Paranormal Activity

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Horrorphile - June 2009

Paranormal Activity

June 4th 2009 00:15

Holy shit, er, ghost! I haven’t been this spooked for a long, long time. Paranormal Activity (2007) is genuinely frightening, and this is coming from a man who has seen a lot of so-called scary movies. As a hardened terrorfreak I yearn for horror movies that are able to palpably scare the bejesus out of me, it’s an essential part of the exhilaration, but unfortunately it’s also a rare thing for me. There aren’t that many horror movies I’ve seen since being an impressionable teenager that have actually scared me. I can’t use the word terrify, that’s just too strong a word to use in relation to the fabrication of movies, but spook, frighten, scare. Yeah, there have been a few.

When I was much younger Poltergeist (1982) and Alien (1979) did it for me. Later Halloween (1978) and Suspiria (1977) were added to the list. Then there was a long hiatus on the genuine scare front, one that lasted for nearly fifteen years. It wasn’t until I saw an advance DVD copy of The Blair Witch Project (1999) (it had yet to be released in cinemas down under, so the only information I knew about it was the convincing website purporting it to be genuine “found footage”), that I watched a movie that gave me serious heebie-jeebies (I’ll come back to this movie soon).

When I watched The Descent (2005) at the Sydney Film Festival a few years ago I admired that it was the first movie since Blair Witch that made me jump several times and invoked a prickly sense of dread that I could feel permeating the entire cinema audience. Earlier this year I watched Ils (2006, Them) and it entered the same elite league: Perfect “Boo!” machines, I call them; when they’re executed well, they’re fucking terrifying. Whoa, I used that word! Okay, okay. So that brings me to last night’s Sydney Film Festival screening of Paranormal Activity, a very impressive debut feature from Israeli-American filmmaker Oren Peli.

Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat

There is very little information about Peli or his movie, and that’s precisely what he wants at the moment. It’s a clever marketing ploy, and it owes a lot to The Blair Witch Project in many ways. Many people will roll their eyes when I make that comparison, but trust me, Paranormal Activity is the shiznit (I have a few quibbles, but they’re minor). The movie premiered at the L.A. Screamfest Festival in October 2007 where it won an Honorable Mention. In January 2008 it screened at Slamdance (part of Sundance Festival). Then inexplicably it’s appears to have been sitting gathering dust, but probably playing other smaller festivals around the globe including here in Sydney. It begins a theatrical run in the U.K. and Europe from October. Fingers crossed for Australia too.

The premise of the movie is incredibly simple; a young attractive couple, Katie (Katie Featherston) and Micah (Micah Stoat) in a spacious two-storey San Diego home decide to try and capture on videotape the paranormal activity that has been sporadically haunting Katie since she was a girl. Micah’s cynical enthusiasm aggravates/entices the poltergeist and their experience and attempts to “confront” the apparently demonic spirit swiftly becomes a living nightmare.

The movie begins with a statement thanking both Micah Sloat and Katie Featherston and the San Diego Police Department for access to the video footage. Apart from that the only other credit is at movie’s end which is “Edited by Oren Peli”. The conceit that what the audience has been watching was very real is reinforced. No actors credited, no screenwriter, no director, no special effects technicians. Of course it’s entirely fabricated, and there are moments when I thought, okay, well anyone in their right mind would not be hanging around this house this long if this kind of weird shit was going on. The only reason these people are still sleeping here is because it makes for a great horror movie.

The sound effects, but more significantly, the special effects (and there aren’t many) are very well engineered, especially those achieved in the movie’s last couple of nocturnal scenes. Like Blair Witch much of what is so damn scary is what you don’t see, with the entire effect and atmosphere of the movie heightened ten-fold by the cinéma vérité visual narrative. Everything is seen from the point of view of the video camera, which Micah is either carrying around the house, or has set-up on a tripod in the corner of the bedroom each night recording for the duration. It is these numerous taped nocturnal “sessions” where the real fear escalates, dread oozing from the audience’s pores as we watch the time code in time-lapse, stopping usually around 3AM where a weird low rumbling begins, and the freaky shit starts to happen. This movie (like Blair Witch) generates a cumulative sense of fear (if you watched just the last scenes of each of these movies you would probably just scratch your head and raise an eyebrow).

Katie and Micah cling to each other in terror

The performances of Katie and Micah are solid, Katie has a slightly irritating voice, but she means well. Micah is selfish, but still likable. Their chemistry as a couple is convincing, and that is paramount for this fake doco to succeed. The only other characters in the movie are Katie’s girlfriend (Amber Armstrong) and a psychic (Michael Baymouth, wrongly credited as a demonologist at imdb.com, where curiously four other actors are also credited [perhaps their scenes were deleted]).

There is a modicum of suspension of belief one has to have while watching this movie. Micah comes across as just a little too gung-ho, always behind the camera, even when the real freaky shit is going down, and even when he’s started to panic himself. That’s where you realise there’s a director behind all of this. But hey, all kudos to Oren Peli.

If you like ghost stories Paranormal Activity will be an invigorating experience. If you like a movie dealing with malevolent supernatural forces Paranormal Activity is just the hellride ticket you desire. If you get off on being frightened while watching a movie I guarantee Paranormal Activity will tick your box. In fact I challenge any jaded terrorfreak not to be unnerved by this truly excellent instant cult classic.

NB: Avoid watching any trailers if you can. The less you see of this movie before the better the actual experience. Trust me.

