by first time director Oren Peli who was so scared of ghosts that even Ghostbusters terrified him. He wanted to turn his fears into something positive and took over a year to prepare everything to be filmed within his own house. He even studied Demonology and researched paranormal cases, wanting the movies to be as realistic and "truthful" as possible.

Along with the current four that are out, there is set to be two more movies. The fifth movie is set directly after the fourth one and they are both set to be released in 2014. Oren Peli only directed the first one but was a producer for the prequel and the other films in the series.

The series is generally filmed using camcorders, home videos, security cameras and webcam's and it follows a family who turns out to have a terrible secret in their history which leads the current-day members of the family to deal with demonic possession and hauntings.


 The first movie revolves around a couple, Katie and Micah, who slowly become terrorized through the nights by a demonic entity that Katie believes to have been following her all her life.

The second movie starts of several weeks before the events of the first film with the demonic activity affecting Katie's sister Kristi and her family-- a husband and a step-daughter, after she brings home her first child, a son, named Hunter.


The third movie is set to be a prequel for the whole series, showing Katie and Kristi as they were kids and what happened when they were younger to make sense of the events said in the first two movies. This is when they encounter "Toby" for the first time by name.


In the fourth, and latest, segment of the series it deals with a new family that might have something in their history that brings them into the demonic bouts of terror. It is several years after the events of the second movie and Katie is seen moving in next to the family with her "son". The events of this movie tend to affect the new family's son, Wyatt.

Alright. So here is the jist.

I love the series, I really do. I feel like after I watch it that I need to be careful when I walk around my house and that my daughter needs to be checked on because anything can happen. Not to mention my daughter watched the Labyrinth with David Bowie in it awhile ago and decided to name one of her baby dolls Toby. Yeah, that was creepy.

Anyway, I do understand the confusion though and some of the dislike for these movies. First off, if you get vertigo by watching movies that switch back and forth or move around a lot. This series is not for you. With the webcams, security feeds and so on, it can make you a little twitchy.

As for the storyline, I followed it until the third movie when things just didn't seem to completely follow what was said in the second when their past was more revealed, but hey, whatever. Different writers, I get it.

The fourth one was a little harder on me because, well, using the webcam all the time, keeping the computer on, hacking in to the other cams in the house, really?

Sure, I sometimes wonder "why not put the damn camera down and do something!" but that would make for a pretty boring movie.

I do like though how they learned from the mistake of the first film. These movies do not have very many special features except for, maybe, some lost footage every now and then. The "alternate ending" to the first one, whether it was supposed to be a series or not, really takes away from the affect. So, really, if you get the dvd set, please don't watch the alternate ending to the first one, cause, it just sucks.

I do recommend the series though for people who like that "I cant really see it the monster but wait, is that someone breathing cold air on the back of my neck, OMG ITS HERE TOO" kind of thing.  I know I did and I intend to see the last two to see how it all gathers together.



Oh, if you also want to see some online things they did to promote the series and you have a facebook, check out the following link. It really doesn't have to do with the original family, but they did some amazing work trying to promote the series through getting people to interact online.

https://www.facebook.com/mrjacobdegloshi?fref=ts

Well, enjoy my lovelies and feel free to leave a comment on some of the awesome and terribly scary movies you have seen before so I might review them for other's looking for some truly scary, not all about the gore and bloodshed, terror films.

xXx

 

Yeah, that's right. Triple X, baby. Not only an amazing action movie but it also has Vin Damn Diesel in it.

This movie is a 2002 American action film directed by Rob Cohen with Vin Diesel starring as Xander Cage. A cocky, rebellious, extreme sports-loving, forced spy for the National Security Agency by Samuel L. Jackson's burned, bad ass character; Augustus Gibbons.

It also features Asia Argento, Marton Csokas and a brief but always remembered appearance by Danny Trejo.

Cage is sent in to infiltraite a group of potential terrorists in Central Europe. Although financially successful, it received mixed reviews, but was allowed to make a sequal known as xXx: State of the Union.  
After the initial plot enterance in the beginning with a man killed at a concert by Anarchy 99. I love the entereance of Vin's character as he steals a California state senators car to teach him a lesson on his imorale reasoning. If there is one thing that Vin doesn't lack when it comes to his movies, it's his absolute cry for a perfect action sequence.

After being left in Columbia from a cargo plane to identify a drug cartel, Cage is given two choices: work for Gibbons or serve a pretty lengthy scentence in a federal penetentury. Against his better wishes he chooses to work for Gibbons and heads to the Czech Republic to find out more about Anarchy 99. Their leader, Yorgi, is an ex-Soviet soldier who has a grudge against authority and society in general. Xander finds himself drawn to Yorgi's girlfriend Yelena, and he negotiates a political asylum for her in the United States. It wouldn't be a good Diesel movie if there wasn't a sexy girl in there somewhere.

