‘Paranormal Activity’ review
The caption doesn't lie - don't see it alone.
Horror movies have died. With remakes of sub-par 1980’s slasher movies cranked out seemingly every week, each stupider and less frightening as they go on. For the most part, to go to a horror film today is a cruel and unnecessary punishment. ‘Paranormal Activity’, however, is not from the Hollywood system. It wasn’t commissioned by some studio head. It has no stars, or names you’ve heard of, or faces you’ve ever seen. It was made for $15,000. It’s actually 3 years old, undiscovered until Steven Spielberg saw a rough cut and brought it to the attention of Paramount Pictures.
The film is presented as salvaged footage from a video camera, owned by a couple named Katie and Micah. Katie feels as if there’s something otherworldly going on in their house, so Micah buys a video camera to record what goes on while they sleep. The film spans 3 weeks of the footage, building to a truly unforgettable ending that puts this movie up there with the horror classics. ‘Exorcist’, ‘Halloween’, you name it, this can hold its own and is even scarier than some.
A noteworthy thing the director Oren Peli does here: Make you feel at ease in the first 30 minutes or so, but at the same time making you realize that the longer the film goes on the more unbearable the tension will get. The actors, Katie and Micah, are not going to win any Oscars for this, but they maintain the illusion that this is real footage, a big responsibility considering they are in every frame of this film. By the way - there is no blood or gore in this film at all. Suspense rather than decapitated heads pays off in a horror film.
Long story short: This is not just another ‘Haunting in Connecticut’ or ‘Prom Night’: This is one of the most frightening experiences I’ve ever had. You begin to care about these people, to want them to survive. Unlike so many horror movies where instead of hoping the people survive, you guess which one will die first. (For the record, the one with the ego always dies first.) ‘Paranormal Activity’ isn’t a movie, it’s an experience. And one of the best this year. A
Note: After making $8 million in 40 cities worldwide, it has gotten a wide release. So there is justice in Hollywood after all.
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