A Very Scary Film.

Rating: 10/10 (12 October 2009)

I saw Paranormal Activity late Saturday night on Oct. 10. I can say with utter certainty that it is the only horror film I've ever seen that's gotten me to shield my eyes during some scenes (somewhat, anyway). I'm not exactly an expert on horror films, and there are quite a few I've not seen yet, but I've seen my fair share. This film is among the scariest, if not *the* scariest, that I've ever seen.
Things begin quietly enough, with the viewers introduced first to Micah, the man behind the camera, and then to his lovely girlfriend, Katie, with whom he is living. He explains that he wants to record any of the paranormal activity Katie says she has witness on camera, if it actually occurs. Katie is initially resistant to the idea, but goes along with it.
Katie's keys wind up in the middle of the floor downstairs during the first night. Their door moves on its own on the third night. Minor things at first. Little, subtle things that catch you off guard, but make you think "This is nothing! I can take it!". My friend, how wrong you'll find you are.
When the couple consults a psychic regarding the haunting, they learn it's being carried out by a demon who has attached itself to Katie. The psychic cannot help them, though, because he is not a demonologist, so he refers to them to one. This seems to unnerve Katie a bit, especially as things escalate. It doesn't help when, one night, she gets out of bed and turns to stare at it (and Micah) for over two hours, eventually going downstairs to sit on a bench outside. Micah eventually wakes up and looks for her and tries to coax her back in, but she refuses, saying she wants to stay outside. He gets fed up and goes back in to get some blankets because he intends to stay out with her, but suddenly she's back in their room. She says that she has no memory of what just happened at all and doubts that she was sleepwalking.
What I really love about this film is how subtle the events occurring in the house are at first, slowly building as the atmosphere of creepiness eventually turns to outright fear. Yes, "atmosphere". "Creepiness". This is not a film loaded with over-the-top visuals and special effects. This is not a film for those who want to see a scary-looking demon step out from the shadows and laugh some deep-bellied laugh. You won't get that, because that's implausible. This movie is built around atmosphere, a slow plot, and most of all, believability. The things happening in the house are things that actually scare people when they're up at night in their darkened homes. Floorboards creaking, a door swinging a little on its own, some bangs and footsteps...these are the things people are terrified of witnessing at home, and they are exactly how the events in Paranormal Activity begin to unfold.
A couple bangs over the course of a few nights are heard, quite loud ones. When the two go to investigate, they found a chandelier downstairs swinging on its own, as if due to an earthquake...but nothing else is moving. It's dead silent aside from their voices.
Micah decides to put some baby powder in front of their bedroom door, as well as some in the hallway leading away from their room. The idea is that, if something really is in the house, whatever it is may step in the baby powder and leave tracks.
And that's exactly what happens. As Micah and Katie sleep, footsteps are heard. These are not the typical pitter-patter of human steps. No, these are louder, more purposeful, and much heavier than that. They are the steps of the demon, and as it enters their room, it leaves tracks in the baby powder. At first, you may wonder why a demon would bother doing this, but that's what's so creepy about it. The demon doesn't care that it's leaving tracks. If anything, he wants them to be found to further frighten the house's inhabitants, and it works.
Micah wants to experiment further by getting a Ouija board, but Katie absolutely refuses because she doesn't want the demon becoming even more powerful by communicating with it. Micah promises not to *buy* one, but instead *borrows* one. Katie is furious and demands that he not use it as they both leave the house for several hours. Despite Micah not using the board, though, an invisible force is seen moving the cursor around, and eventually the board is set on fire. When they return, Micah sees a strange image burned onto the board, but Katie refuses to hear any of it.
Over the course of the movie, Katie is gradually unnerved and her fears are fed upon by the demon. It is made stronger by the fact that Micah and Katie argue with each other over the best way to handle the situation, with Katie wanting to call the demonologist and Micah saying he can handle it on his own. Micah challenges the demon to show itself, claiming its acts are pointless and useless. This seems to anger the demon and make it even more powerful.
In a way, this film is a bit like Audition, the Japanese horror flick released ten years ago that scared the hell out of everyone. The whole movie builds up 'til the last 15 minutes or so in Audition. In Paranormal Activity, stuff gets real during the last 20 to 30 minutes. That's when the creepiness felt during the rest of the movie is transformed into outright fear and terror.
But I won't give the ending away. If you've read this much of the review, I suggest you go see this movie. Now. My review doesn't really do it justice. You need to experience it for yourself.