Cage is briefly captured before the Czech police arrive, blowing up the mansion. In the ensuing chaos, Yorgi escapes with his right-hand man, Kirill, an expert sniper.

Well, I won't spoil the whole movie for you but obviously Cage survives and Gibbons informs him that he is needed for another project. He cockily ignores him and goes for a swim in the oceans off the coast of Bora Bora with Yelena.

The charming mixture of sarcasm, action, heat, Cage's unorthodox and criminal-like way of doing things (see the club scene near the beginning of his infiltry into Anarchy 99) and all around sexiness of the characters really makes this movie appealing and in all honesty I don't know why someone wouldn't want to watch it. Not to mention the scenery and landscaping. -kisses fingers- Bella!

I love the scene where Cage is on a plane, looking over the details of his mission when a teenage boy comes along and thinks that he is playing a video game. He connects with the boy in a special way, playing as though it really is a video game and that he only gets one shot. In his voice you can tell that he might even be a little scared. He's used to extreme sport stunts but nothing like this. The boy asks Cage what he gets out of playing. You know, if he wins. Cage says he doesn't know and the boy turns to him and says, "I know. He gets to be a hero." and I think those words really touch Cage and give him some confidence in what he was about to do.

I recommend the movie for girls and guys, although I am sure it appeals more to men as it does have an extreme amount of action and of course the beautiful, sexy women. Vin Diesel, however, is enough of a reason for me to see this movie as a female despite my love for really good action films.

Go ahead, scar face, check out Netflix and put it on with some soda and popcorn at your side. You won't be disappointed, and well.. you'll get the meaning as to why I called you 'scar face', haha.

The Secret Circle

La dadadada, La dadadadada La daaa da daaaa da daaaaaaaa.

Okay, so the music to The Secret Circle show sounded a whole lot better in my head.

However, before I go about my normal ritual of explaining the show and cast to you before my personal review, I will say one thing followed by an explanation;

I HATE THIS SHOW! Okay so that was a horrible thing to say because, in truth, I actually really liked this show. However, it is one of those absolutely annoying shows that channels decide to cancel without giving the producers, directors and writers a proper chance to close out the storyline.

Yes, that is right dearies, the series ends on a cliffhanger as to what is going to happen next. A pretty tantalizing one too, if I can insert that opinion in there somewhere.

 

Reguardless, I will be a good sport and fill you in on the rest.

This show, now currently available for streaming on Netflix, was an American supernatural teen drama that aired on The CW in 2011, ending in 2012. Yup, that's right, it actually isn't that old of a series. It is also based on a book series by the same name written by L. J Smith.

Set in the small, seaside town of Chance Harbor, Washington the story surrounds a young girl named Cassie Blake who loses her mother in a terrible accident and goes to live with her grandmother in her mother's home town. There, she meets up with five other kids who's parents new Cassie's and she finds out that through her bloodline, Cassie is a witch and the teens that confronted her about it, are her coven.

The series has some great cast members playing the lead kids.

Cassie Blake played by Britt Robertson (Dan in Real Life)

Adam Conant played by Thomas Dekker (Terminator; Sarah Conner Chronicles)

Faye Chamberlain played by Phoebe Tonkin (The Vampire Diaries)

Diana Meade played by Shelley Hennig (Zach Stone is Gonna Be Famous)

Melissa Glaser played by Jessica Parker Kennedy (90210 re-make)

Nick Armstrong played by Louis Hunter (Out of the Blue)

later replaced by

Jake Armstrong played by Chris Zylka (The Amazing Spider-Man)

Cassie Blake

 Cassie comes to Chance Harbor after the horrible death of her mother. She stays with her grandmother, later revealed to be an "elder" witch. Cassie, upon finding out who she is and her mother and grandmother were, starts off in denial and the urge to want nothing more then a normal life after moving to her mother's home town. Later, she begins to accept the idea of being a witch and ends up the most powerful of the group. She has a destined connection with Adam, who starts out the series taken by Diana. They have a strong connection on the screen that rolls over well, regardless of Adam's eventual jealousy of Jake who flirts constantly with Cassie after his arrival.

Adam Conant
Adam is a male witch in the coven that is the first to grow close to Cassie. He convinces her to open up to her witch side and often tries to protect her from any harm, even with his girlfriend Diana around. He tries to hide his feelings for Cassie at first, but with his dad's love for Cassie's mother looming over his head, he gains the belief that they are truly meant to be together. Later, a dark force convinces Cassie and Adam that their love will only bring death and so they take steps to make try and erase their love. Adam is a kind hearted person who tries to do the right thing most of the time, but in the end might be just barely strong enough to ignore the draw of darkness.

