A film that leaves you exhausted, drained and scared of strange noises

Rating: 10/10 (20 October 2009)

For a film that has been around since 2007, been searching for a distributor, made with a budget that wouldn't even cover the cost of cigars smoked by Jack Nicholson on a major film, was blown up from WOM by REGULAR PEOPLE, stars nobody and made by nobody, it doesn't get much better than this. This is a celebration of horror that I grew up with. This had just as much effect on me as some of the classics that I hold so dear.
I think this is what horror is all about. If you watch Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and some of the other greats, it is very similar to this film. There is very little blood, very little violence. It is all imagined. You never do see the girl go through the meat hook in TCM. You never really see Myers do anything incredibly overt to many people in Halloween. But you see shadows, you hear breathing, you see a flicker of a candle, you hear a dog bark, you see a giant man in face of skin and you see the surroundings he lives in. Blair Witch Project did the same thing. The mind can mess with you and Paranormal Activity epitomizes that.
Paranormal Activity is the story about a somewhat cocky man named Micah and his live in girlfriend Katie. Katie, in her own words, has been somewhat haunted her entire life by some kind of malevolent spirit. The couple decides to videotape themselves while the sleep to see if they can find out what it is that goes bump in the night. Micah doesn't really believe in demons or ghosts or spirits, and he is more interested in playing with a ouija board and getting some "cool" things on tape. What he is in for is ultimately something he never could have foreseen.
The couple invites a psychic over to the house to see if he can pick up any negative energy or provide them with any answers. In the best part of the first half hour of the film, the psychic tells them that demons are not to be messed with and that he can feel a presence in the house. Soon after he leaves, the real trouble starts.
Once they begin recording the strange activities while the sleep, loud, invasive noises seem to be an every evening occurrence. And then soon there after, Katie begins to feel the presence of the demon. The middle of the film is a frightening and chilling experience, the last ten minutes will have you cowering with fear.
I personally can't stand films like 1999's The Haunting, or any of the other myriad of inferior pg-13 horror films that have been made ever since the recrudescence of horror with Scream. Film makers started to realize again that there is a huge market for horror and if you do it right (low budget, moderate scares) you can make a profit. But if you do it wrong (big budget, buckets of special effects and potty mouthed unlikable characters who all grew up in a module) it becomes one of the terrible films of your life.
SLIGHT SPOILERS BELOW.
Paranormal Activity is a stroke of genius because it doesn't have the budget to show you a demon, not in the demonic literal sense. But it does have the brilliance to use what it has to its advantage. We're all afraid of what goes bump in the night. We're all afraid of what we don't know and can't understand. And we're all afraid of the worlds that are mysteries to us. By using possession, demonology and lots of bumps in the night, this film has managed to scare the yoyos out of many, many people. I don't agree that this film has 10 minutes of tension or 10 minutes of scares. I'll agree that the last 10 minutes of the film is some of the scariest scenes ever filmed, but the buildup to the ending is just as well done. I guess some people (and there's nothing wrong with this, just different things that scare different people) aren't bothered by what the mind does to you. some people need more of a visual stimulus. It's kind of like phone sex. Sometimes all you need is words and a vivid imagination and it's almost as good as the real thing.
Paranormal Activity has stayed with me long after I have left the theatre. This film has proved to me and other horror lovers and non horror lovers that you can make a scary film. I love the movie, love everything about it. Horror has blessed me with another surreal experience and for that I am grateful.
10/10