Paranormal Activity is a Surprising Success!

Rating: 10/10 (20 November 2012)

Paranormal Activity succeeds as a horror movie because of its simplicity. This movie fits the criteria of a modern horror film, including scares, realism, and fear. From the beginning, this movie emphasizes the believability of the young couple's situation, creating fearful audience members. Most of the movie is shot from the perspective of a hand-held camera, like the viewers are watching a surveillance video. The key roles in this movie, Micah and Katie, have chemistry on screen together and are able to portray the story line in a realistic manner. Since the actors are not given a script, and are only given certain direction from Peli, the director, they are asked to come up with their own lines. By not being structured, which makes it more realistic, they pretend the scenario is happening to them and can react as to how they would in real life. Micah and Katie feel trapped in the movie because they cannot escape this demon. Likewise, the audience feels trapped because the emotions of the actors become the emotion of the audience. Another reason why this horror movie is a success at the box office is for the scare tactics. Whenever the night scenes arise in the movie, the fans know that something is about to happen; it's just a matter of when. Timing is an important device directors use in order to make the audience jump out of their seat, according to director Steven Spielberg. The scares are plotted out perfectly in this movie, intensifying as the movie progresses. One of the first nights in the three-week time span, the bedroom door moves slightly on its own. Towards the end of the three weeks Micah was filming, the covers on their bed start to move without any explanation. The demon/evil spirit is never actually seen on the screen; sometimes the unknown can be scarier. Music is an effective device for horror movies, however, silence, in this case, is more effective. The audience watches the screen intently for something to happen, and all of a sudden a loud noise occurs or something happens which makes the viewers jump. The audience does not have to believe in paranormal activity in order to admit it is effective as a device. Although this movie has excessive hype before it came out in theaters, many movie critics and fans thought highly of this "underdog" film. Paranormal Activity is a successful horror film that will continue to frighten generations of viewers because of its simplistic story, scare tactics, and realistic actors and plot.