Paranormal Activity

(2009)

Directed by

Oren Peli

Review by Zach Saltz

Posted - 11/6/09

Ten years after the mass hysteria of The Blair Witch Project, America ’s thirst for low-budget, handheld 16mm. horror has been quenched by the record-breaking release of Paranormal Activity.  Like its predecessor, the film comes billed as a “see-it-if-you-dare” spectacle rather than merely a motion picture; Paramount has manipulated its selective release so that patrons who live too far away from theaters exhibiting the feature must “demand” the studio to release it in their hometown theaters (a few weeks after the film’s premiere, this scheme was revealed to be a hoax).  The truth is, however, Paranormal Activity does not need any sort of fabricated releasing gimmicks to significant garner attention and frightened viewers.  Quite simply, it is the scariest film to hit mainstream American theaters since Blair Witch.  After watching Paranormal Activity, it seems clear that the film deserves a place on the short list of motion pictures that will make you unable to get to sleep for nights after seeing it.

Like Blair Witch, Jaws, and other great horror films, Paranormal Activity is much more about what you cannot see onscreen that blood, gore, and creepy music.  In fact, for the vast majority of the film, nothing appears to be happening – the horror only exists where we want it to exist.  But also like those films, the movie delivers serious thrills, although hardly in a manner one would find fun and exhilarating.  The audience at the screening I attended appeared in utter horror with an absolute minimal amount of enjoyment, and many left the theater.  This is not Vincent Price camp.  This is a horrific motion picture that is often very painful to watch.

The set up is simple.  Micah (Micah Sloat) and Katie (Katie Featherston) live together in a small San Diego house.  They have been dating three years.  He is a day trader, she is a graduate student in English.  They appear to be happy.  We soon learn, however, that Katie has been haunted by a strange demon spirit since she was eight years old.  The early moments of the film show Micah setting up his new camera so that the strange nocturnal sounds and flashes they have been experiencing can be properly recorded and documented.  Each night, we see them asleep peacefully in their bed.  Until something unusual happens – very subtly at first, such as a door closing suddenly or a light flickering.  The disturbances become more intrusive, and Micah and Katie soon consult a specialist in the field of ghosts and otherworldly beings.  Micah maintains a very sarcastic attitude about the whole thing, leading Katie to suspect that the demon is growing more and more angry with them.  As the events in the night become more and more horrific, her suspicions appear to be true.

The film ostensibly appears to be real events, since there are no opening title cards, end credits, instances of disjunctive editing, or nondiegetic music.  Little, if anything, appears to be manipulated except for the running tally of nights recorded by the camera which is shown in large white letters across the eerie black and white screen.  The film is simple and logical, and does not cheat.  There are no other cameras set up, and we only see what the actors are seeing.  The lean nature of the shots seen makes the film all the more heart-pounding, since we know that there must be a reason why the camera is lingering – that what we will soon see is even more horrifying than what we saw moments earlier.  It is a linear progression through varying scales of horror,

At first, I thought the final scene of Paranormal Activity was a moderate disappointment, especially in comparison with the brilliant and harrowing final sequence of The Blair Witch Project.  But upon further consideration (and consultation of the film’s inferior “original” ending, now widely available via Youtube), I’ve changed my mind somewhat.  Though it may be uncharacteristic in how much is actually shown (considering how little was shown in all the scenes leading up to the finale), the film’s climax is genuinely frightening, unexpected, and leaves a chilly aftertaste.  According to IMDB, Steven Spielberg was a proponent of the film opting for a more titillating ending.  Whatever the truth may be, the finale is thoroughly unsettling and undeniably memorable.

One element crucial to Blair Witch, The Exorcist, and other horror films is that the audience is able to relate to the plight of the central characters.  This means that the actors portraying them must be likeable and believable.  This is certainly the case with the two leads of Paranormal Activity, who most certainly look and behave like any other perfectly ordinary people would act under similar circumstances.  They are asked to scream a lot, yes, but they are also asked to bare their souls to the camera, while showing genuine terror in their eyes.  This is not an easy skill to accomplish, and Sloat and Featherston must heartily be commended for their work here.  Similar accolades must be given to first-time director Oren Peli, whose modest budget of $15,000 outshines even the glossiest overbudgeted Hollywood fright show.

Throughout this review, I’ve alluded to several of the great horror films of the last few decades.  Will Paranormal Activity be remembered alongside the likes of The Exorcist and The Shining?  It is hard to argue that it will not.  Certainly, it will inspire parodies and lampoons.  Almost invariably, Paramount has announced its plans to make a sequel.  More importantly however, Paranormal Activity reminds us that the most effective and truly petrifying horror lies not in the disheveled and bloodied bodies of the Saw franchise, but in the silences and dark corners that permeate in our curious, dangerous imaginations.  John Carpenter said he liked to play his audience like a piano, and this one feels like an ominous concerto without the luxury of music.

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