Films That Witness Madness

review

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY

So I am apparently the last person with any sort of movie review site to weigh in on this film. Why did it take me so long, you ask? Well, that would have something to do with the fact that I simply couldn't concentrate on the film when everyone in the theater with me was 13 to 16 years old. Not the kind of environment this film was meant to be seen in. All the giggles and snarky comments ruined the atmosphere inside the theater. This film requires silence to appreciate. I decided that I would wait for it to come to DVD before forming an honest opinion. Having now watched the film at home, I can give that honest opinion.

My honest opinion is "MEH with a side of ARGH!"

This is irresistible stuff for many. It seems everywhere you look on television these days there are a bunch of idiots running around in the dark with blinking meters and video cameras trying to convince a ghost to pop out and say "boo". Most of the time they manage to get a few footsteps, a bang or two and maybe - JUST MAYBE! - something moves all on it's own. Right there you have the entirety of PARANORMAL ACTIVITY.

The film is structured in a very monotonous way. It centers on Katie and Micah, a couple whose home is haunted. Micah - who is one of the most annoying horror film characters of the past fifteen years - has the brilliant idea of setting up a video camera in their bedroom to see if he can capture any of the spooky goings-on. We see the couple during the day - lounging around, meeting with psychics, doing some quick online research into demonology and fighting with each other - and then we see them at night, lying in bed as the shit starts to hit the fan - why many, if not most, of these people who call on the Ghost Hunters to investigate their supposedly haunted house don't do this exact same thing is beyond me. This easy-to-follow structure, even more than the actual events witnessed, is what gives PARANORMAL ACTIVITY it's real power.

We know when the spooks are going to come out. It's going to be at night as the couple lies in bed. Once the film transitions to the bedroom scenes, our nerves go on high alert. We scan the darkness to see if we can make out anything moving in the dark hallway. As the film progresses, the activity worsens and the promise of more extreme nighttime activity becomes an alluring draw. Though I was never really drawn into the world of PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, I did find myself waiting impatiently for the next bedroom scene to occur, knowing that it would bring something good and interesting my way.

And PARANORMAL ACTIVITY does contain some very good scenes. The footprints, Katie standing still by the bed as the hours fly by, the loud eruption of noise that results in a swinging chandelier, Katie being dragged out of the bed, the super-intense finale... all good stuff. Unfortunately, the majority of the film is spent in the company of Micah and Katie during daytime hours and that is where the film goes wrong because they are simply not likeable characters. I spent more time wondering how these two cohabitate at all then worrying about their safety.

All in all, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY is a decent flick buoyed by some intense scenes of supernatural mischief. If it leaves you feeling a bit flat and underwhelmed, I would completely understand. Unlike it's cinematic forefather THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY feels a bit stale and fails to deliver anything close to sheer terror.

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