By the end of Paranormal Activity, it seems that half of the audience will be terrified and the other half utterly disappointed. I fall somewhere in the middle, giving the movie due credit because while not particularly scary, it held my suspense for an hour and a half, even if those last five seconds were more fleeting than frightening. The film is primarily shot by the actors using a handheld video camera, following the Blair Witch model of faux-documentary (“thanks to the police and families, blah blah”) filmmaking. For Paranormal in particular, the filmmakers stretched their microbudget to the max, utilizing simple effects only a handful of times to build suspense.
As for the story, twenty-somethings and boyfriend-girlfriend Micah (Micah Sloat) and Katie (Katie Featherston) have moved in together and begin to experience strange occurrences in their new San Diego home. After calling in a psychic to investigate, we learn that these sorts of things have been happening to Katie since she was a little girl. The psychic thinks they’re not just dealing with a ghost, but a demon—a non-human entity that has been following Katie throughout her life for one reason or another. Micah has bought a camera to catch the happenings on video, but this seems to exasperate the situation (aka piss off the demon). The paranormal activity increases—more sounds and noises, fires, cracked pictures, etc.
Because of the style of storytelling, Micah and Katie must constantly appear natural and comfortable within their home and genuinely perturbed at the activity, and both actors suit their roles well. The handheld camerawork is generally shaky and uninspired (as it should be), but the night sequences have a distinct look. The camera is positioned in the corner of the room facing the bed and door, and this shot has already become synonymous with the movie and will probably become more iconic as the film continues to be successful (as did the over-parodied snot-shot in Blair Witch).
When the end does finally arrive, the viewer may be taken aback, but I found the last image more irritating than scary. Whereas throughout the movie, all of the phenomena took place in the real world, the last shot of the film is more effects-laden, and the increasing activity eventually reaches a point of diminishing returns. Indeed, on my drive home from the theater, I was not at all scared (and I get scared), and I had little to no trouble sleeping that night. Until I heard a noise.
No comments:
Post a Comment