Running
Time: 1 Hour & 25 Minutes
Cast:
Katie
Featherston-Katie
Micah
Sloat-Micah
Mark
Fredrichs-Ghost Expert
Amber
Armstrong-Amber
Ashley
Palmer-Girl on Internet
Directed
by Oren Peli
 |
| I don't think we're alone... |
Katie
(Katie Featherston) and Micah (Micah Sloat) is a young couple living together
but they’ve been having some weird disturbances in their home. During a visit
with a psychic ghost expert (Mark Fredrichs), we learn that they may be plagued
by a demon and that it seems to be after Katie herself, who has experienced
these hauntings ever since she was eight years old. An excited Micah decides to
get a camera and, mounted on a tripod, film any weird occurrences in their
bedroom. Not surprisingly, strange things begin to happen around the hours of 2
and 3 AM, such as the bedroom door moving a few inches or random objects being
dropped to the floor. As these events occur, a low droning noise can be heard.
Micah’s excitement continues to grow, much to the chagrin of Katie but as the
days go on, things start to get worse, pushing the young couple’s psychological
state past the breaking point.
“Paranormal Activity” works best when you know
the basic premise and nothing else. You’ll no doubt notice that everything is
very simple and naturalistic; there’s basically one set (the house) and outside
of two other people, the focus is always on Katie and Micah. This is a film
that plays upon our primal fear of the unknown, where small occurrences in the
night can ‘instantly transform the most mundane location into a place of
menace’ (James Berardinelli, ReelViews). Peli takes a ‘less is more’ approach,
using just sound cues and moving shadows to create a sense of atmosphere and
suspense. Many of the scenes are just the camera showing the couple sleeping
and you’ll be sitting there knowing that ‘something’ is about to happen but
just when you begin to relax your guard, a loud thud can be heard in the hallway
and the bedroom door just suddenly slams shut! You never actually see anything,
but this is actually a good thing and leaves you to use your imagination to try to fill
in the blanks. Unfortunately, those who grew up with mainstream horror or
today’s torture porn might find “Paranormal Activity” too slow an experience,
possibly even downright boring. People who keep an open mind for the
unconventional will praise the film but from what I’ve seen as I left the
theater, most of the audience was truly on the edge of their seats, minus a few
hecklers who can’t keep their mouths shut.
The acting feels very real; Katie
and Micah’s mannerisms around each other would fool most people into thinking
they were a real-life couple if it weren’t for the mention of Paramount Pictures
during its opening credits. Micah’s macho-man demeanor creates a few funny
moments despite the film’s tense atmosphere. While inspecting the house he
talks aloud whether moving the door a few inches was the demon’s ‘master plan’
or if he’s just doing ‘random sh*t.’ Another scene had him standing in a room
with a microphone and, in an effort to communicate, he asks several questions
such as what the demon’s ‘quest’ is, whether it can speak English next time or
if he should get a Ouija board. The latter produces a noticeable inhuman growl
when Micah plays back the recording. Katie is against getting an Ouija board
and makes her boyfriend promise not to buy one but of course, he finds a
loophole and instead, borrows one! Speaking of Katie, her downward spiral is
utterly convincing and her growing spats with her boyfriend helps create
a growing sense of unease as the situation escalates out of control. Near the end of
the film, she utters that ‘everything will be fine from now on,’ and this is
where you’re likely to go, ‘oh sh*t!’ The ending will definitely hit you like a
hammer so it goes without warning that you should brace yourself if you’re
planning to go see it (preferably, no, definitely not alone!).
“Paranormal
Activity” took quite a while to reach the multiplex as after it was finished,
the film was screened in 2007 at the Screamfest Film Festival where a DVD copy
made its way into the offices of Miramax. Although accepted into the Slamdance
Film Festival, no one was interested in picking the film up for major
distribution. By 2008, the DVD ended up at DreamWorks and after being viewed by
director Steven Spielberg, a remake was green-lighted with Peli as director.
Fortunately, Peli decided to do a one-time screening of his original version to
see how a real audience would react. Viewers began to walk out soon after,
which seemed like a bad sign, but the real reason was that they were genuinely
scared of the film. It was at this point that all attempts for a remake were
disbanded and the film released as originally made. Released on September 25,
2009 (wide release on October 16) with midnight-only screenings, the film
expanded into 160 theaters this weekend and managed to make $9 million so far
with a per-theater average that is higher than all of the other major releases.
Reviews have been overwhelmingly positive with an 85% on Rotten Tomatoes. Only
time will tell if it will turn into the “Blair Witch Project” of the decade.
“Paranormal Activity” is a film that builds upon its simple premise with a
terrifying climax that will leave you breathless. I am 21 year old man and I
will probably never sleep alone now!
Final
Rating: 5 out of 5
"You cannot run from this; it will follow you. It may lay dormant for years. Something may trigger it to become more active and it may over time reach out to communicate with you."
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