Paranormal Activity: Scariest Movie Ever or Internet Hype?

Blumhouse Productions 2009

Paranormal Activity is getting the wide release this week that the filmmakers have clamored for since its debut at Screamfest, a festival for homemade horror films held every October at the legendary Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, in October of last year. Just recently they set up a website asking the public to cast 1,000,000 requests on line to see the film. With the requests secured, the public will have the chance to see if all the hype surrounding the film and the claims of ‘the scariest film ever’ are founded or simply that, hype. The film does have its detractors though who claim it is no better than their neighbor’s scary Halloween home movies. The truth though, as in most things, falls somewhere in the middle.

The film’s two unknown stars, Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat (use their own names in the film) are gamely up for the challenge. Shot on high definition video in a cinema verite` style, the movie is already a success story for shoestring budget filmmaking. The film’s plot centers around a young couple’s exploration of a possible demonic presence that may be haunting the young lady from as far back as her childhood. The recent development of her boyfriend recording them on video while sleeping may be antagonizing the demon. While the boyfriend pushes further and further into the exploration of the strange occurrences, his girlfriend reluctantly agrees to him playing ghost chaser. The story, flimsy at best, does offer the filmmakers an opportunity to shoot their film on video and give it the necessary real feel to heighten the creepiness. Without revealing too much, the film’s main creative force, director Oren Peli, uses the premise to slowly build a chillingly effect as the film moves forward to the scariest moments. If you are patient through the slow progression without getting too frustrated with the budgetary shortcomings you are rewarded at the end with a truly original experience; one that is memorable at the very least and truly scary at times.

A film like Paranormal Activity wouldn’t be possible without the success of 1999’s The Blair Witch Project. That film’s internet hype and slow roll out distribution to build word of mouth could provide a business model for this film. But unlike Paranormal Activity, The Blair Witch Project used the internet to plant the seed that you were actually seeing real recovered footage from a supernatural event. A great idea in itself but one that does not guarantee a good film experience. Without the thought that it might be real, Blair Witch does not work on any level. Fortunately for that film, enough people bought into the misinformation to make it one of the most profitable films of all time despite its obvious deficiencies.

To Paranormal Activity’s credit it doesn’t need to rely on the belief that what you are seeing is real to make it scary. Like any good horror film, if you are engaged by what you see on the screen the scares will overtake you and stay with you long after you have left the movie theatre. Truth be told, this film is one that has to be seen in a theatre on a large screen in a dark auditorium, provided it is not full of talking & giggling viewers who are not there to lose themselves in the experience of a horror film. The communal aspect of a bunch of people energized for a scare is also what this film feasts on. Watching it in your home on a giant screen on your comfy couch with the lights on and the ability to stop, pause, rewind and freeze the picture is not how this film should be ingested.

So go see this film for what it truly is, great independent filmmaking. Refreshingly it is full of creepy moments and scares that don’t rely on heightened sound tracks or eerie musical scores that tell you how to feel and evoke a preordained response. Unlike The Blair Witch Project which meandered toward a single shot climax of a guy standing in the corner, Paranormal Activity build towards a substantial payoff in the end. We get to see what we’ve been clamoring for while investing an hour for the build up. When it does come, the low budget necessity of shooting on video in a fake documentary format pays off in spades because you don’t get the slickness of what a studio film provides. Instead we get a film stripped of the gloss and receive one of the most basic of primal fears. Though not the scariest movie ever, definitely one that will send a true chill or two your way and resonate with you every time you hear a noise while laying in bed.