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews

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Comments

21 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Natalina

June 4th 2009 01:21

My Life My Muse
Beta Girl Blog

Yes yes yes! I was sooo hoping you'd say this was a good one! I really hope for a chance to see it because I love ghost stories, and for this one, I will consider my box ticked!

Great review, Bryn. I'm sold.

Comment by David O'Connell

June 4th 2009 04:43

Screen Fanatic

Sounds like a ripper. Hopefully it'll make the cut for the MIFF in a couple of months.

Comment by Bryn

June 4th 2009 09:04

Horrorphile

David, I'm sure it will. The Melbourne Festival is much bigger than the Sydney one. I envy you.

Comment by Bryn

June 4th 2009 09:06

Horrorphile

Natalina,
cheers!!
Tis right up your Extraordinary Intelligence blog alley!

Comment by Damo

June 5th 2009 14:43

Yep
It looks like something I would watch.

Comment by Marc

June 5th 2009 20:49

Haven't been able to see this yet, but checked out the trailer which put the shits up me 100 %. Have to see this movie ASAP

Comment by Bryn

June 6th 2009 09:19

Horrorphile

Damo, indeed. Would be curious what your kids think of it, as it doesn't contain any sex or graphic violence.

Marc, where'd you see the trailer? I tried to find one, but couldn't and thought it intentionally there wasn't one.

Comment by Marc

June 6th 2009 19:47

dailymotion.com

This is where I found the trailer.

Comment by Damo

June 7th 2009 02:28

Bryn they may like it.

There was another film that creeped them out in the first few minutes: Darkness Falls. Only rated M.
Who can figure kids these days.

Comment by Bryn

June 7th 2009 02:52

Horrorphile

I'll need to check Darkness Falls then.

Comment by Michaelie

June 8th 2009 15:23

Flick Wit

Slasher/vampire/monster stuff is thrilling.

Ghost stuff I cannot handle. Just looking at those pictures here, home alone at 1.22am, is frightening enough for me!

I'll have to chicken out of this one

Mich

Comment by Bryn

June 8th 2009 23:01

Horrorphile

Michaelie, if you cna't handle the heat stay outta the bedroom. Yeah, this one will give you serious goosebumps. And not of the nice kind.

Comment by Sulaco

September 27th 2009 15:55

I was lucky enough to get to see this movie 2 nights ago. It was a midnight showing in Durham, North Carolina. It was absolutely terrifying!! Really well done, and I highly recommend it.

I am a huge horror movie/horror novel fan, and have not been scared by a movie/book in a long time, But this did it.

I'll admit it, I want to sleep with the lights on, and I lay in bed staring at the doorway now.

Comment by Bryn

September 27th 2009 21:55

Horrorphile

Sulaco, great to hear! Yes, it is definitely one of the genuinely scariest movies in a long, long time. Hollywood was going to remake it, but apparently have now decided against it, which is a remarkable and rare moment of clarity and insight on their behalf.

Comment by Anonymous

October 9th 2009 19:25

Dunk Films

This was a great review and thank goodness you didn't spoil any of the good scares in this film. This film is made better than most films made on shoe string budgets. I also think this studio campaign is genius because it really hypes up the audience for the movie.

We might actually have another horror blockbuster with this film.

Comment by deity_brun

October 13th 2009 20:10

I just saw it last night. I live alone, so, I had to spend the night over my girlfriend's house...Truly creepy.

Comment by Bryn

October 13th 2009 22:11

Horrorphile

deity ... creepy indeed! I wouldn't want to be going back to a house alone after watching it!!!

Comment by Sebastian

October 22nd 2009 12:50

I saw this movie and it was truely scary. I didnt sleep that night at all and I still think of some scenes which still creep me out a week later.

Comment by Mountain Fog

November 29th 2009 05:31

Infognito
Screen Trek
QUOTE ME NO QUOTES!

Hi Bryn,

great review and tanx for the tickets! On reading your review, I remembered I mistakenly put the scared psychic down as a daemonologist, but of coruse they were waiting for him to come back.. I'll fix that small mistake now...

I missed the first twenty minutes, (traffic and then dumbass wrong directions by the usher in the theatre sending me to another film and it took a small while to figure out I was in the wrong film!!) anyhoo, I got there when the ouija board caught fire.

Still, it sure does pack a few punches, but her voice also annoyed me, and the logic of staying...I argue in my review that the psychic was a poor Shakespearian device used to explain why they didn't run away, he says the daemon will follow.. anyhoo... tanx again for the tickets!

cheers

fog

Comment by Bryn

November 30th 2009 01:02

Horrorphile

Hey Foggy,
Shame you missed so much of the movie ... Obviously the intensity is ramped up as the movie goes along, so in reality you didn't miss that much ... I love the Ouija board catching fire, some great simple special effects. Yes, the conceit of the boyfriend continuing to video is a grain of salt that has to be taken, cos otherwise there wouldn't be a movie!

Comment by Mountain Fog

November 30th 2009 14:14

Infognito
Screen Trek
QUOTE ME NO QUOTES!

You're right of course Bryn,
they had to stay so the story could develop, I just get testy sometimes, especially when I can see better ways to achieve the result/reason to stay.

Anyhoo, oh, check out my response and the germ of an idea I had, posted in comments on Matt's 20/20 latest zombie post, I am hoping it will interest you!

cheers

fog

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