Some great, terrifying aspects, but it drags, and it really is low budget in spirit

Rating: 6/10 (15 November 2009)

Paranormal Activity (2007)
Don't you hate it when a preview turns out to have all the great moments of a movie? Well, that's sort of true here--and they are great moments. But there is a lot of waiting around, and a lot of suspending disbelief to make this simple movie fly.
Yes, it's a super low budget effort, and good for them. I love the spirit of it, and the plot proceeds steadily, if with a lot of deliberation, a steady progression to more and more horror. The format, showing the main couple sleeping each night in a kind of home-brew surveillance camera is clever, and builds suspense each time. It's a smart situation, and if it had been smart all through, it would have succeeded even with its beginner's credentials.
But oh well. Why, for example, do they refuse to turn on the lights in some scenes? And why do they refuse to just leave--at least to go to MacDonald's or something for a breather? The lead young woman is a student, but you wouldn't know it. I like her in general, and that helps. And he's likable in his annoying ways, too, and he does what for a living-- daytrading? Is that still a job? Enough to pay for a big house in San Diego? Well, you get the point. There are holes in this cheesy movie to make the Swiss proud.
Does it work anyway? Sometimes. You won't be angry leaving the theater. But you'll be happier watching it at home--it's all about being afraid to go to your own bed, and so might as well make it too close for comfort. The obvious precedent in Blair Witch Project is tough because that earlier movie is so much better--better in concept, better acting, more range in the filming, and an amazing ending. Here...well, give it a whirl, with all these doubts in mind. It ain't half bad.