Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
This supernatural horror film was initially screened at the Screamfest Film Festival in
2007 before seeing a nationwide release over two years later in October of 2009. Written,
produced, and directed by Oren Peli, the simple but intriguing concept was filmed on an extremely
modest budget of only $15,000. The movie's $193 million dollar take at the box office
make sit the single most profitable movie ever made, based on return-on-investment.
To put that another way, "Paranormal Activity" made an astonishing thirteen grand for every
dollar spent on production. The 86-minute plot follows a young attractive couple in
San Diego who attempt to document a demon they believe may be terrorizing their house.
Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat portray these characters with realistic dialogue,
which includes plenty of heated arguments about their situation. While Katie wishes
to ignore and retreat, Micah seems more interested in provoking the force and capturing it on
camera. Both of them have a vulnerable innocence to them that makes it extremely easy to put
yourself in their frightening position. Sharing info he learned while researching demons,
Micah remarks, "They stalk people for years, like decades, and sometimes they're really
intelligent in the way they do things to freak you out." Although the slowly-paced film has
huge sections where nothing happens, it's these quieter moments that are actually the
scariest; as you're just waiting with baited breath for whatever unexplained anomaly will
happen next. Tensions heighten slowly throughout the R-rated flick, as we witness the nightly
occurrences becoming larger and more aggressive. But the creepiest moments are when Katie awakens
in the middle of the night, seemingly in a possessed trance, just to stare at Micah while
he sleeps for hours on end. The entire film is shot via an in-universe digital camera,
which is frequently mounted on tripods around their house: which besides allowing for the
occasional two-shot also prevents this self-shot cinematography from ever becoming too shaky
and disorienting. All of the visual trickery was accomplished with practical, in-camera
effects, which keep the picture believable. In an effort to maintain the found-footage
ruse the movie doesn't have any credits, before or after the film; an extremely rare occurrence
I don't think I've ever seen before. Forgoing a traditional score in favor of a low rumbling
during the more dramatic scenes, this movie is often more unsettling than outright scary.
A surprisingly effective low-budget horror film that kicked off a slew of copycats, and
a six-picture franchise, this is one movie all horror-fans should see at least once...
but they might want to wait until the daytime. "Paranormal Activity" delivers disturbing
domestic events despite its low-budget feel. And here's what you had to say in the YouTube
comments.
One of the most polarizing films we've reviewed yet - some thought it was a horrible excuse
for cinema, while others praised its ingenuity, your scores averaged to an ALRIGHT. Even though
the plot doesn't really go anywhere, the concept and execution definitely creeped me out, I
thought it was COOL.