By Malice Intended
It’s easier to shock and disgust an audience than to truly terrify them. That is why gore dependent subgenres such as “Torture Porn” have overtaken the Horror genre as of late. Those kinds of films exist mainly to display human carnage and are often the domain of lazy filmmakers who opt for the easy way out. True artists understand the craft of building suspense. Sometimes a looming shadow is scarier than a severed limb or a snarling monster.
Paranormal Activity is a documentary style haunted house film shot entirely on a hand-held home video camera. It centers on young lovers Micah (Micah Sloat) and Katie (Katie Featherston), who have just moved in together. Katie reveals to Micah that she believes a supernatural presence has been haunting her since childhood. After strange phenomena occurs, Micah sets up a video camera to record the events and hopefully catch some sort of evidence of a ghostly presence.
The strange events mostly take place while the couple sleep and progressively get worse each night. The Video Camera documents each occurrence. The spirits antics are fairly harmless at first but become more aggressive and violent as the weeks pass. Micah and Katie’s relationship begins to unravel as Micah realizes that Katie is in fact being terrorized by an unseen force.
Paranormal Activity is extremely simple in both concept and execution. Writer/Director Oren Peli shot it over the course of seven days on a budget of $15,000. The shooting schedule and budgetary limitations facilitate a film that is both ingenious and resourceful. What Paranormal Activity ultimately achieves isn’t necessarily groundbreaking, but it is undeniably effective.
The visual FX are basic and barely noticeable. Visual tricks are limited to blinking lights and swinging doors. Jump scares are shamelessly employed, as are loud thumps and noises on the soundtrack. While all of this may seem laughably simple and even predictable, the tactics produce the desired effect. Paranormal Activity turns audience anticipation into a weapon. You find yourself frantically searching the frame, waiting for something to happen. Even when you have an idea how a scene is going to play out, you still react in the expected manner and that is to the filmmaker’s credit.
Unfortunately, the film’s greatest strength is also its biggest weakness. While the suspense building techniques are effective, they are also repetitive and stretch the viewer’s patience to the breaking point. There are simply a few too many scenes of small, strange things happening while the couple sleeps. More than is necessary to build suspense.
From a storytelling standpoint, the simplicity of the concept is a double edged sword. Aside from the couple’s reaction to the events taking place, there isn’t much in the way of actual content. Micah and Katie constantly argue as they succumb to the pressure of the situation. A handful of these scenes would have made the point brilliantly, but the overabundance of them makes it seem as though the filmmakers were trying pad the running time.
On the acting front, Micah Sloat and Katie Featherston do an admirable job. Aside from a few minor characters who make brief appearances, Sloat and Featherson are the only ones we see. Micah’s snarky attitude soon gives way to the kind of macho pride that ultimately makes him ineffective as a protector. Sloat is almost too good in this role as he becomes more annoying and unlikable as the film progresses. Featherson’s performance is gripping to say the least. Her fear and frustration are so palpable that we end up not only sympathizing with her but truly fearing for her.
Paranormal Activity is an amusing but insubstantial parlor trick of a film. It accomplishes what it sets out to do, which is considerably less than the advance hype would have you believe. It skillfully establishes a creepy atmosphere and situation, and as an attempt at old school horror movie making it is admirable. It is best taken as the minor distraction it is meant to be. To expect anything else would be setting yourself up for major disappointment.
3.5 Out of 5
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