Paranormal Activity (A-)

[dalmatianjaws]

As near as I can tell, Paranormal Activity utilizes a single moment of computer generated visual effects. The rest seems to be old-fashioned trickery. Doors move on their own, invisible shapes cast shadows on the wall, and deep, resonating sounds emanate from the walls. And Hollywood should take note, because such old-school techniques are what kept the budget to around $15,000 - and the film is more terrifying and entertaining than every major studio-released horror film in the past 20 years.

Every time a new horror movie is released (especially the ones touted as "the scariest horror movie you've ever seen") I get my hope up that I'll go to the theater and recapture that intense feeling like the first time I glimpsed The Exorcist on cable television and had to fumble for the TV remote with my eyes closed.

Tonight, after watching Paranormal Activity, I felt that way again. As part of Paramount's unique marketing campaign, the film is only being release for a few midnight showings at select cities. One assumes this is to create word of mouth and ticket sales large enough to justify wide distribution. Judging by the packed 1am showing, that shouldn't be a problem.

It's hard to talk about this film because it's probably not what you think it's going to be, and what it actually is shouldn't be ruined before you enter that theater and there's no turning back. Suffice to say, it's MUCH scarier than your average ghost story.

This is the latest entry in the "found footage" sub-genre, which started all the way back with 1999's The Blair Witch Project, found its peak with Cloverfield (2007), and reached seeming perfection with [REC] in 2008. But Paranormal Activity proves there are still plenty of thrills left in the genre.

The movie has no opening or ending credits, no title sequence. It simply begins with a title plate stating that Paramount (the distribution company) would like to thank the local sheriff's department for their co-operation. Then the footage begins, without fanfare. There is no lighting, no artistic cinematography ... the footage plays out for 99 minutes, documenting the the lives of Katie (Katie Featherston), Micah (Micah Sloat), and their suspiciously noisy house.

Critics will be divided on the actually quality of this film. It's undeniably frightening. As the camera begins to capture paranormal events, night after night, with increasing intensity, the tension in the audience is palpable. But because the film never once breaks the "found footage" gimmick, it also does not obey a normal three-act structure. Many of the scenes and camera angles are repeated since Micah places the camera in the same place each evening while the couple sleeps. Many of the shots are hard to see in the dark and often reaction shots are lost because the filmmakers were limited by one camera. However, this also lends to the realism. The film's sole intention is to scare you, and it succeeds largely because it looks and feels like stuff you find on YouTube, making the terror uncomfortably real.

Is it the scariest movie ever made? You'll have to make that judgement for yourself ... but I will say this: it's 4am, and I don't want to finish this review because I'll have to turn off my light.

[ad4m22]

Paranormal Activity Review

Before the review proper begins, please answer this simple question: are you scared of the dark? If the answer is yes, then this is a movie that is going to scare the everliving shit out of you. If the answer is no, then you weren’t going to watch this anyway, so let’s not waste time trying to win you over.

Twentysomething couple Micah and Katie believe they have a ghost in their house so Micah does what any rash young man would do: he buys a camera to document the goings on while they try to get rid of it.

If that sounds like a weak synopsis, that’s because there isn’t a story in any kind of the traditional sense. There is no script, there is no three act structure and there is no pacing. Things go bump in the night and that’s what you’re waiting for.

The movie is split into several chunks. In the day, the characters get their separate points across and all the exposition surrounding the ghost comes through. Micah is sceptical, a brash jock who actually wants the ghost to cause trouble so he can see it for himself. Katie, though, is the long-suffering woman and when the shit starts hitting the fan, you can see the fear in her eyes – it’s the same fear that’s rattling through yours.

At night, however, a slow dread falls over the film. As the spirit haunting them gets slowly more powerful and more vicious, the intensity of its actions picks up in speed and pace until you, like the characters, don’t want night to fall.

It’s a rare horror film these days that manages to actually horrify and the way it does it is delightfully simple: you care about the characters. They are so well rounded, so well performed, so believable and so raw and human that you’re almost watching yourself on screen. That’s you up there, shivering in fright – you don’t want terrible things to happen to you, do you? No, of course not, so the incredible arc the characters are forced to go through over the course of the days of film is one very similar to the audience’s own. Micah dismisses the psychic out of hand in his first visit. By the hour mark, both you and he are practically begging the psychic to walk back in and sort it all out.

On a filmmaking level, it’s utterly incredible. The film appears to have cost the price of the camera to make and the level of imagination on offer is simply astounding. Doors slam on their own, footprints appear on the floor, Katie is dragged screaming down the hallway and it’s so convincing that the part of your brain wondering just how this was made shuts up completely and hides in a corner sobbing in fright.

And then the film plays its trump card: just when you think you understand the rules of the game and the malevolent force watching over them, everything changes. In the interest of terror, this shall not be spoiled here, but it goes without saying that it’s a brown trousers moment.

The shortest and sweetest way to sum this film up – although it won’t do it any justice at all – is to call it ‘Blaire Witch in a House’. That should be enough to tell you whether or not this film is going to get under your skin and live there. It will if you let it, and in doing so you’ll experience something truly extraordinary: genuine fear. If not, continue sleeping soundly with the lights off, just don’t- OHMYGODWHATTHEHELLISTHA-

4 stars

[Sheridan Passell]

This movie seems to divide people into the 'really love it' or 'really not affected by it' camps. In other words, it's the new Blair Witch.

[ad4m22]

Not a bad thing considering it's made millions already...

[Robert King AKA FrostedPeggs]

TERRIBLE FILM PERIOD!

[dalmatianjaws]

It really splits people, but I adored the simplicity and genuine scares. The sequel is pants.

[Robert King AKA FrostedPeggs]

I thought the sequel was worse soley based on the fact that they didn't stick to their own story line from the first one. Also it just sucked, but it really is a matter of opinion I'm not reallt into the whole first person 'found footage' thing.