Eleven years ago, a little movie with no stars, no budget, and apparently no "scripted moments" called "The Blair Witch Project" made headlines and scared up some serious money at the box-office, terrifying audiences and critics. Sadly, this led to a pathetic sequel, which despite a much bigger budget, tanked. However, it now seems that the "Blair Witch" blend of shaky-cam, low-budget, could-this-be-a-documentary?, style of film making has found a worthy successor in Oren Peli's low budget fright-fest about a young couple who might be haunted by a demonic spirit of sorts.
And when I say low budget, I'm not exaggerating. Costing only $11,000 and shot over only seven days, and utilizing minimal but effective how-did-they-do-that? special effects, it's certainly an impressive example of what can be achieved with such a minuscule budget. But special effects aren't the only impressive thing about this eerier little movie. Instead of devolving into a non-stop scream-fest, the film, written by Peli, actually gives its leads time to talk as they go back-and-forth on what's going on. On the one hand, there's Katie (Katie Featherston, who looks like a cross between Jenna Fischer and Amy Adams), who thinks that the strange events around their house have to do with a "presence" from her childhood, and on the other hand there's Micah (Micah Sloat), who for much of the film throws out sarcastic commentary, giving the film some levity, and providing balance in the "supernatural vs. rationality" conflict that arises.
So what makes "Paranormal Activity" so effective aside from its bare-bones, no-budget style? For starters, Peli takes his time before getting to the scares; maybe a little too much time, but time none the less. And even when the spooky things start happening, there's a sense of gradual build-up. Initial spooks are more weird than frightening, so when the time comes for Peli to pull out the big moments, they usually work, even if there are times when the shock-factor stems more from thinking "how did they pull that effect off?". Performance-wise the film is actually quite solid, with Featherston and Sloat projecting a very real, zero-glamor appeal that adds to the overall effect (made particularly impressive by the fact that there were no re-shoots).
If I had to make a recommendation about "Paranormal Activity", I'd say that you should see it in a theater, and at a night-time showing (I went at 11pm and had a blast), and hopefully a sizeable crowd will be there. Even though there are bound to be a few obnoxious jerks who won't shut up AT ALL, there's something riveting about feeling the tension and jolts that "Paranormal Activity" is able to generate. You'll also want to make sure to go with at least one other person (especially if you go at night), because this is one fright-fest that you won't want to see by yourself, or else you'll face a long, unsettling walk back to your car. To quote one review of the film from the San Francisco Chronicle, "a few people in the audience were laughing during the first half of the film. No one was laughing during the long walk out of the theater."
Grade: B-
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