PARANORMAL ACTIVITY (2007 - HORROR / GHOST / FOUND FOOTAGE FLICK) **** out of ***** OR 8 out 10
(Come on, guys, don't you have a better use for that camera?)
CAST: Katie Featherstone, Micah Sloat, Mark Fredrichs, Amber Armstrong.
DIRECTOR: Oren Peli
(WARNING: Some SPOILERS and major reasons not to leave your camera running at night - straight ahead..)
IT'S LIKE THIS: Remember the suspense/thriller SLIVER? Wherein Sharon Stone played a Manhattan career gal who moved into a glamorous, high-tech "sliver" building? Remember how it turned out that the whole place was rigged with hidden video cameras that captured not only her activity, but also all the other tenants' every move? All observed by a mysterious voyeur (and possible killer) sitting in a war room full of monitors that made the TV section of your local Best Buy look like kid stuff?
Well, imagine SLIVER's scenario but tweaked considerably to change the setting to a tony San Diego suburban home, with the video cameras not-so-hidden and reduced to just one. And the person or persons under surveillance? Well, "person" or "persons" may not be right terms. More like "spooks" and "things that go bump in the night". You see, the San Diego house in question is possibly haunted and the couple living in it, Katie (Katie Featherstone) and Micah (Micah Sloat), think that by setting up a video camera to record their surrounding while they are asleep, they can gather evidence of the "haunting".
Turns out there's more to it, however, than meets the eye. You see, Katie admits to Micah that she's been plagued by these kinds of, ahem, "paranormal activity" since she was a little girl - and it has basically followed her everywhere she has gone. Now, I must admit that my first impression of Micah was essentially "Douchebag Of The Highest Order" - but after seeing how he sticks by his girlfriend even though she basically tells him that she's Linda Blair from THE EXORCIST, I have to give this asshole some points for loyalty. Of course, someone might just call that "stupidity", given that there are plenty of other women in San Diego who are presumably "supernatural baggage-free". But I'm willing to give Micah the benefit of the doubt.
Anyhow, Micah sets up the video camera on a tripod in their bedroom to record the nocturnal goings-on that, um, go on while he and Katie are sleeping. Sure enough, it doesn't take long for some spooky shit to manifest itself on film, as they our beleaguered couple are snoring the night away.
First, the bedroom door kind of moves a little. Then a few nights later, the hallway light turns on and off like it's trying to mimic "Disco Inferno" or something. Then a few more nights later, the camera records Katie getting out of bed and standing there FOR HOURS just staring at Micah as he sleeps. And she remembers none of it the next day. Of course, her subconscious was probably behind the whole incident as she stood there FOR HOURS staring at Micah in bed - probably thinking: "how the fuck did I wind up with this douchebag?" But I'm also willing to give Katie the benefit of the doubt, here.
Things get progressively worse, largely due to Micah being a douche and getting a Ouija board to "communicate" with the entity in their house to see what it wants. All this despite Katie warning him that it's a bad idea because they could be opening the door to something bad. Then, just to make things even suckier, a local psychic (Mark Fredrichs) basically warns them they are not dealing with a ghost - but a demon. Dun-dun-DUN!
Oh, and he says that demons are waaaaaaaaay above his pay grade, and they're better off contacting a demonologist up in L.A. who can help them. Unfortunately, that dude is out of town and won't be back for awhile. And just because he feels he hasn't given Katie and Micah enough good news already, the psychic also tells them the demon is essentially attached to Katie and that leaving the house will not do them any good because it will just follow them wherever they go. Any questions?
None. Thanks. Jackass.
So... what exactly is going on in Katie and Micah's house? Why has the demon been following Katie since she was a little girl? What does it want? And will Micah's attempts to communicate with it through the Ouija board help - or worsen things? What other scary shite will the surreptitious nocturnal recordings, um, record? Is it time for Micah to get another girlfriend?
Yes. Yes, it is. ASAP.
BUT SERIOUSLY: Our second "31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN" review was THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (review # 562), and we discussed how it was very much an overrated experience. Essentially, THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT benefited from a clever if also somewhat dishonest marketing campaign that purported to show real found footage of three film students and their last days before going missing.
Ultimately, the film was as fictitious as you could get, but by then the unprecedented (at the time) viral marketing campaign had propelled the film well past the $100 million mark at the box office. Stripped of all its hype, THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT is just a passable horror movie experience that has very little rising tension until the last ten minutes. By then, however, it's too little too late.
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, however, is a different kettle of fish. On the surface, it may share some similarities with THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT - but it is a much better and far scarier film. Like THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, this movie has actors who are essentially playing themselves and the entire movie is portrayed as found footage of their last few days or weeks. Unlike THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, though, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY didn't try to pass itself off in its ads and promos as "real".
With THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, many of the initial attendees thought they were watching real found footage - which led to a tense film experience. Once it was revealed later than none of it was true, the film lost a lot of power. By then, it had only its narrative and technical merits to stand on - and quite frankly, they weren't sturdy enough. Bottom line: THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT succeeded at the box-office only because of its "smoke-and-mirrors" ad campaign. Had it been presented more honestly and straightforwardly, I doubt it would've grossed a fraction of what it ultimately made.
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, again, is a different story. Essentially, everyone knew going in that this was just a movie despite it's "real found footage" gimmick. However, even going in with that knowledge, audiences were still terrified by this film - enough for it to gross over $105 million at the box-office: all on its own merits. This film, like THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, grew by word of mouth. However, the word of mouth that spread about PARANORMAL ACTIVITY was less hype-driven - and genuinely-based on how scary the film was. In other words, this film has real power that THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT could only wish to have.
Quite simply, writer/director Oren Peli captured lightning in a bottle with his special twist on the found footage genre. By focusing on surveillance cameras, Peli forces audience members into the uncomfortable position of seeing what the protagonists can't see. He creates an almost unbearable sense of anticipation and foreboding. From this vantage point, every little action or movement on screen registers with unsettling power - whether it be a door moving just by inches, or a light going on and off, or a sound simply emanating from the darkness.
Katie Featherstone and Micah Sloat are likable playing themselves. Featherstone hits all the right notes of growing fear and disorientation, while Sloat is relatively spot-on as the boyfriend who views this all with amusement at first, then less and less as things get stranger and more threatening. Just like their counterparts in THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, Katie and Micah engage in a lot of improv that makes their exchanges natural and engaging. Unlike their counterparts in THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, however, they don't go too far and try our patience.
Still, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY isn't perfect. It has a couple of plot elements that are a bit too convenient and hard to swallow, such as the psychic telling Katie and Micah that leaving the house won't do any good - and them simply accepting it and not departing even when things get really bad. You'd think a change of scenery in a busy hotel might at least get their minds off the demon, at least, and maybe even lessen the impact of the haunting. And there's also Micah's insistence on recording everything all the time, that at some point strains credulity and almost undermines sympathy for him.
However, the reason PARANORMAL ACTIVITY ultimately rates as a very good Horror Movie experience, is due to its stellar nail-biting sequences that tap into our primal urge to keep looking when we should be averting our eyes. To our inexplicable need to be frightened. These chilling setpieces make up for any missteps in plotting and execution. It's an even more terrifying experience watching the movie at home, because a house setting (rather than a cinema) is more reflective of what Katie and Micah are going through. I dare you to watch this flick with all the lights out at home, on your big-screen TV, without shivering.
If you don't get the goosebumps a least five times, you may not be awake.
