Paranormal Activity is the kind of movie that really inspires me as an (ultra-) low budget film maker. I watched it this week with Jenean, and there were some moments in which we were genuinely scared, spooked or creeped out. Pretty rare for modern horror films of any budget.
A young couple living in San Diego experience mysterious events in their home. We find out that the girlfriend has had these experiences since she was a child, illuminating the possibility that if this is some sort of haunting, it might be she who is haunted rather than the house. The boyfriend, a rather insensitive bloke, we'll see, buys a video camera to document their lives during these supernatural goings-on, and this footage is the movie we are watching. A nice idea when you're shooting fast (this film was shot in one week), in that the lighting, composition and sound do not have to seem professional in an ostensibly amateur-shot video. So every night they set up the camera on a tripod in their bedroom to capture anything that happens while they sleep. At first they just get some scary noises and slight movements of objects in the bedroom -- a door, a sheet, etc. These quickly ramp up to some compellingly freaky s---. A professional psychic is brought in but says he specializes only in ghosts -- not demons, which this unwanted guest seems to be. Left to their own devices, the couple basically are tormented by the presence more and more, with the behavior of the boyfriend making things even worse. Told repeatedly to take this seriously, and not to antagonize the "demon," he does exactly the opposite, purchasing a Ouija board and verbally taunting the beast.
Director Oren Peli uses some techniques and story devices I find particularly effective, stuff I've admired in the work of other horror directors I respect:
The long takes and creepy-stuff-gradually-moving-into-frame technique of Kiyoshi Kurosawa. He's used this to great effect in excellent movies like Pulse (the original Japanese version), and Cure. Keeping the camera static (avoiding the over-used Carpenter gliding tracking shots prefered by most horror directors) is a fantastic way of building suspense. When is something going to jump out at us? And when, instead of something JUMPING out at us, something instead creeps into the frame ... it is terrifying.
And Peli knows what master RKO horror producer of yore Val Lewton knew -- you don't need expensive monsters or effects to scare people. Show them just enough to get their imaginations going and let the dark, Jungian monsters in our subconscious take over. There are a few effects in the film (made more creepy because of the realism established with the amateurish video), but these are tastefully done and are used (for the most part) at just the right moments.
I won't draw parallels here between this film and The Blair Witch Project -- others have already said all there is to say on this subject. All I'll say is that this film is better than that one on some levels and worse in other ways. (How's that for leaving it up to your imagination?)
Made for about 15K and already having grossed more than 50 million dollars, Paramount's bet that this IS the next Blair Witch looks like it's paying off.
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