Director: Oren Peli
Genre: Horror/Thriller/Mystery
Year: 2007 (released 2009)

This feel did sort of creep up on us like its subject matter, didn’t it? When I initially heard of it it was set to be playing in something like thirteen places and only for a limited time. Next thing I know it is everywhere, playing all day long and raking in obscene amounts of profit, considering it was shot with a budget of about 20K. This film is, for all intents and purposes, The Blair Witch Project revisited and the similarities are not limited to box office behavior.

Depending on your point of view, this may or may not be a good thing. I personally was not a fan of The Blair Witch Project. It failed to frighten me, lure me and the hype it got ruined what little it had left simply because it did not live up to expectations. I think the best thing that particular film had going for it was the widespread, albeit flawed, belief that it was a true story. That seemed to inject a heavy dose of creep factor into a lot of the audience and understandably so. Paranormal Activity does not have that going for it. I do not know of a single person that believes this is true found footage (even if there is more than plenty willing to argue that shizz like this happens). Nevertheless, it ought to show some sort of its inner self to still be doing this well and that is where I think this movie outshines its similar, but in my opinion, less than stellar predecessor.

The formula used here is not surprisingly very similar to Blair Witch, where two charming young adults begin to experience paranormal activity in their home which seems to get progressively worse as they make an attempt to look into it and stop it. It is apparently something that started when Katie was eight and has followed her throughout. It is not explained how it happens or why it is boiling over now and I think asking questions of that nature really is asking for too much of a film that is simply not bothered with such. Paranormal Activity is only out for scares and that it does quite well.

If one can get over the simplistic set up, it is actually easy then to appreciate the fact that this movie does not waste 45 minutes setting up something that is scary even if you are not aware of the entire background. In fact, this movie makes full use of that in that sometimes what is left unexplained is just as creepy as the rest and since we the audience are seeing this through the lens of the camera as shot by either Katie or Micah at the home, it does not seem out of the ordinary or disappointing to not get all the answers.

Paranormal Activity builds up nicely with scary imagery that goes back to the psychological aspect of thing and does not make use of blood and gore. If one were to force a label upon it, this really is a good ol’ ghost story and the fact that we see it through grainy and often unsteady shots (thank you for cutting down on the hand-cam, by the way, unlike BWP I did not feel like I needed to hurl afterwards) actually seems to lend some credibility to the idea that this is not a film, not a big time production but a rather intimate glimpse into a tragedy that could have happened to any of your neighbors.

The acting holds up, the scares hold up and the film itself moves at a fast enough clip to be entertaining. But most importantly, this film relies on no visual effects and no expensive post production to get its point across, which also becomes part of the success.

In the end, is this a great film? No, not really, but it is downright entertaining, creepy and far better than a lot slash and hack horrors out there and therefore definitely worth checking out. If it is a thrill you are seeking, Paranormal Activity definitely delivers and does so in a refreshing fashion.

Rating:
Comments: Creeeeeeeepy moments, do not take a kid to this, you are bound to traumatize them. Other than that no nudity that I recall and there was some language to consider and…pretty disturbing imagery.
Recommendation: If you liked this, you might like Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez’s The Blair Witch Project, but you will most likely feel like you have already seen the better one of those types of films so instead, I will recommend a wonderful Spanish horror gem called [REC] by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza, guaranteed to be one of the best horrors you will ever see!
Quote: Micah: [while waiting on a very tardy psychic] You would think he’d be able to predict that the traffic is going to be bad.