Nightmare

Flipping through the channels, I came upon what is known as a "mockbuster" (a movie designed to capitalize on the success of a higher budget film, in this case Paranormal Activity) called Paranormal Entity on ChillerTV. The premise of the movie is surveillance videos documenting the downward spiral and eventual supernatural rape and murder of a woman named Samantha Finley, all presented as fact.

Throughout the movie as the alleged activity escalates, the family is constantly trying to contact a self-professed paranormal expert named Edgar Lauren to rid them of their problem. The guy finally shows up towards the end of the movie and gives them the answers they have been looking for. On a previous night, the mother, supposedly possessed or in her sleep, wrote a word on a sheet of paper: MARON. The expert explains the word MARON is Old Germanic for "nightmare" and goes on to say the entity is fairly similar to the "incubus" in the way it attacks and rapes women. This made me wonder if there was any truth to their story of "maron". Turns out there is.

We know the word "nightmare" as meaning a dream that can cause a strong negative emotional response from the sleeper, typically fear and/or horror. Its etymology derives from several different languages including the Proto-Germanic word of marōn. It was believed to be a spirit or goblin in Germanic folklore which rides on people's chests while they sleep, bringing on bad dreams and most likely inspired by the medical condition called sleep paralysis. It's also linked to the mythical creatures succubus and incubus. Nightmare was used to describe 'a bad dream caused by an incubus' in the 16th century. After several centuries, the meaning watered down even further to describe a bad dream.

Paranormal Entity not only attempted to capitalize on Paranormal Activity's fame but also went to lengths for a Blair Witch type marketing strategy. The Asylum attempted to convince viewers the film footage is all 100% legit. There isn't any filmmaking credits or even a title card and the various production credits on their own website are billed as "n/a". However, what does the viewer see after the movie's conclusion? "All events, characters, and firms depicted in this photoplay are purely fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental." I say their strategy was a failure. The movie isn't the worst of all time but it's not the best either.

Comments

Pangs said…
I had occasion to see much of this movie. You're correct, it isn't the worst movie ever made, but the acting is a long way from convincing anyone the footage is real.
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Anonymous said…
I agree - it is not the worst movie ever made. It is far far better than Avatar. In fact, I give it three Avatars, meaning it is three times better than Avatar, which is like being three steps up the ladder from Hell.
Anonymous said…
I recently saw this movie on netflix online. It was one of the worst I have seen. As poor as the acting was back in the 60-70`s, I would pick a John Wayne movie over this one any day. To say it was better than Avatar, I will be nice n keep my thoughts to myself.
Anonymous said…
I forgot to mention, I looked into Maron. I found nothing to indicate that this nightmare creature causes possessions or demonic/paranormal activities. How stupid do they think people are.
Willing to show her breasts, you might see the girl who played Sam on a Syfy Original B movie full of no names who can`t act.
Anonymous said…
It says at the very end on Netflix that it was purely fictitious.
Anonymous said…
i agree too but there's one thing i dont get. . in the end she was bloody and levitating, the next moment there was a gurgaling noise, and deep/heavy breathing voice staring at her breasts and she was completely, clean! and wat happened to tomas?
Anonymous said…
I just watched this movie nd it was horrible. That's all I can say about it
Anonymous said…
Dude, so many continuity errors! I was very disappointed in all Paranormal Activities and Entity. Like after the mom slits her wrists, notice how the Thomas's face isn't shown... in fact you never see his face. On top of that,in the very beginning they play a 9-1-1 call of Thomas flipping out, buuuut at the end... the type says he was found dead too.... where'd the 9-1-1 all go in the movie? The home phone rings when Thomas is home alone and he not only picks up a cell phone, but the screen is black and you can hear the beep as though it were a true home phone. Very good, but very bad.
Anonymous said…
It does not say Thomas was found dead at the end of the movie; it says that Samantha was found dead in the arms of her brother... That being said the movie was not horrible... not great but not horrible. I think the premise is good, I also think these guys did a better job of keeping me interested than Paranormal Activity... there was a lot of downtime in that one; this one not so much. I give it a C+
Anonymous said…
They say at the beginning of the move that Thomas killed himself in prison. I thought this movie was pretty good for what it was, it kept me interested.
Anonymous said…
I was thinking the same about the end of the film with the girl with blood all over her an then just a little gash after what ever picked up the camera to have a look i realy did think the brother died consisting the noises that was going on an i understand what you meant about the phone thing confusing that one but a good film
Unknown said…
If you really think about it this s*** does exist in real life you have to really really think about it. And the beginning credits and said that his sister this era pissed off mother got killed by the demon and when he was in person he killed himself. He did it because he knew that the court was not going to believe him about a demon killing his family or what was left of his family at least and killed himself.

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