Director: Oren Peli
Writer(s): Peli
Starring: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, Mark Fredrichs, and Amber Armstrong
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As a movie critic (used in the loosest sense of the word), I
try to go in to every movie with an open mind.
That all movies should be graded as equally as possible is a statement
that should be obvious, but there are many factors that sometimes make that
hard, whether it be a personal (or artistic) bias for or against the director,
or a particularly weak trailer, or even just word-of-mouth, either positive or
negative, spreading like wildfire.
Obviously, Paranormal Activity was the focus of a huge
marketing push that took it from indie sleeper to nationwide craze almost
overnight. It certainly didn’t create
the found-footage genre, but its success clearly paved the way for at least
one found-footage movie to be played at multiplexes every week for the last
seven or so years after its release. I
know firsthand how the overhype machine can work to a film’s disadvantage,
causing viewers to have unrealistically high expectations going into a movie,
only to have it let them down. So I can
easily see where people hated Paranormal Activity, especially after the advertising
push to get it to play in theaters nationwide; when all was said and done
Paramount Pictures certainly beat a dead horse, but also made tons of money,
while simultaneously kickstarting a horror franchise, in the process. Hell, at this point, I can even see hating it
simply for its role in resurrecting the found-footage subgenre, that was
finally starting to die down after the wild success of The Blair Witch
Project back in 1999.
I can see why people hate this movie, but I happen to love
it, and my love for it has quite a bit to do with the story behind my wife and
I seeing it for the first time, several years ago. Settle in, and I’ll tell you all about it.
The day, from performing some quick internet research, must
have been September 25, 2009. For
whatever reason, I had decided to get online to search for upcoming scary
horror films, something I do every few months, or so. While browsing on the popular film aggregate
site Rotten Tomatoes, I stumbled on a movie called Paranormal Activity, that
had played at some festivals and was quickly gaining steam as one of the
scariest movies of all time. I watched
the trailer, which completely piqued my interest, and did a little bit more
research, ending up on the movie’s official website. It was there that I learned it was playing in
a limited run of thirteen theaters nationwide.
Living in Ohio, my heart sank as I ran
through the list of theaters offering it; it was all the usual suspects: New York, California,
etc.
Then my eyes locked on the very last theater listed: Studio
35 in Columbus,
which was about thirty minutes away! Out
of all the theaters in the U.S.,
it was actually playing in our neck of the woods. Even crazier, I noticed its premiere
date: That very same night at midnight. I took it as a sign, and notified my wife we
would be seeing it in just a few short hours, which she excitedly agreed to.
The experience of seeing it at a small local theater, just
as the hype was beginning certainly helped; it was well before the radio and
television airwaves were inundated with non-stop pleas to “request this movie
at your local theater.” Of course,
marketing is marketing: The movie was
going to play nationwide regardless. But
it made people think that they helped out, and lead to a lot of cash—it’s a
win-win for Paramount. The only downside is that it completely
burned-out many viewers before they had actually seen it, leading to lower
reviews than if it would have remained a low-key indie feature. I’m sure Paramount’s fine with the $811 million the
entire series has pulled in thus far, though, since that’s the sole measurable
executives ever look at.
Anyway, the story begins with Micah coming home
with…surprise!...a new video camera, which he will then shove in everyone’s
faces for the rest of the movie. His
idea is to set up the camera in their bedroom at night, to see if they can
capture any of the hauntings that have been plaguing him ever since Katie moved
in three months ago, and her ever since she was 8 years old. Her fear is that she is being stalked by a
demon, an entity that attaches to a person and basically haunts them for life,
rather than a ghost, who simply haunts a place of significance to them.
Micah has also splurged on some video and audio software, so
he can review the nightly footage the following day. And that is not just the movie in a
nutshell…that IS the movie: The two of them go to bed, something scary happens,
daytime arrives, and they talk about the scary thing that happened, until it’s
nighttime again. It doesn’t sound like
much, but Paranormal Activity's strengths are in its minimalistic approach:
Despite everyone knowing the less you show of something, the scarier it is,
very few films ever seems to take that advice to heart. But this one does, utilizing audio and
visuals as an utterly effective 1-2 punch that keeps the viewer on the edge of
their seats almost the entire time, and all of this, on a meager $15,000 budget. (Is it any shock that the previous indie
horror movie to take over Hollywood, The Blair Witch Project, was shot for under $50,000?)
There are some things that don’t work, like a later scene
involving a visit from a psychic that is so anti-climactic, it feels like a
cop-out. Even the whole camera situation
gets stupider and stupider as the movie goes on, with characters (mainly Katie)
acknowledging over and over again that the camera is pissing off the entity and
making it more aggressive, yet neither of them ever stop using it. The final shot also goes on too long, going
from “chillingly potent and unique”, to “in-your-face mainstream overkill” all
within a span of about ten seconds.
But when it works, it works; while my second viewing was
slightly less terrifying (as can be expected), it didn’t become the joke that
my second viewing of The Blair Witch Project became (it felt so dated, it feels
like it should have been made in the ‘70s):
The nighttime sequences are still intense, and gradually get more
aggressive as the nights go on, even if they do tend to get slightly
repetitive. The best thing about it
though, is just when you think they’ve reached the peak of what their
technology (and severely limited budget) would allow, they throw something else
at you to keep you totally off guard; the last two nights are absolutely
gripping stuff. Other mainstream horror movies
should stand up and take note. But we're talking about Hollywood here; they never will.
RECAP: I happened to hear of (and see) this movie the same
day it premiered in my hometown, in one of only thirteen cities nationwide,
long before the Hollywood hype machine ruined it; I feel that is worth mentioning,
because I have to say Paranormal Activity remains, seven years later, one of
the scariest movies I’ve ever seen. The
nighttime sequences are effective, and gradually increase the tension from
night to night, while the effects are pretty impressive given its paltry
$15,000 budget. Not everything
works—most notably Micah’s constant insistence on keeping his camera on, even
as it becomes apparent it’s one of the main things that’s pissing the demon
off—but then again, I guess we wouldn’t have much of a movie if the characters
were smart. If you like scary movies,
you’ve got to check this one out, though the less you know going in, the more
potent it will be.
RATING: 8.5/10
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