One of the scariest films ever!

Rating: 10/10 (17 October 2009)

Fear. One of the most essential and loved emotions ever in the movies. Does Paranormal Activity bring the fear? It sure does. Paranormal Activity is one of the rare horror movies that is actually scary and that makes you afraid to sleep. Many horror movies these days fall the way of Sorority Row and the Final Destination series-full of clichés and lacking scary material. In fact, in a day where the horror movie is not actually scary, it is hard to even call it a genre anymore. Paranormal Activity disobeys the standards for the new horror movie genre and brings the old version back with good film-making and great thrills.
This spooky little film starts out easy and almost a comedy. It's about a couple, Katie and Micah (pronounced Meeka), who have been experiencing what they think is a haunting. The two quarrel while remaining hopelessly in love with each other. Micah decides to set up a camera system to appease Katie who is hoping to give Micah a glimpse of a ghost which she believes to be in the house. The heart of the film is its night scenes which depict the couple sleeping in bed while the ghost (it's actually something slightly different) "attacks". The film is made in the "shaky cam" style, but the camera is not very shaky and audiences concerned about nausea should not be.
Paranormal Activity works primarily for the reason that it continually mounts fear. As I said before, the beginning starts out comedy-like, gradually transitions into horror, and then just goes wild. The night scenes are scariest because they prey on one of our most common fears: the unknown predator. The viewer knows what it is that is haunting them, yet they never get even a quick look at what it is that is doing this other than its shadow. The night scenes begin with shutting doors, banging noises, and booming noises in the background. This may not sound like anything new, but after this phase is done, the film just keeps getting stranger. By the end, the film is so scary that the viewer just hopes that there isn't another night scene coming, that everything is going to be okay, that the movie will be over so they won't have to endure any more fear. No, Oren Peli, the director, does not give up. Once you've gotten into his trap of this movie, you can't leave. Peli has made a film so scary that even I, a person who really doesn't get scared by horror movies, might have trouble sleeping for the next few days.
This film is absolutely one to catch in theaters. Part of the fun of the movie seeing the audience's reaction. The film was so scary that during a screening in Montreal, a person fainted and was carted out of the theater by the ambulance. Alright, nothing that exciting happened to me, but yes, the reactions were very interesting. However, it was so scary that one woman sitting behind me kept murmuring to herself "Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod!" during the night scenes. Later, the "ohmygods" turned into a scream which, at the very end, changed into her crying because she was so scared. Many people didn't have as intense a reaction as this, but almost everyone was gasping when scary things happened. I even found myself gasping at the screen at certain parts, something I have never found myself doing before at a movie.
It's hard to believe that Paranormal Activity was made for $11,000. It brings the scares of a $20 million-ish movie. Oren Peli takes the audience and scares them until the very end which is easily one of the most jolting endings to a movie ever. Don't watch the trailers! They spoil the ending! Anyway, Paranormal Activity is one of the scariest movies ever and will definitely spook any horror fan. It's a must see for people who care about movies and even for people just looking for fun. I know that I've never had as much fun watching a movie in theaters before. Paranormal Activity is not only one of the best films of the year, but also one of the most frightening films of all time.