Paranormal Activity

It seems as if every year there is a movie that catches everyone by surprise. It is usually a little indie movie towards the end of the year that catches fire and ends up getting hyped like crazy. For the last few years, it seems like Indie comedies have had this hype machine on lock, with Little Miss Sunshine and Juno, but about a decade ago a little movie called The Blair Witch Project had the entire industry in a tizzy. Shot for almost nothing the movie went on to make $140,000,000.00 domestically. The problem with that movie was that it sucked. It was nonsense that swept people up into some kind of hype filled hysteria. It is kind of inevitable for a tiny horror film with big hype to be compared to The Blair Witch Project, so when Paranormal Activity ended up getting a real release, the comparisons started flowing. This made me nervous, but I was still too excited not to see it.

A suburban house may not seem like prime real estate for a horror movie, but for one couple, it turns out to be their very worst nightmare. Katie and Micah(Their character names and real names) are a young couple living together and dealing with some possible supernatural forces, so Micah decides it would be a great idea to set up a video camera while they sleep to catch anything that might be going on. Micah takes a liking to filming things and is constantly filming, which is how we see this movie. Katie believes something is going on in the house and while they are sleeping weird little things do start to happen; the door opens and closes slightly, Micah picks up some weird noises, at times it sounds like someone else is in the house, but it is all very minor. Katie does not want to take any chances, so she calls in a psychic and he confirms there is something going on, but he deals in ghosts and this appears to be a demon, which he has to stay away from, so he gives Katie the name of a Demonologist, but Micah refuses to let her call. he wants to handle it his way, which is to antagonize it. Bad idea!

Paranormal Activity was made in 2007 and here we are in 2009 finally getting to see it. It has slowly been released and the hype from people is insane. As far as I could tell, the hype is all deserved. Never in my adult life have I had a scarier movie going experience. Paranormal Activity spends 75 minutes doing nothing but building up this insane, hair bristling tension and then 20 minutes doing everything it can to leave you sweating, panting and completely exhausted. It is a brutally small movie that is paced incredibly well and is out for nothing but making you uncomfortable. The acting is whatever, the writing is whatever, and sure there are moments when characters make horror movie decisions, but none of that matters when the movie cuts to the middle of the night because we know some seriously freaky shit is about to go down. That is how good this movie is at pacing. The movie can kind of lull us into a calm for the day, but as soon as the night vision is up and the camera positioned where it is at night, you automatically tense up.

Does it help to have someone near you who is deeply affected by horror movies? Probably, yes. Do people go into this movie expecting a good time and act accordingly? Absolutely! But is that so wrong? If I did not think the movie was scary, I would not have been clenched up in my seat. I would not have have exhaled so violently when the daylight came in the movie. I was into this movie because it is effective. The sounds, the lighting, the visuals and the overall feel make up for those stupid horror movie character choices. Sure, the boyfriend is a complete douche bag, who no one would ever really love, but the movie makes a really good reason for them not just moving and it actually provides a really good reason as to why shit keeps escalating.

When the demon starts haunting in the middle of the day, or leaving a shadow, or claw like footprints, It is impossible to find solace. When Katie says she can feel the demon and then her hair moves, it is scary, but nothing really prepares you for the final act. I am not going to ruin any of the ending for anyone who wants to watch the film, but it provides two incredible jumps, some seriously unsettling moments and then when it is over, it provides you no escape from the idea that "this is just a movie."

Paranormal Activity is not going to appeal to everyone. People who are prone to feeling scared in real life should avoid it and cynical assholes should avoid it. Sure, it has some holes and could be considered silly in some ways, but most movies are easy to pick apart in some juvenile way. This is the kind of movie best enjoyed around a large group of people and preferably at night, but I think it can be just as scary alone in a house. The movie still gets me, four days later and I cannot wait to see it again, if just to catch any more small things I started to pick up towards the end.

Final Grade: A (just for pure movie going experience)

P.S. Go see this movie with a girl who likes to bury her face, dig her nails in and scream. It really makes it so much more enjoyable.

P.P.S. Guys always ask a girl if she has a history of being terrorized by demons before moving in with her. It can save your life.