Paranormal Activity

Rating: 9/10 (24 October 2009)

Low budget indie films have been a good way for amateur filmmakers to break out for a long time. Kevin Smith broke out with a black and white movie made for $67,000 called Clerks; El Mariachi, made for only $7,000, turned Robert Rodriguez into a big name rebel director in the 90's. Horror is a harder medium to make it in the low budget arena. A field dominated by gory and effects driven movies these days, horror saw a mega hit in 1999's Blair Witch Project. Made for only $11,000, Blair Witch Project has often been duplicated, but the success was never repeated. Here we are, 10 years later, and a new phenomenon has come around with Paranormal Activity, a movie that doesn't try to be Blair Witch, but exceeds expectations. Made also for only $11,000, Paranormal Activity has made a huge splash in the mainstream breaking records in the process (in it's first weekend it broke $7 million in only 200 theaters), but is it really worth all the fuss? After a series of "supernatural" events have happened in their house, Micah, decides to get a video camera to substantiate their claims of a haunting. Katie (who's engaged to be engaged to Micah) has had these supernatural events happen to her since she was 8, she wants them to stop, and while she's not entirely comfortable with Micah recording the events, she goes along with it. They meet with a psychic who feels they're dealing with a demon and suggests a demonologist to help them take care of their problem. Micah doesn't take it seriously, and believes they can get rid of their visitor without outside help. Despite Katie's warnings and worry, Micah keeps trying to provoke the entity. Tensions build, tempers flare, and the paranormal activity gets more intense till it finally reaches the breaking point.
Originally bought by Paramount with the intention of owning the rights to remake the movie with a better budget and bigger names, Paranormal Activity fares better without the higher production values of a big budget film. Shot with one hand-held camera and without a score, the movie feels completely real. The use of unknown actors also gives the film a more authentic feel, and it helps that they don't really feel like they're acting as well. As each day unfolds, we find ourselves prisoners in the house, which adds to the claustrophobic feel of the movie. We learn every nook and cranny of the house, so we notice the moving shadows, and the changes that occur all the more later on in the film.
All in all, Paranormal Activity is a very well done horror film, stripping away many of the conventions we see in horror film, relying on real scares rather than gore or music cues to instill a sense of tension and fear in the audience. I highly recommend seeing this in theaters if you have the opportunity, the atmosphere of seeing this with others really helps with adding fear to the proceedings as large groups intensify the feeling among those in the group. For those of you planning on taking the children, there is foul language, but on top of that the film does start off slowly and the more nuanced scenes may be lost on a younger audience. Definitely give this film as a chance as it is worth the hype, even if only for the last scene of the movie!