 

 

 

 

 

Faye Chamberlain

Faye is the sexy and adventurous member of the group. She was once in love with Jake Armstrong but when he left town, he left her broken and closed hearted. Faye is more concerned about having her own individual powers than sharing hers with the circle, until it almost kills those she loves. Her mother is a main antagonist in the story and is aware that the children know they are witches, though she doesn't let on to her daughter that she knows. Faye is best friends with Melissa even though she had a tendency to talk down to her and try to pressure Melissa into things she normally wouldn't do. She hates the "perfect" picture of Diana and doesn't think Diana deserves to be the "leader" of the Circle, despising the fact that Diana found her families Book of Shadows before she ever could.


Diana Meade
Diana is the picture perfect girl. Responsible, sexy, smart, friendly, good grades, good girlfriend, good friend, good witch and community volunteer. The very bane of Faye's existence, she is the first to really introduce herself to Cassie Blake and she is the first of the group to discover her family were witches by discovering her families Book of Shadows, a book passed down through generations with witching secrets in it. She tries to remain friendly with Cassie even through seeing Adam's attraction to her en their eventual break-up. Diana later learns that her family line isn't what she thought it was and she has some darkness in her blood. She hates the feeling of this and tries to run from it.

Melissa Glaser
Melissa is the fourth member of the Coven. She is Faye's best and most reliable friend whom early in the series grows in a relationship with Nick Armstrong. She, too, likes to have her own powers but isn't as obsessed with it as her friend Faye is. She is terribly effected by the loss of Nick and really doesn't remain the same after it, slowly going down a dark path of supernatural drugs. That is, until her beloved best friend steps up and pulls her back. She keeps to herself and is rather timid most of the time, staying out of any real argument the circle might have but remains ever loyal to the group.

                                                      Nick and Jake Armstrong
The series starts off with Nick Armstrong completing the circle as the second male member. He was a loner type that found it hard to really connect with anyone. He was friends with Adam but their bond wasn't exactly noticeable. He hides his true feelings for Melissa under a hard cover of stone but didn't mind sleeping with her. Eventually, Nick met his demise when a demon possessed his body and it led to his death by two unlikely people.

Jake came in later with suspicion surrounding him. He was thought evil and the group was relunctent to let him in the group, but with Nick gone their circle was incomplete. Jake wasn't to fond of joining the group either, being older then the others and with Faye in the group, history was difficult to forget. He grew fond of Cassie and at first he was after her before turning around and protecting her. His history after running away from Chance Harbor is a dark one that comes up strongly later in the series. He found his families Book of Shadows before anyone else and had time to practice his abilities more.



The Past
When each of their parents were young, in love, reckless, and in their own circle, a mishap happened, causing a terrible fire. Their children were already born but it left each of the kids without, at least, one parent.

The Review
The series is a really good one, with many secrets coming out from all areas of the past in each of the children's lives dating back to their parent's and their grandparents. Near the end, it is indicated a new evil has grown and is coming, but the series was canceled before then leaving us with so many questions.

I know that really isn't a way to convince you to watch the series, but I do highly recommend it for those of you "in to" this kind of show.

I hate the fact that all of the girls are abnormally sexy, lingerie wearing teens that can get any guy they want. Really? Isn't there a group of normal, slightly pear shaped but still pretty girls out there that can be in a coven together? Of course, but what kind of television would that make.

The series, in my opinion, has a good storyline and I think it could have continued far beyond the point it did. The series winded up pretty good but still, the way it did it was obvious there were going to be other things going on and you are left wondering what happened to the characters where they were last left off.

Cancelation
In 2012 The CW decided on the shows cancellation despite the fact that it was the stations third highest-rating performer. Crazy right!?

After the show was cancelled, the fan's were so outraged that a fan-led campaign known as 'Save the Circle' was started. In the end of the donations and the letter writing to other stations, including The CW, over $7,000 was raised to bring back the show. A site states that; "The campaign targeted at ABC Family asked fans to donate money to fund a delivery of 325,000 golden plastic coins to the network's headquarters. The coins were symbolic of a 'cloaking coin' that belonged to one of the main characters, Adam Conant's grandfather in the episode "Traitor". The metaphor was that The CW 'cloaked' the show by cancelling it, and fans wanted ABC Family to 'uncloak' the show by picking it up ".

Unfortunately, due to budgetary concerns, the leaders of the campaign decided not to pursue the networks any farther. However, a different campaign was launched when it was rumored that the first season would not be released on DVD or Blue-Ray, so in 2012 The Secret Circle was available from Netflix both for streaming and on DVD. The show has been voted as the "Most Missed" and the "Most Shocking Cancellation" in a number of polls given off by a number of sources.

My personal opinion? Even with it looming over your head that you may never know what happens in the second season, knowing that it was rallied to be brought back to TV should be enough to tell you that this show is worth watching the first season and become a fan that wants the show back on as well!!

Enjoy, witching fans!