Above, a scene from “Paranormal Activity.” (Photo credit: Paramount Pictures)
‘Paranormal Activity’ a well-crafted, deliberately paced fright
In crafting 2007’s “Paranormal Activity,” director/writer Oren Peli manages to exploit our fear of the unknown while doing almost nothing along.
You see, the danger and fear in “PA” doesn’t jump out at you at first or revel in bloody gore. It’s slow-burning, oozing from the corners just beyond your periphery. You sense something is amiss, and that’s what chills you to the bone.
“Paranormal Activity” is presented in the “found footage” style (think “The Blair Witch Project”), with no opening or closing credits. The footage introduces us to a San Diego suburban couple, day trader Micah (Micah Sloat) and his graduate student girlfriend Katie (Katie Featherston). It’s Katie who first becomes aware of all the seemingly unnatural creaks and groans permeating throughout the house at night. But while she can’t see, we as the audience can because of a night-vision camera set up in the house.
Micah purchases the camera, and he’s the one who spends an obsessive amount of time trying to find evidence of Katie’s claims that the house is haunted. What the camera does highlight is creepy, but not concrete evidence of a haunting: a sheet billowing as if someone were trying to crawl underneath it, shadows dancing across open doors, a sleepwalking Katie who climbs out of bed and stands beside it as she vibrates ever-so-slight.
Still, we sympathize with Katie, because we sense it, too. We want her to wake up when these disturbances occur, but it’s to no avail. It doesn’t help that Micah is somehow oblivious to what’s happening. He’s dismissive of the events and blind to Katie’s rapidly declining state of being. Having a psychic come and say whatever is in this house feeds on emotional drama does little to change Micah’s mind.
To say much more would give away too much, and the latter half of the movie is one that should be experienced without too much forewarning.
Somehow, on a budget of $15,000 and shot in a week by a computer game programmer, “Paranormal Activity” has managed to earn more than $108 million domestically. Much of that can be attributed to the amazing viral marketing campaign that blanketed just about every available medium at the time, but there’s more, too.
When this film came out, people actually thought it was real or portraying a true story. That’s thanks in large to part to the ability of Sloat and Featherston to portray a sense of reality, one that feels natural and relatable. It’s their story, and you want to know it.
Combine this with a simmering tension that literally seeps from every scene — your eyes will never stop scanning — with some stellar sound effects (both on- and off-camera), and you have yourself some nightmare-laden nights ahead of you.
You’ve been warned.
Four paranormal stars out of five.
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