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30 Nights of Paranormal Activity with the Devil Inside the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Movie Review
Written by Karin Crighton
DVD released by Twentieth Century Fox
Written and directed by Craig Moss
2013, 80 minutes, Rated R
DVD released on January 15th, 2013
Starring:
Kathryn Fiore as Dana Galen
Flip Schultz as Aaron Galen
Olivia Alexander as Liz Galen
Arturo del Puerto as Felipe
Peter Gilroy as Taylor
Tyler Phillips as Evan
Review:
I’m embarrassed I laughed at any point during 30 Nights of Paranormal Activity with the Devil Inside the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. But I did. Several times.
In the typical fashion of these hastily-derived spoof movies, the story is a mishmash of a dozen films that came out over the past few years. The plot centers around Dana (played by Kathryn Fiore), who is keeping a terrible secret: when she was a child, her father (French Stewart) murdered the cast of Oscar-award winning film The Artist. Now a presence has found her in her new home with her husband, stepdaughter, and new baby.
There are too many side stories crammed into this film to make a really strong spoof of Paranormal Activity, and the movie drags while it tries to fit all the jokes the writers could think of into the thin plot. That being said, there are some really funny bits, like the Ghost Brothers, a clever jab at “reality” ghost hunting shows, and an Apple joke that threw me for a loop.
What, you ask, sets 30 Nights from all those other straight-to-DVD spoofs that pollute your Netflix and Amazon suggestions? Besides being untainted by the Wayans brothers and their everything-can-be-a-dick-joke style, the acting in this movie is believable. While writer/director Craig Moss did throw in plenty of raunch, he wrote a script that is ultimately about a family struggling to find peace in their new home and roles; something genuine and relatable and never achieved by the Scary Movie.
Olivia Alexander is the standout talent as Liz Galen. She never pushes too far for a laugh but holds your attention whenever she’s on camera. Peter Gilroy and Tyler Phillips are wonderfully ridiculous as the Ghost Brothers Evan and Taylor. Kathryn Fiore and Flip Schultz are fully committed to their roles too, never judging the silliness of a line or action and letting us enjoy the parodies as they unfold. I can’t even find fault with French Stewart. Frankly, I think that says it all.
30 Nights isn’t something to pay full price for, but if you want a mindless laugh and like ripping on overblown horror movies, give this disc a spin.
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