Paranormal Activity

Paranormal Activity

Does the movie live up to the hype? That doesn’t mean that movie is terrible. The movie seemed to be hyped up as the scariest movie ever made by the ad people and the average filmgoers. Still the use of camera and sound really do bring the eeriness of the movie out to me. With the bear minimal, director and writer Oren Peli is able to bring some really creepy moments to the screen that modern horror has forgotten. In this age of bad torture porn and gore for the stake of gore movies, it is good to see a movie do it purely on style alone.

The movie is more about atmosphere than actual gore or true storytelling, and that’s fine with me. The night haunting scenes are closely related to the Silent Hill games, and that’s a good thing. The night scenes are disturbing and well constructed. I found myself more interested in those haunting scenes than in the relationship scenes.

If I had one huge problem with the atmosphere, it would be that they could have gone further with the concept of the minor haunting. There could have been more items moving around in the background and more hidden voices.

The other issue I have with the movie has to do with one of the main characters. There are times when I can side with the boyfriend, while other times I can’t stand the guy. As with other reviews, I view Micah as being a total B-bag. There were times when I shook my head in disgust with the sheer stupidity of this character. When everyone in the movie tells him to not to do certain things, he does them anyway, and that in return makes things even worst for another character.

Micah is merely a plot device to ratchet-up the action and story progression than being a logical character that fits within this world. His actions are only used to get the story from point A to point B. Sometimes he’s an asshole that doesn’t believe and other times an obsessive guy that won’t listen to reason. You have to keep him consistent and he’s not here.

Mark Fredrichs only has a few scenes as the Psychic, but his last scene in the movie just helps bring tension to the movie and shows us just how bad things have progressed for the couple and their Demon friend. Katie Featherston plays the chick with the demon problem. I like her and I also like that she doesn’t have the standard body of a Hollywood female star (a skinny woman). She actually looks like what a woman would look like in real life. She’s attractive, but a bit heavier, and I have no problem with that. Katie does a good job acting scared.

In the end, Oren Peli’s Paranormal Activity doesn’t live up to the hype, but that shouldn’t keep you away from the DVD. The movie is still better than most of the horror and ghost stories that are shown in the theater today. While some of the flaws are big, the movie does have to creepy moments.

Grade: C+