If you know anything about movies, I am sure you had heard the buzz on this 'little film that could'. Shot over two years ago with just $15,000 (that's half of what Blair Witch was shot for), with unknown actors and no studio to back it up, Paranormal Activity has made quite the journey, all on word-of-mouth technique. I'm here to say that the "buzz" you might have heard about it is very, very real. This is a top-notch, bury-your-face-in-your-han
One of the things you might have heard about this movie is that it starts off slow, and this is kind of true. Realize, though, that this is a low budget film, and the creators didn't have a whole lot of money to blow on character exploration. That doesn't mean you don't get familiar with the two leads. The entire movie takes place at their house, with a scant few scenes shot outside. 90% of it is shot inside the home, which provides a very cool atmosphere for the movie. So even though it does start a little slow, it does not hurt the film in any way.
The actors in the film are unknowns, and this is also essential for the scare factor. Casting unknowns is common for low budget movies, and in this case, the producers did their casting well. The leads are quite good, to my surprise. The movie does not just contain your average 'scream-and-run-away' tactics. The couple try to face their fears as bravely as they can, and when they can't, the anger and frustrations they must portray is felt. There was a certain scene in particular in which I actually felt quite bad for the female lead. In a section of the film the couple is deprived of precious sleep, and they can't perform their day jobs as well, they take their frustrations out on each other which leads to quite an emotional scene where you can actually feel for these two, something that's not so well done in movies such as this.
Now. Onto what everyone wants to know. Yes, this movie is very, very scary. What is really bringing this movie down is it's common reference to the decade-old movie, The Blair Witch Project, and this, in my opinion, isn't fair. Paranormal Activity was shot so much better than Blair Witch. There are hardly any, if at all, shaky-cam scenes, and if there is, they aren't crucial to plot, and they don't last more than 5-10 seconds. Plus we are 10 years ahead of Blair Witch, and the cameras available for home usage are much more sophisticated. The script is much more real than Blair. The couple react kind of like they are on a reality show at first, then they slowly progress to relying on the camera as a safety net. Which, I know, they did this in Blair Witch, but the difference here being, the girlfriend in Activity always displays a certain disdain for her boyfriend's camera, throughout the entire film, which adds a really believable amount of realism. The events in the film is named for are phenomenal. As with real life, in the day time, your safe to feel fear-free, but at night, look out. This applies to this movie head-on, and this was your warning. Paranormal makes no apologies in it's dread it instills in you while watching the couple sleep. While there aren't really any 'jumpy' scenes, the intensity level brought to the screen is unreal. I kind of pride myself on not fazed by horror nowadays, but this one actually made me watch a comedy afterwards, to soothe my jitters. I meant what I said in my Facebook update: if you can watch this movie alone in the dark without stopping it or turning on the light, then your your on some major codones.
The ending left a lot to be desired, to be honest. While certainly not a bad ending, just very unfulfilling. I obviously can't explain why without giving it away, but really, don't let that deter you from this truly special scary, scary film.
Thanks for reading.
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