Paranoia: 1.0

Starring:Jeremy Sisto, Lance Henriksen
Studio: Velocity / Thinkfilm
Product Type: DVD

Description

Paranoid computer programmer Simon (JEREMY SISTO) wakes up one morning to find a plain brown package in his apartment. He unwraps it, but there is nothing inside. Despite attempts to secure his apartment, the mysterious packages keep appearing. While security cameras watch his every move, Simon's hallucinations are pushing him to the boundaries of sanity. Frantically, Simon searches for answers to the mysterious forces taking over his life. Little does he know that the problem is a lot closer to home than he thinks.

Customer Reviews:

Truly creepy .......2006-11-28

While the theme of this movie is admittedly somewhat formulaic--corporate greed--the execution is definitely original and deserves real notice. Most impressive of all is the powerful atmosphere, which goes a long way towards giving the viewer the creeps. The filmmakers have essentially drowned their visuals in sepia--not a bad thing at all, and strongly reminiscent of, for example, City of Lost Children by Jeunet-Caro.

There's a really effective Lynch-Kafka thing going on here as our main character, Simon J (Jeremy Sisto) gets involved with his neighbors, his landlord, his friend the messenger, and his super, all of whom, he thinks, could be involved in the delivery inside his apartment of a succession of packages which, when unwrapped, are found to be empty.

Neighbors include the overly kinky Bruce Payne, the wacked inventor Udo Keir (he's great), and sexy nurse Deborah Kara Unger. The super, Lance Henriksen, is another creepy turn for this excellent character actor whose rendition of "Hallelujah I'm a Bum" makes you shudder just a bit. Keir's invention is Adam, a talking robot head that takes the place of its inventor's son (he never married and had children), and that mouths off to him and sometimes spews out decidedly paranoid visions to Simon when the latter comes to visit.

The messenger zooms back and forth on his zippy motorbike and tries to reassure Simon about everything. Simon periodically goes to the supermarket to buy groceries, all made by the Farm company, and all of which cost an arm and a leg.

The filmmakers, clever indeed, use a simplified, pared-down approach in creating their twilit, sepia-washed surreal world. When Simon leaves his building to go food shopping, nobody's on the street. When he walks down the hallway on his floor, no other tenants are there. This minimalist technique is effective in providing an isolated world--more precisely, Simon's isolated world. Not only can you not trust anybody, but because of that, you can't trust yourself.

The ending, while somewhat predictable, is nevertheless just as creepy as the rest of the film. In addition, it's always nice to see some lovemaking in the middle of a film like this, because you know that the supposed solace it provides to one or both of its participants is false--that is, the relief they feel is temporary...like life itself (oy, pretentious).

For a shoestring budget effort, this is indeed a very nice piece of work. Highly recommended.

Four stars : a unique film.......2006-03-08

Well I just have to say that this film was wonderfully coloured in a unique rich brightness.

It's not a bad movie and well worthy of a watch; it has solid stars and good acting. I did not regret having a look at this at all even though It not a revealing film to say the least.

Movies like this are a good move away from the norm that's out there.

I recommend this.

Only Because of Jeremy!!!.......2006-03-03

OK, I gave this movie 3 stars only because Jeremy Sisto!!!! is the main character in this movie. Had it been anyone else, I'd give it a 2 star rating. Sisto plays Simon, a paranoid computer programmer living in an apartment building. One day, a empty package is left at his door.... and then again and again. This really makes Simon extremely paranoid and he has a state of the art security system installed in his apartment. We see strange characters in this film by way of the other tenants. This movie will keep you guessing however it does have it's boring moments but overall, it's a "different" movie and worth the rental fee.

Good, Atmospheric Visuals, But the Story about '1.0' Needs To Be Updated.......2005-08-22

`Paranoia 1.0' is written and directed by Jeff Renfroe and Marteinn Thorsson - unique partnership (former born in America, latter in Iceland). The film stars Jeremy Sisto as computer programmer Simon who believes someone is trying to control his life - hence `paranoia' - and Deborah Kara Anger (credited Deborah Anger), Udo Kier, Lance Henriksen and Bruce Payne all as the tenants living in the same old building. Eugene Byrd also appears as delivery man who plays a key role in the film.

You might have already known a few things about the film. If so, my summery of the plot does not add much to them. In fact, the story is all about Jeremy Sisto's character Simon, to whose room a package is delivered. Actually, Simon finds the box already left in his room, and he at first thinks it is a break-in case. What is really strange is, however, the package has nothing in it, and it keeps coming to him day after day. And they are all empty.

The tenants are all strange characters - we know, see the cast - and act strangely, well, that's what Simon thinks, and he first knocks on the door of his neighbor Bruce Payne, who Simon suspects must have left the mysterious empty packages in his room. The strange guy seems to know something, or maybe not, but whatever the truth may be, it is related to some nano-techiniques - Version 1:0 in this case.

One of the strongest points of `Paranoia 1.0' is its visuals. The gloomy atmosphere in the building is impressive with the effective brown lighting. The film's ambiguous setting (of time and place) is also intriguing - perhaps it is near future, with no particular place. But the film could be much better with a less obvious theme, in this case its conspiracy theory which is not as original as the film thinks it is. It is as old as many urban legend-like stories about subliminal messages - such as famous (but curiously vague) story about people rushing to buy Coca Cola in theater after watching the screen. John Carpenter has already used this supposedly true story in `They Live' in 1988. So, things about, say, `Nature Fresh Milk' in `Paranoia 1.0' could be too obvious a clue for you. I for one wanted some more twists, or original ideas, in this part. Empty boxes and paranoia are not enough for me.

I really liked `Paranoia 1.0' `s good visuals and curiously attractive ambiguity like David Lynch films, but when it attempts to tell the conspiracy part, it suddenly loses its magic (to me), because it explains the too obvious things. If only the characters talked less about the secrets, which should be left for us to imagine. But that's only my impression.

Hauntingly Beautiful.......2005-06-12

Science fiction has never really caught my attention as much as the thrilling and intense "Paranoia 1.0" starring indie hero Jeremy Sisto ("May", "Thirteen") and Deborah Kara Unger ("Thirteen"). To tell you the honest truth, it is hard to know exactly what is going on throughout the movie, but somehow it keeps you hanging, wanting to see what will happen next. Not only is this due to the wonderful, clever script, but it is due to the great acting and the beautiful way in which the film itself was shot. It is such a weird, neurotic (if not hypnotic) film, one must keep his/her attention at full force. To put in a nutshell, "Paranoia 1.0" is a wonderful sci-fi/psychological thriller that will give your heart a run for its blood money and your mind, a twist for the better. Highly recommended.

Average customer rating:

Noise & Paranoia 1.0

Manufacturer: Velocity / Thinkfilm
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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