Paranormal Activity

Rating: Null/10 (30 December 2009)

When even the studio doesn't know what to do with your movie, it may be a sign that you may have stumbled upon something truly unique. Although many doubters may contest this fact, this is exactly what Paranormal Activity is. Using the now familiar 'found footage' device seen so often in the horror genre since the seminal Blair Witch Project (Cloverfield, Rec), the film mines its conventions to their full effect, challenging and destabilising those age-old haunted house tropes along the way. What follows is a masterclass in subtlety and minimalism, accompanied by a brutally slow build up of tension that will satisfy even the most experienced horror fan.
Made over seven days on a budget of $11,000, the film tells the story of couple Katie and Micah's attempts to capture their suspected haunting on film, with an ever-escalating sum of spooky encounters putting pressure on their relationship and placing their lives in danger at the same time. Once they discover that the haunting is not a ghost after all, but a malevolent demon after our heroine, things start to get really hairy and the film barely lets up from here. And in fact, Paranormal Activity dispenses with any concept of complicated storyline or plot, simply using a repeated situation and a terrifyingly mundane static bedroom shot to exert a relentless psychological grip on the viewer that will never let go.
And it is in this particular shot that the bulk of the film's unquestionable powers lie. As well as serving to violate the formerly safe refuge of the bedroom, the unwavering focus on such a familiar space encourages us to inspect every shadow and crevice in such detail as to heighten the impact of the slightest noise or movement. On reflection, the minimal budget allows for our imaginations to run wild, making the film inhabit our own fears and nocturnal phobias, rather than having it spoon-fed like in so much modern Hollywood product.
The reason for the film's phenomenal impact on audiences (it made $9.1 million in its first week of release, despite only being released in fewer than 200 US cinemas) could well lie in our boredom of the overwhelming volume of 'torture-porn' movies we have been faced with lately, and the fact that it has out-grossed the recent Saw VI says a lot for its commitment to be different. However, even with its authentic edge, Paranormal Activity is still a horror movie, with much of the character development and slow-burning tension abandoned in favour of a spectacular conclusion. As a result, the film doesn't pack as much as punch as it deserves.
While no doubt an outstanding addition to the canon of noughties horror film, like so many other movies the colossal hype may hinder more than help. It definitely benefits from a theatre environment, where every chill is multiplied by the tense figures all around you, but it is this violation of the domestic space that is the real clout of the film, making a home-viewing interesting to imagine. Like Katie, we are torn between closing our eyes (or stopping the camera) and continuing to witness, and we pay a grave price.