Posted by Remember a few years ago when “The Blair Witch Project” overcame genre expectations and became a blockbuster cult hit? That film had several other films that were inspired by its “Mockumentary” style gimmick; “Cloverfield”, “[REC]” and “Quarantine” to name a few. Well, writer/director Oren Peli’s “PARANORMAL ACTIVITY” is another film that follows in the footsteps of those films. It premiered in the 2007 Screamfest Festival and at the Slamdance film festival in 2008. Truth be told, I am not a fan of the POV style cinematography but I do believe that anything done with the right execution, right premise and a film like this will work. The Spanish film “[REC]” had definitely pulled this off and I am happy to report that “Paranormal Activity” also succeeds in achieving tension, suspense and genuine creepiness.
The film centers on a couple named Katie and Micah (Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat respectively) who lives in a large suburban house. The couple is experiencing several unexplained experiences that leads them to shooting themselves with a camera on a tripod while they sleep. Everyday they would review the footage on the camera until they both become convinced that there is something evil going on their home. Not a ghost, but something demonic that wants Katie…
The best way to approach “Paranormal Activity” is with the viewers’ expectations lowered. The film is a slow-burning experience since the film appears to be assembled footage collected from a DV camera. As such the film’s quality is very low budget when we talk about cinematography but its low-budget quality doesn’t exactly work against it since it adds to the film’s amateurish atmosphere and style. In the beginning of the film, I almost felt like I was watching an episode of “A Haunting”; the film follows very familiar ground on documented haunting and possessions. This makes the film a little predictable but director Oren Peli manages to draw his audience into the experience. You see the couple whine, argue and become scared out of their wits as we witness their frightening experiences through the lens of a handheld camera. Blankets are moved, sleepwalking is witnessed through the lens of the handheld camera as the events slowly escalate and become worst. I was pleased to report that the POV style was executed fairly well, it was rough, edgy and never for one minute did it feel polished as a real movie would feel. If Oren Peli’s intentions were to generate tension through the emulation of a `reality’ then he does succeed in terms of cinematography and his ability to create subtle gaps in the screenplay. It does succeed in its art but it does have its weaknesses. (I will discuss this further)
The film does follow the usual signs of haunting and/or leading to possession. “Infestation”- where an entity wanders around a familiar space while it gains strength. “Oppression”- when the haunted and their companions experience uneasiness by certain frightening incidents; until it leads to eventual `possession`. I am not making this up, (you may research it yourself) a demonic force gets its strength from fear and negative energy. If you look at the events in steps, they feed off one another. The screenplay does follow these established rules as we see Micah and Katie experience the signs one by one; they hear noise, loud banging, footsteps until the paranormal activities escalate to the events happening more often to the point of seeing shadowy figures and actual contact. Most of the actual haunting happen at 3 am (as a way to mock the hour of Christ’s death) until it becomes worst and worst. It is quite an uneasy experience to see one dragged on the floor in a very inhuman fashion, the direction does bring the film into overdrive the longer it went on.
The film follows the usual opposing beliefs mechanism in horror movies in its two protagonists. Katie is the one being haunted and the sympathetic one while Micah is the skeptical one. Katie just wants the unexplained phenomena to stop; she knows that she is the reason for the haunting and she is desperate to seek any help. Micah is the cocky boyfriend; with no spiritual beliefs and he insists that the situation is under his control. Horror movies are full of characters like Micah and Oren Peli accomplishes this with this annoying character. The two mess around with Quija boards, mediums, research and experts in demonology, attic exploration, while they search for a solution to this haunting. The film does give answers to the events experienced by Micah and Katie; I thought it was a decent exercise although the answers weren’t necessarily new to me.
Granted, that “Paranormal Activity” gets its strength as a sensory experience rather than a dramatic one. For a film like this to succeed, the movie has to appear rough and unpolished; to be accompanied with acting that is just so realistic that the audience can feel invested in the movie despite its low characterization. Well, in this the movie falters a bit; as the acting by Featherston and Sloat are a bit uneven. The amateurish acting somewhat damages any feelings of realism attained by the director. Their performances do appear a little too contrived, and it was so obvious that they were trying very hard to generate their sensations. Much of the film’s burden falls on Featherston’s performance; and while certain scenes were acceptable and good, some lacked the feeling of genuine emotions. Sloat was also very wooden in his portrayal as Katie’s boyfriend, he becomes annoying. The entire cinematic experiences of “Paranormal Activity” hinges on spending time with the couple to get the viewer invested; their disappointing portrayal of realistic terror hampered the film a little.
Thankfully, the bleak atmosphere of the film makes up for the weaknesses of its two leads. The barren, home-video look of the movie assists in encouraging the viewer to buy into the film’s main premise. I enjoyed the sleeping footages and the jolts, it did manage to make some strands of hair on the back of my neck to stand up; although it wasn’t really non-stop scares. Of course, the film does get more intense as it went on but I have to say that film may have benefited if it was a tad shorter; this way the direction would made the film a lot tighter and taut.
Paramount did market this movie extremely well; playing only at midnight in a limited number of theaters to get the hype going. However, for a film like this to really reach its viewer, the expectations has to be really low. Given with a very small budget of $ 11,000, the filmmakers managed to make use of its interesting premise. An unknown, unseen force after a woman in the safety of her own home promotes incredible helplessness; seen through the lens of a handheld camera, it successfully generates a psychological grip on its audience. The film does have some well-timed scares and scenes were shot in a very simplistic manner that made me very pleased. “Paranormal Activity” may have its share of flaws but it is a refreshing break from the rehearsed visual effects that has made Hollywood horror films ineffective; the film is a good “haunted house” full-length feature film.
Highly Recommended! [4- Stars]
