THE GOOD
1. A 100% stone-cold sleeper hit (almost literally - as in life, all the big set pieces take place in the bedroom) - its massive return on a low budget ($15k for the initial shoot) indicates big audience appeal...
2. Unyieldingly creepy in parts...the initial disturbances are all about noise and shadow and the single-camera set-ups that drive much of the film's ghoul action are clinically effective in forcing the audience to examine every part of the frame, even when nothing really appears to be going on...
3. Terrific central performances by newcomers Micah Stoat and Katie Featherston, the latter's descent into madness (and eventual possession) is completely convincing and grounds the movie in some form of hastily assembled reality when everything around her all gets a bit silly...you really get the sense anything could happen, none of the characters are safe...
4. The scenes in which Katie is literally dragged out of bed by the unseen demon are eery as hell...very unsettling stuff from director Oren Peli who effectively uses the movie as an 85-minute calling card.
5. Genuinely thrilling finale worthy of a master... The final shocking moments were pitched by Steven Spielberg himself and it shows - it's visceral, exciting film-making reminiscent of Spanish handheld horror classic [REC] in its sheer WTFness. In fact, the last couple of shots WILL shit you up. And the way the film immediately cuts to black as the houselights go up...there's a lack of finality about it that's audacious...there's no closure to be found here...
6. It's a terrific audience movie - Paranormal Activity really plays in front of a big crowd and half the fun is hearing the folks around you go "oooh" "ahhhh" and (occasionally) "aaaargh!" in all the right places...the simple premise and tight execution of the key scares virtually guarantee a reaction...(There's nothing better than watching a movie with big audience and actually hearing them react to whats on screen.)
7. There's something almost old-fashioned and a bit stubborn about it - at heart, despite the "found-footage" premise the story is a very traditional ghost yarn with all the usual beats you'd expect...it's no surprise that Spielberg (who loves a good ghost story himself - see Poltergeist) loved it, and unlike The Blair Witch Project, which never actually got round to telling us if something supernatural was going on, this wears its heart on its sleeve - we're never in any doubt something majorly fucked up is occurring.
8. Mark Fredrichs is hilarious as a psychic detective called in to investigate the disturbances...never before in the history of cinema has anyone been so unhelpful... he's so selfish he essentially just leaves Katie and Micah to die despite being fairly confident about how it's all going to play out. What a total shit. (And yet, AMAZING.)
THE BAD
1. It's NOT the scariest film ever made, regardless of virtually all the publicity material saying otherwise..the movie's too formulaic for that...this is essentially Amityville Horror via Blair Witch, or Drag Me To Hell if you drained out the slapstick. Some of the recent reviews (including a few 5-stars from people who should really know better) are baffling...IT'S NOT THAT GOOD.
2. Sometimes it's just too damn boring... In particular there are longeurs in the middle act where narrative momentum grinds to a crushing halt - the couple freak about their situation, calm down again, freak out some more, go to bed, get scared, repeat again and again...
3. There's a little too much dumb movie logic...for example, even though it's crystal clear something very creepy is going on when the lights go down, the couple's consistent refusal to move out and try their luck somewhere else doesn't ring true...handy if you're shooting a low-budget horror movie, pretty bloody dull for everyone else. And stupid, really. I mean, seriously - just MOVE HOUSE...ok, ok, so we're told that it would make no real difference in any event, that the ghost is really a demon and as such it would just simply follow them around etc... But you'd give it a try, wouldn't you? Especially when all the clues point to it living in the attic...The point is, if this was happening in real life, you'd run away. REALLY FAST.
4. The Ouijja Board scene is unintentionally hilarious. Perhaps it's just the novelty of seeing something so low-tech in 2009 but for whatever reason it simply doesn't work.
VERDICT...
An effective chiller with a handful of really nice old school scares, Paranormal Activity isn't exactly the most terrifying film you'll see, but it is fun and Oren Peli will no doubt go onto bigger and better things.
***
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