MovieChat Forums > Paranormal Asylum (2013) Discussion > Mediocre.. but had potential.. (spoilers...

Mediocre.. but had potential.. (spoilers)


I rented this movie from redbox today as I'm home sick and wanted something to entertain myself. I had never heard of Typhoid Mary, so before watching this movie I did a little research on the web. The actual story of Mary Mallon was very interesting and left me excited for this movie.

This movie left me with more questions then answers. The movie opens with the main character, Mark, messing around with his camera. A young girl comes up to him and informs him that she wants to be an actress. She repeatedly bothers him, asking questions, and trying to show him her acting skills. Then as his friend shows up this young woman just disappears. No mention of this, and not really important to the movie itself at all. You'd think Mark would ask his friend "hey did you see that chick?" or mention something, but nope nothing. Just weird.

When Mark and Andy first go to the woods surrounding the old asylum Mark encounters the ghost of an old woman. He records her image on camera and even gets a shot of her very up close angrily mumbling incoherent gibberish. He freaks out, and really, who wouldn't? He yells for Andy, and asks his friend if he too saw the old woman. Andy didn't see her. He shrugs it off telling Mark, "it was probably some old lady collecting twigs and acorns for her class in the retirement home!" Really? So it seems perfectly logical that an old woman would decide to do this on the property of an abandoned mental asylum? Mark seems to take this as a logical explanation and doesn't even bother showing Andy the footage he captured of the old woman. Because hell, what better place to go on a nature scavenger hunt then creepy abandoned asylums? Also didn't anyone wonder where this old woman went? I mean she's at least in her 80's, they assume she just booked it? This whole encounter doesn't make sense.

None of the characters were particularly likable. None of them seemed to even like each other. Andy didn't care about his fiancee much at all. After she decides to hold a private seance in the middle of the night and then supposedly becomes possessed, walks to the asylum, and then is inexplicably dragged across the floor of the mental asylum, Andy's solution is to let her sleep it off. Yep. What a wonderful husband-to-be. He doesn't much care about his friend Mark either. He yells at him multiple times and doesn't take his advice about taking literally anything.

Later on in the movie, Andy needs to borrow a boat to get some photos. He begs his half brother. And after repeatedly telling Andy no, he finally gives in when offered pot. He warns Andy multiple times not to scratch or mess up the boat. So you're expecting a pretty awesome boat right? Nope. It's this tiny little thing with two lawn chairs tied to it. I mean really?

The best part of the movie was probably when the possessed fiancee, Michelle, who at this point has pretty much turned into Mary, starts to receipt the recipe for some type of stew. I mean, I'm pretty sure it was meant to be scary but a ghost giving me a recipe just doesn't cut it for me.

In the end you didn't really know who was the bad guy. You didn't know if Mary had been purposely giving people typhoid fever or not. Although you can assume that she was from the menacing way she talked about cooking. But you also could feel some sympathy for her because she was allegedly raped, used essentially as a medical test rat, and then put in isolation till she begged for her own death. So yeah, you feel for her. But, at the same time if she's this crazy woman who's trying to infect people with typhoid (not to mention she killed Andy) it seems fit that she be put in isolation.

This movie was okay I suppose. It kept me entertained and I didn't guess the plot twist at the end. But while I didn't predict it, it also wasn't an amazing, game changer either. Just kind of a meh movie. I think the story of Mary Mallon is interesting, but this take on it? Not so much.

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I agree with most of what you said. I did, however, like that Mary was portrayed sympathetically. Not just as some completely evil entity. I thought that was actually a good choice even if it leaves you without a clear villain. I guess the blonde chick is the closest thing to a clear villain but you don't know it until the very end.

oh and LOLOLOL check out this link. Can you believe this movie is actually a best seller? WTF?!?!?

http://s21.postimg.org/h75djbsh3/paranormal_asylum_walmart.jpg



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